SPEEDWAY in Adelaide received quite an upheaval in the 1974/75 season.

Rowley Park-under the promotion of Kev Fischer, Ces Eichler and Ray Skipper-had its first upset early in the season when Manager Tom Dillon resigned.
In November, John Brown was appointed Manager, and did his job extremely well remaining as he should out of the limelight.
The following month the promoters dropped their bombshell-they wanted out. All had found that the time needed to run the Park was detrimental to their other-more profitable-business interests.
Rumours ran rife as to who might take over. Several offers from interstate were not to the liking of competitors, though there was little they could do about it until finally the Racing Drivers Association of SA dipped into their coffers to the tune of approximately $30,000.
The deal was signed and under the Presidency of Sel Harley the RDA had themselves a speedway!
Fears on the part of the bike fraternity about getting fewer racing events proved unfounded, as the Association were extremely conscious of the fact that bikes were a major drawcard.
Even the rumour circulating in the eastern states that the speedway was to be renamed Harley Park proved wrong. Meanwhile, Garry Hoffman was promoting the half-mile bitumen circuit at the International Raceway, Virginia, just north of Adelaide and had been doing so since last winter.
Running on a Sunday afternoon then changing to Saturday evening during summer, Garry-after losing a pile of dollars-finally announced that he was quitting as promoter and once again the RDA stepped in to keep the sport alive with their first meeting scheduled for July 13.

LEFT: Uncomfortable moment for Bill Wigzell after he was scalded on the feet during the running of last season's Harry Neale Memorial. Photo by Group 4 Photography

Johnny Fenton would have been a ripper of a race if Phil had not been involved in such a car wrecking prang. The State title which resulted in a great win to ex-Darwin driver Bob McMillan saw Herreen outed on the opening lap. Close behind Phil on points was Bill Wigzell, who forsook his new Offy roadster for the old faithful s/c Renault.
Bill dominated the sprintcar section, winning four features, then retaining his State title on the final meeting of the season. Zeke Agars proved to be Bill's biggest opposition-four feature wins and third in the State title. Herreen, waiting for parts for the Clem Smith Chevy sprinter, wheeled his old Valiant V8 sprinter (now owned by Bob Ekins) to second place in the title.

LEFT: Lindsay Tuffin (43) and John Crowhurst (94) experience handling problems in a turn as they lead John Hughes (69) and Alf Shippen at Adelaide International Raceway. Photo by Frank Midgley. Page 30

John Crowhurst in his thundering V8 Monaro with nine feature wjns and two new track records took out No 1 in the production car ranks. His brand of driving did not really endear him to other drivers, although from the fans' viewpoint he really livened things up. Steve Stewart drove a well-judged race to take out the State title. He also won two other features, plus five second placings which put him in second place on points for the season.

The picture remained the same on the bitumen, with Herreen tops in speedcars, Wigzell in sprintcars and Crowhurst in productions.

Midget action at Adelaide International raceway as Phil Herreen leads Rolly May

Adelaide racegoers were fortunate to see Mel Kenyon and his VW brought here for a one-night stand. The duels between the American and Herreen were fantastic, with track records being smashed left, right and centre. Surprisingly one speedcar driver to really go well on the bitumen is Roily May. Wheeling a Holden-powered car, Rolly was best of the rest and he runs exlusively on the bitumen, forsaking the dirt altogether. When the American trio of sprintcar drivers-Larry Burton, Mike Andreeta and Jimmy Sills fronted-their only opposition was Bill Wigzell. Up against professionals, Bill was certainly not disgraced and drove magnificently.

Bill Wigzell pictured behind the wheel of the inported Don Edmonds built Offy Roadster, one of the nicest peices of equipment currently campaining in Australia- in any division. Pictures by Frank Midgely

A star in the making is Bob Aylesbury, who drove consistently, even beating Bill on several occasions and racking up two feature wins in his Ford-powered sprinter. Crowhurst was almost unbeatable, winning four feature events and in handicaps giving anything up to a lap start on the front runners yet still winning! John Hughes (also in a V8 Monaro)and John Fitzsimmons (ToranaXUI) both recorded two feature wins and were Crowhurst's main opposition.
Taking into consideration that both speedways were rained out on several occasions, and despite the changes in promotion, the 1974/75 season was probably one of the best seasons yet. But what of the future? Rowley Park is doomed to be turned into a rubbish dump! With only one full season remaining, and little likelihood of its owners, the SA Soccer Association, renewing or extending the RDA's lease, dirt track speedway has a grim future, unless new grounds can be found. However, the RDA are doing everything in their power to obtain land, even applying to the State Government for help.
Certainly Rowley has been no show place, but Australia knows what Champions have emerged from this old clay pit. No doubt there will be more champions from South Australia -wherever the racing takes place.

-Frank Midgely
Australian SPEEDWAY NEWS, No. 61 Pages 28-31

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