Sprintcars is a rather special category of motorsport. Raced on quarter-mile-long dirt tracks, the category sees drivers piloting race cars that are instantly recognisable thanks to the enormous wing mounted on the roof. But while it may look unusual, the Sprintcar is a beast – a lightweight, powerful machine capable of whipping around those short tracks at speeds of more than 150km/h.

Motor Trader talked to Michael and Brian Walsh, the father and son driving force behind the Walsh Racing Team based in Cairns and who currently compete in the North Queensland Sprintcar Championship.

Words and pictures: Lara Wilde

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There are plenty of MTA Queensland members who are passionate about motorsport, and there are plenty of parents who have embraced their children and shared their passion for motorsport with them. But few businesses walk the family walk and talk the family talk as much as the Walsh family of Hannam Street Mufflers in Cairns – both patriarch Michael Walsh and his son Brian race together every chance they can.

Michael first strapped on race boots in 1972 racing Saloon Cars on local Cairns tracks. After more than a year in Saloon cars, Michael tried his hand at drag racing, and while racing down the straight quarter-mile was OK, it was not long before he was looking for corners once more and he began competing in the Australian Rally Championship.

In 1977, he took his rally car for a lap of the Cairns Speedway track and was quickly convinced that he should try out Sprintcars. Michael won the Cairns Speedway Track Championship in his second season and was bitten hard by the bug.

The past 40-plus years have seen Michael and his family drag his Sprintcar throughout Queensland and New South Wales to chase the thrill of the next race and as a small child, Brian was trackside with his mum Robyn and his brother and sister while dad raced.

Brian grew up on dirt tracks listening to the thrum of the V8 ‘Kings with Wings’ as his dad pushed the limits of physics to eek the last ounce of speed out of his machine. And when his legs lengthened and his feet reached the pedals, Brian followed his father’s race line and climbed behind the wheel.

Today, Michael and Brian sign up for every chance they can to race cars and compete together and against each other. In 2018, they seized the opportunity to race in the first Targa Great Barrier Reef based out of Cairns in a mighty Daihatsu Charade and won their class. They returned to race each year and did well despite crashing the pocket rocket in 2020.

“Dad and I loved racing in Targa, but we realised that we are both race car drivers and neither of us is made to be a navigator,” said Brian. “We needed a navigator and only one driver in the car.”

The Targa is not off their radar, however, and this year they will be repaying their Sprintcar Crew Chief Drew Dundas by being his pit crew for a bright orange Lotus in the Targa that is scheduled to be held in September.

Hanging up their Targa racing spurs means the duo can focus their full attention on the North Queensland Sprintcar Championship.

In 2020, the North Queensland Sprintcar Series was launched at Cairns International Speedway, and this new Sprintcar series has seen many Far North Queensland-based old hands of the Sprintcar world – such as Michael Walsh and Leigh Holman – renew their decades-old rivalry. Added to the race starting grid has been a mix of young guns stepping up from the Formula 500 class.

The new sprintcars embrace the latest in racing technology, including replacing the older 410 cubic inch (6.7 litre) motors with new 378 cubic inch (6.2-litre) LS engines. The basics, however, remain the same: the cars are ferociously powerful and fast, with the Walsh Team cars pumping out some 600hp (448kW), capable of reaching 150km/h on the tight quarter-mile-long, dirt-track circuits and completing a lap in about 12.5 seconds; are incredibly light – at 700kg they are half the weight of a Toyota Corolla; and thanks to that enormous wing, create 3000-5000kg of downforce to keep their four wheels gripping the dirt.

In the first season of the Championship, just eight cars filled the grid at the Edmonton track south of Cairns. In 2021, there are 16 cars vying for the title with many more being built in sheds throughout the region ready for the 2022 season.

Michael drives car number 4, a 2018 Triple X sprint car with a CT525 aluminium 6.2-litre LS V8 engine. He purchased the car brand new, while Brian purchased his brand new number 3 Triple X Sprintcar in 2020. Fiercely competitive, the Walsh Racing team made the decision early on to have all componentry in their cars matching to try to keep them as similar as possible. This meant that the faster driver and car combination can claim bragging rights for superior driver skill rather than superior mechanical build.

The Walsh Racing Team is leading the points race for the Championship with Positions 1 and 2 claimed by the father and son duo and like all successful race teams, their consistent performance on the track would not be possible without the support of sponsors.

“We have been very blessed to have five great local Cairns businesses – Koppens Constructions, the Wholesale Paint Group, Status Signs, S&NI Marsh and Hannam Street Mufflers – supporting us throughout the year,” said Brian. “Without them, we would not be nearly as competitive. We promote them on our cars, at our camp in the pits and on social media through our Walsh Racing Team Facebook page.

“It is very important that we make them feel appreciated and support the businesses who support us. We take a lot of pride in our opportunity to represent them on and off the track.”

Keen to grow the field of competitive cars, Walsh Racing invites other teams to use their shed, tools and expertise at Hannam Street Mufflers to build their cars, and Michael is excited to see new racers building new cars.

“This is a family sport,” he said.

“We want to support many competitors to join the Sprintcar family and have a great time, so we always welcome competitors who are building a car to get racing.”

Michael has 50 years of competing on speedway tracks while Brian is only in his second season. The race is on to see if youth will beat experience.

“I am very lucky to have the opportunity to race with my dad competitively,” said Brian. “I am looking forward to the day that I am in his position, lining up to race against my son and my daughter on a dirt track.”

Sprintcar racing is a family affair and the Walsh Racing Team from Hannam Street Mufflers is leading the way in Far North Queensland.

Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (August 2021) 

12 August 2021