Just as the first American driver was being signed to compete in Australia this coming summer sprint car season, the sport was thrown into disarray by the shock announcement that Sydney’s one-year old Eastern Creek Speedway will not open this season.
The good news is that Rico Abreu is the first U.S. driver to be signed to race in Australia this season.
The 31-year-old Californian will compete in the annual USA vs WA Sprint Car Speedweek series on the west coast.
Commencing on Dec. 26 at the Perth Motorplex, the six round series will include two nights of racing at Bunbury Speedway in Western Australia’s south. While visiting U.S. drivers usually drive local cars for Australian teams, Abreu will bring his No. 24 car to Australia.
It will be the first time the Californian has competed down under since winning the 2017 Australian Speedcar (Midget) Championship at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway.
“I’m extremely excited for the opportunity to come race in Perth,” said Abreu.
Abreu is expected to be joined by two more American drivers for the west coast series.
In the meantime, sprint car racing on the east coast has been thrown into disarray.
Just a week from the opening meeting, the promoters of the new Eastern Creek Speedway in Sydney announced that the season had been canceled. The new Eastern Creek complex, estimated to have cost $U.S. 65 million, was plagued with problems from the outset.
There have been significant problems with track and infield drainage, inadequate and cramped seating space, lack of power supply and water to the pit area, no proper road way entrance to the pit area for race team transporters, and inadequate lighting that required more track lighting to be installed.
A number of meetings at the Sydney venue were cancelled due to rainfall last season.
The promoters, John and Kathy Kelly and Scott and Leonie Anderson, and their Speedway Promotions Company, were at loggerheads with New South Wales state government and construction representatives over construction issues that hampered the running of the venue.
The conflict reached a stalemate two weeks ago after the opening was delayed several times. There has been no resolution of the dispute at the time of writing. The cancelation of the Eastern Creek season leaves the nation’s most populous city without a speedway.
The decision follows the demise of racing at Brisbane’s Archerfield Speedway at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season and the cancellation of the World Series Sprint Cars, the Australian version of the U.S.-based World of Outlaws.
The national body for the sport, Speedway Australia, commented that after recent conversations with the NSW Government, it is confident that racing will return to the venue in the near future.
“The two parties have agreed that prioritizing finding a suitable long-term operator over a temporary solution will be in the best interests of the sport going forward, with the tender process for a new operator intended to be launched soon by the Greater Sydney Parklands.”
There was no mention about resolving the drainage and other problems at the venue which led to the decision by the previous promoters to cancel the season.
Up to a dozen U.S. drivers had been expected to race in Australia this season. It is uncertain whether Australian team owners will still seek to bring the same number of visiting drivers while the current situation remains unresolved.