Toowoomba Speedway to become Qld’s premier dirt track racing venue after impending closure of Archerfield

It’s a venue that already generates $10m a year to the Toowoomba economy, but its stock is about to rise with the impending closure of a famous Brisbane racetrack.

Toowoomba Speedway will soon become Queensland’s premier destination for national and state dirt track racing titles, supporting a venue already worth upwards of $10m to the local economy.

The impending closure of Archerfield Speedway in Brisbane in June leaves Toowoomba’s 4000-capacity venue at Charlton as both the closest and largest dirt racetrack, giving the green light for several major sprint car and super sedan events to be held there.

It comes as new data has revealed the motorsport precinct’s sellout “Red Hot Summer Shootout” event in January injected nearly $1m into the Toowoomba economy and generated more than 4100 visitor nights.

Most of these nights (3300) were generated by out-of-region visitors, who spent more than $430,000.

Speedway manager Ryan Harris said the figures, completed by event researchers IER for venue, showed there was a strong appetite for motorsport in Toowoomba that would only grow.

“There were 6000 people here for the two nights (in January) — one night we actually locked the gate at 4000 so we’re trying to increase our spectator capacity,” he said.

“We’re presenting the sport now like it should, we’re in the entertainment industry.

“We run September through to May, over 20 nights of competition and our crowds are up 46 per cent (since two years ago).

“January was the crazy event, so we’re going to run more of those events.

“Whenever there’s an event that comes to Queensland, we’ll get many of them — there are a number of national titles, so we’ll have American sprint car drivers competing here.

“We’re a genuine player in the sport and entertainment industry here now.”

The Toowoomba Speedway at Charlton is set to become the premier destination for the sport in southeast Queensland in 2023. Photo by Krizmik Industries.

Mr Harris put the speedway’s current contribution to the economy at upwards of $10m, noting that would increase when Toowoomba secured longer-running events.

“It would be between $10-15m a year is what they’re looking at, but that will spike,” he said.

“If you run a national title and it attracts competitors, it changes things if those events run for three days.”

As Brisbane competitors prepare for a life after Archerfield, Speedway Australia has already outlined plans to the state government for a new 7000-seat venue.

But Mr Harris said he and owner Barry Waldron were planning to upgrade the venue to hold up to 8000 people.

“Ideally I’d love to be able to fit 7000 to 8000 in there, so that’s what we’re working on now, that’s a long-term plan,” he said.

“If we can double the capacity over the next three years that would be great.”

Mr Harris said he wanted to see residents continue to pack out the current season’s remaining events.