Many speedway fans from old would remember this club from the days of the Kembla Grange Speedway. The opportunity to take in a meeting at Fire Service Plus Nowra Speedway came mid

Like so many days over the summer of 2006-07 the 13th of January was a hot one, in fact on my journey south from western Sydney I had to stop at Berri to let the car cool down.

Taking a right turn off the Princes Hwy into Albatross Rd at just after 1pm I passed the turn off to the Speedway and motored on to the Navy airbase to re-acquaint myself with the Air Museum located there. After several hours of looking over the exhibits and chatting to the staff it was just on 4pm and time to head to the track. The weather had begun to cloud over by this time.

I arrived at 4:08 to find the gates still closed and a line up of competitor and spectator cars. Advertised opening time was 4pm. But it wasn't more than a few minutes wait until the gates were open and in we went. The track is located behind the Nowra Greyhound Track and built within a trotting track, the local is very bush. This gives the place a very country feel and I warmed to the place immediatley.

There were 5 classes running on this night: Modified Production, Street Stocks, 1600 Sedans, Fender Benders and Karts. Other regular runners include Speedcars, Litrecars, AMCA's, Junior Sedans and Compact Speedcars.

Entry price was reasonable at $20 with $1 for a small programme. Food prices at the Pit Stop Canteen were a pleasant surprise, about half the prices at places like Parramatta. The usual fare of hot chips, pies, hot dogs, canned and bottled drinks etc are on offer. There was also an Ice Cream truck onsite at this meeting. It should be noted that the venue is alchohol free.

The 400-metre D shaped track is clay and surrounded by a concrete wall with high catch fencing. There are breaks in this for pit exit and entry, these have no gates and are simply gaps in the wall. Lighting is very good with hardly any dark spots. A large open drain runs through the centre of the infield and then under the track into the pits, undoubtedly this is an extra hazard for cars spinning to the infield!

I found all those on the gate, pit entrance and working in the canteen to be pleasant, friendly and helpful. I spent most of my time at the pit entry area, a great place to get some action photos. One problem in that area was a total lack of a PA system, but it's not a normal spectator area.

There was very little dust kicked up by the classes running on this night, a definite plus for spectating. On that subject a point of trivia is that Kembla Grange used to be promoted as "The Dust Free Track".

There's no doubt Nowra Speedway is grass roots, but in the best possible ways. It's catering to the local racers and providing a good value night out for the local fans. By grass roots I don't mean amateur, at least not were it counts, during my visit I thought they put on a good show. It was well run, well lit and with good racing. Its profile is rising with a number of titles being run in '07. Just goes to show that you don't need 60+ Sprintcars to put on an entertaining show.

The official track website describes it as "A racy little 400 metre bullring ..... reknown for its fabulous track lighting." I would agree wholheartedly with this after my visit.