Gladstone’s speedway love revs back to life with new facilities

Speedway puts the “sport” into motorsport and Gladstone locals are once again falling head-over-wheels for speedway, fuelled by a new track to call home.

Located 20 minutes south of the city centre, Benaraby’s population triples in size during events at McCosker Gladstone Speedway.

“In the speedway world, a lot of the competitors are calling this one of the top 3 tracks in Australia. And for only operating under two years, we think this is a pretty good achievement,” says Club Secretary and Event Coordinator Richard Gilmour.

The new track, built during covid, has helped young racers like Sophie Stewart compete in a sport she loves, while carrying on her family’s motorsport legacy.

“It feels pretty awesome to make them proud. Especially my uncle, Tony. Because he was a big name in speedway for a fair bit,” says the Junior Sedans New Stars racer.

“The feeling you get when you’re behind the wheel is pretty awesome. Your mind blocks everything out. It’s just you and your car and what you can do.”

Sophie is one of a growing number of local Gladstone juniors taking up the sport, trading beach days for mud, spanners, engine oil and friendly rivalry.

“I would love to see more females get into the sport. There’s a fair few in it now, but there’s not as many as there could be,” says Sophie.

Her grandfather, retired racer, and life member of Gladstone Auto Club, Neil Coomber, is nervously watching Sophie race this weekend.

He’s been part of the speedway community since he was nine years old, when he would watch his parents race at the old track at the Gladstone showgrounds.

“It was one of the main events the town ever had, apart from football. Speedway was it. Everybody went to Speedway,” says Neil.

When he turned 16, Neil started racing and competing himself, before passing on his love of racing to his children and grandchildren.

The Gladstone Auto Club stopped racing at the Showgrounds in 1996, before a new track was finally built at Benaraby during covid, opening in 2023.

However, Gladstone Auto Club was hiring portaloos for every event held at their new venue before the Queensland Government funded the construction of a permanent and accessible toilet block.

“For anyone, going to an event with a clean toilet is a luxury. We pride ourselves on that. And it proves to be a success. More spectators are coming. It’s consistent numbers that are slowly growing and growing,” says club secretary, Richard Gilmour.

“It’s great to see the whole country’s getting behind this little facility in little old Gladstone and supporting what’s turning out to be a really positive, successful track for Australia and speedway.”

Chaise is one of many young, new fans to speedway who has dragged their parents out to the event.

“It’s so cool to have a track so close to where we live out here. I’ve always wanted to see a car going around, around, around and around,” says the local.

New fans, young and old, are being won over by little details unique to events at McCosker Gladstone Speedway.

Drivers begin the night greeting fans and spectators for a lap of high-fives, signatures and free stickers around the speedway.

A perimeter of food trucks creates a festival atmosphere, while fireworks round out the night’s entertainment.

Accessible parking and concrete paths around the venue compliment the accessible toilet in the new, permanent bathroom block.

“A lot of people with accessibility needs do come and utilise this facility. This speedway really is available to the wider community,” says Richard Gilmour.

Local motorsport veterans, like Neil Coomber, are proud to see Gladstone fall back in love with the sport that has a rich heritage in the region.

“These days, financially it’s a great benefit to Gladstone. The amount of money that comes in with these guys in the pits every meeting is unbelievable. They bring a lot of tourism to the town,” says the retired racer.

“The first thing everybody says to us when they came to the speedway was how good the toilet facilities were. There are not too many tracks in Australia that have those facilities. It’s brilliant,” says Neil.

Unfortunately for Neil’s granddaughter, Sophie, it wasn’t her night.

But the Gladstone teenager’s love of racing will see her return to compete in her GT200 Daihatsu Charade for the rest of the season.

“The feeling when you place really well is awesome. It feels like you’ve just overcome the world,” says Sophie.

For her younger cousin and fellow competitor, Cade Coomber, winning isn’t everything.

“I’ve made lots of friends here. I’ve made pretty much friends with everyone that comes here. We all just talk and have fun together,” says Cade.

McCosker Gladstone Speedway hosts regular events, including state and national titles that attract international drivers to the region.

The venue plans to expand its event offerings in the future to include local markets and music festivals.

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