Arunga Speedway Hosts Dance In The Desert

While in Alice Springs for Red CentreNATS we decided to go witness some speedway racing - and what a treat it was. Upon arrival we spent literally hours walking through the pits chatting with drivers and looking at the ‘winged’, ‘wingless’ and ‘street stock’ speedway machines.

Loads of the drivers present at Arunga Park Speedway had just spent around a month in Darwin for many serious weekends of speedway racing. The event at Arunga was a single day race, titled ‘Dance In The Desert’.

What was amazing to see was how many people showed up to spectate - most parked their cars right on the edge of the track, slapped a camp chair in the back of their ute and cracked open a cold one. How good. The vibe was so good; clay being flung in the air to the sound of speedway weapons smashing lap after lap. Everyone from kids to grandparents watched on.

For someone who doesn’t understand speedway (the writer of this article - lol) it was actually really easy to understand how it works - now, don’t bash me if I get this wrong... each category runs twice then from that a final is made up of the best on averages (lap times). More importantly, as a spectator it was great to see each category got their fair share on the track.

It’s clear to see that the drivers on track were some of the best in the country. The way they slide these machines within what seems like 2.3mm from the wall is nuts to see in person. We even saw Steven Loader, well known for his burnout car UCSMOKE - he was certainly right up there on the leaderboard which I'm sure put a smile on many of the Summernats fans in the crowd.

Here’s a hot tip - if you ever head out to Arunga Park Speedway make sure you get one of the hot chicken rolls, they’re totally ace. Bt more so, get out there and enjoy motorsport at your local venue! You'll have a ripper night (or day).

Check out the video below to see some of the action from the night!