South Burnett Speedway Club Inc. was formed on the 14th September 1968.The committee at the time consisted of Col McBride as President, Jim Devitt as Vice President & Jim Hayne as both Treasurer & Secretary. The Club had over 100 members in its first year it was formed, & racing began at the Kingaroy Show Grounds.
A few well known drivers from the Club of the time were; Keith & Barry Harm, Kev & Wayne Barkle, Darryl Retchlag, Howard Fiedler & Cobby Nielsen. Let’s not forget Trevor Campbell, who had the lap record in his FJ Holden right up until the fence as replaced & the circuit was extended. The original fence was made out of wood, & after many years of acing the fence was deemed to be unsafe. It was then replaced with the new 1/4inch steel plate which is currently in the process of upgrading. Section one of concrete construction, was completed in early 2008, with the future plans to replace the remaining fence 2-3 more sections until fully complete.Over the years, other facilities such as a new control tower & food canteen were erected, as well as the old seating being pulled down & replaced with new stands.
The club has experienced a lot of highs since its commencement. The long list includes the highly successful running of the “Ivan Major’s World Series International Bike Test” in the 80’s. Then there was the “Australia verses America Super Sedan Test” in December 1998, which was standing room only around the Kingaroy circuit. The South Burnett Speedway Club has also hosted many Queensland Titles for Modified Production, Super Street Sedans, Street Sedans & Juniors. In season 2006/07 the club hosted Monster Trucks, which was so crowded that Kingaroy experienced it first major traffic jam in recent history. Another highlight each season is the “Show Meet”, run in conjunction with the South Burnett Show Society at the Kingaroy Show. Over the years, our club has produced many talented drivers including Brett Barron winning back-to-back Qld Street Sedan Titles, Craig Harm & Chris Kidd also winning Qld Street Sedan Titles, & Jamie Harmsworth from Wondai taking out a Qld Super Street Sedan Title. David Barbeler has been runner up twice & third place at the Qld Super Street Titles. Cameron Busiko from Yarraman has also been victorious with a Qld Street Sedan Title, & runner-up for Qld Super Street Title.
Since the club began there has been a lot of club members & drivers coming & going. To this date Life Members for the club are Ivan & Margaret Geritz, Keith & Shirley Ham & David & Michelle Barbeler. Some other dedicated club members who have played a large roll in the running of the club are the Barrons’, the Harms’, the Barbelers’, the Geritzs’, the Baldwins, the Hurts’, the Kliens’ & the Wicks’ just to name a few. These dedicated members have been involved with speedway for many years & have put in endless hours of work building the club to what it is today. Currently the club has very strong Junior membership along with arguably one of the biggest sedan clubs in the State in the senior ranks.
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