Like son, like father for Narrabri’s Lawler Racing duo

Winning a state title is always a proud achievement, but there is nothing quite like winning one a few months after your son did. For Narrabri man Scott Lawler, that dream became a reality on Saturday.

The 50-year-old is the father of local speedway young gun Wyatt Lawler, who was crowned the Racing Sedans Australia junior NSW champion when he won the title at Cullen Bullen in December last year.

The 15-year-old has gone from strength to strength in the speedway arena since his debut in 2020, and he inspired his father Scott to decide to return to the sport following a 10-year break.

They race in the same red sedan and they assist each other in the pit when the other is racing.

On Saturday night in Lismore, Scott was crowned champion of the Racing Sedans Australia NSW four cylinder standard division and he also placed second in the overall division as his son and biggest fan took the night off to help in the pits.

Scott was the only standard division driver to earn an overall podium finish on the night as he finished second to winner Darren Brumpton and in front of third-placed Jeremy Wade, both modified drivers.

Behind him in the standard division was Stephen Keeler in second place and Brody Putsey in third.

Those efforts saw him awarded two trophies on the night. He was quite proud of that achievement and said that it was a great benefit for another reason.

“It’s really good, because now I don’t have to change the roof number when I race because Wyatt and I are both number one,” he said.

“But it’s a pretty special feeling, yes.

“Wyatt was the pit crew on the night and he went really well. I had a really good night with him.

“He changed probably six tyres on the night, just with the combinations we were wanting to try.”

There were three eight-lap heats scheduled on Saturday night at the Lismore Speedway, but with lightning around and storms on their way, it was decided that the third heat would be dropped and the feature would be brought forward.

Scott started from P3 in both heats and raced to a win and a fifth-placed finish, which saw him start out of P4 in the feature race.
There was a roll-over in the first lap of the feature race and that moved Scott straight forward to P2.

He got off to a flying start and led for 17 laps after many restarts but was eventually overtaken by Brumpton as he went wide to go around a lap car. He was second by a narrow margin when the 25-lap race was declared on the 23rd lap.

“The restarts in the feature were hampering me in one way because I was getting ahead but everyone gets pulled back together, but in another way it was really good because I was needing the rest,” Scott added of the many stoppages.

In December, Wyatt won his first and third heats at the RSA Junior NSW Title event and placed fourth in his other. That saw him start out of P2 in the 25-lap feature and he ended up going to the front quite early and leading for the rest of the race.