Northwest Speedway Club Narrabri hosts the inaugural Julie Shoobert Memorial

Northwest Speedway Club Narrabri hosted their third race night of the 2023/24 campaign on Saturday, and what a night it was at the WTC Group Speedway track.

The local club welcomed a talented group of SSA production sedan drivers who battled it out for their NSW title, while future stars of the sport were also in the spotlight as the new stars drivers lined up in the inaugural Julie Shoobert Memorial.

There were all stars juniors in action as well, and the other divisions across the night included the RSA fender benders, street stockers and fast fours.

Northwest Speedway Club Narrabri vice-president Michael Shoobert told The Courier that it was a cracking night in front of a great home crowd.

“The nights are just getting better and better,” he said.

“The crowd was awesome. More and more people are turning up. It’s a good event for the town.

“The standard of racing was really good. There were a couple of roll-overs, but other than that the track was really good and it was fast.

“All the people and drivers that were there were really good.

“We’re currently trying to get a bit more money in to get the mound and the fence a bit bigger to go round a bit more and to upgrade our canteen to make it just a really good facility for people to come to.”

Saturday night was a special one for Shoobert, who is the son of the late Julie Shoobert. His son Lane and daughter Olivia raced in the new stars memorial in honour of their late grandmother, and it was even more memorable for the family given that it was Lane’s debut.

“Mum died of motor neurone disease four years to the day,” Michael said of Saturday’s race date.

“Back in the day she was involved in the club. While dad was racing she’d be helping out in the canteen, she was always working on the cars and when the mud bombs were running she was racing those.

“It was very special. It was obviously a NSW title night, but for us it was a night for mum, and that’s how Livvy put it too in our presentation at the end of the night when we were giving out the trophies. She spoke very well and everyone was proud of her.

“We were proud of the night and it was an awesome night for everyone.”

While Olivia had car troubles on the night and was unable to finish the feature race, her brother Lane had an enjoyable debut. The 15-year-old raced his way to two podium finishes in the heats and then placed fifth in the new stars division in the feature.

There was another local debutant in action as well as 12-year-old Jackson Hayne raced for the first time, proudly following in the footsteps of his father Tim.

There were 10 new stars drivers all up, and Narrabri’s Hunter Smith was crowned champion. It was Hunter’s second victory on his home track and his sixth overall.

There were four all stars drivers who competed, and a Narrabri teenager also took out that division as Wyatt Lawler continued his dominance on the track.

The juniors all raced in three eight-lap heat races and a 20-lap feature race that included a delay midway through after one of the junior drivers rolled her car. She thankfully walked away from it unharmed.

A full list of podium finishers from Saturday’s race night is as follows:

RSA junior sedans all stars: First – Wyatt Lawler, second – Levi Payne.
RSA junior sedans new stars: First – Hunter Smith, second – Clinton Hall, third – Mikayla Whaler.
RSA fender benders: First – Jeremy Keynes, second – Jye Pope, third – Grant Jackson.
RSA fast fours: First – Isobelle Jennar, second – Keith Urquhart, third – Dave Partridge.
RSA street stockers: First – Todd Keeler, second – Trent Keeler, third – Michael Williams.
SSA production sedan NSW title: First – Jordan Biviano, second – Joel Berkley, third – Dale Corbett.

The club’s fourth and final meeting of the 2023/24 season will be held on Saturday, May 4. With the Narrabri Show being held in town that weekend, the meeting is expected to be a day event that will get underway around midday and go through until about 6pm.

Club vice-president Shoobert said that he and the club’s committee were grateful for the volunteers who helped make last Saturday’s event a success. He particularly thanked Lindsay Keynes for the way he prepares the track each meeting to ensure it is in the best shape possible to put on a top-quality race night, and Belita Lawler for making sure the canteen is always running efficiently.

Shoobert said the club welcome any new racing or committee members, as well as anyone who would like to volunteer at future meetings.