LOCATION: Brisbane Exhibition Showgrounds, QLD
MEDIA ASSET REFERENCE: Google Maps Satellite
While the upcoming Ekka Show prepares to pull out all the stops to celebrate its massive 150-year milestone with fireworks and massive crowds, a different, far more somber story is unfolding behind closed doors.
Most centenary celebrations are marked by fireworks, cotton candy, and the roar of a crowd honouring decades of tradition. Instead, this milestone stands as one of the most somber chapters in local motorsport history—a landmark anniversary silenced on the very dirt that built its foundations. Following the sudden cancellation of the "100 Years of Brisbane Speedway" centenary event originally slated for July 5th, a much deeper, more troubling story is emerging from behind closed doors.
As reported by the vintage speedcar community, the warning signs were there long before the cancellation notice dropped. Leading up to the milestone, teams and enthusiasts were quietly told by insiders to keep details of the centenary celebration "on the down-low" to avoid friction with strict institutional rules. This raises a massive, burning question that the grassroots community is now openly asking: Was this secrecy truly about navigating standard red tape, or is it a classic case of institutional gatekeeping pushing aside a culture that has existed on those grounds since 1926? Community members have explicitly cited a state of “authority overload” regarding the strict rules applied before the formal cancellation was issued.
For generations of local families, the roar of sidecars, solos, go-karts, midgets, and speedcars under the arena lights was a foundational pillar of our culture. Following a monumental heritage push from Jocelyn Dare—featuring a dedicated Speedway Exhibition showcasing 99 years of motorsport history alongside her self-published biography Big Bad Johno—that legacy was finally given its proper recognition inside the Channel 7 Pavilion in 2025. This landmark display set a beautiful precedent for heritage preservation, which was intended to include a new golden plaque promised for permanent installation on the grounds following the pre-Olympic Games renovations.
The community fully expected that hard-earned momentum to carry into the landmark 100-year centenary. Instead, they report being met with a brick wall and a complete exclusion from the upcoming flagship show program. When a passionate community feels forced to whisper about celebrating its own 100-year history on the literal birthplace of its sport, the line between regulation and cultural erasure becomes dangerously thin.
The Brisbane Exhibition Showgrounds is the historic cradle of Brisbane Speedway, hosting its very first dirt track meets in 1926. For generations of Queensland families, the roar of solos, sidecar bikes, go-karts, midgets, and speedcars under the lights was a foundational pillar of local industrial and sporting culture. According to community spokespeople, the sudden institutional pivot to bar these historic vehicles from the arena represents a tragic erasure of local heritage.
The grassroots racing scene is not just looking for an explanation for a cancelled calendar date; they want transparency. They want to know why a century of horsepower heritage is being phased out to make room for a sanitized version of history. The community asserts they are not asking for special treatment—they are asking for the history books to stop being rewritten.
Nomad Dirt Culture has formally reached out to the venue's media office to request clarification on these community reports and the future of motorsport heritage at the grounds. The grassroots racing community is actively awaiting a response.
5 comments
I raced speedcars in the 60’s and 70’s at the Ekka Great wheel to wherl racing
it was always a big family night out for all of Brisbane and South East Qld especially when the Americans came.
Such a shame that those people do not get a chance to celebrate those memories.
I grew up in the 1960s and 70s in Brisbane and my mum would tell me I was quite possibly conceived after a night at the Ekka speedway. We would jump the fence to pick up the tear-offs. Great Sprint car midgets and Solo motorcycles. Names like John Titman Garry Rush taking on the best in the world. It very sad to see the Assholes shuting the historic event down with their bull shit excuses.
I was going to come up from NSW but they can forget about my tourism patronage. Amazing that the Speedway help build the venues status and revenue now they toss it aside like an old rag. Pathetic management in the extreme
There have been many stories about the reason the Ekka Speedway stopped – noise, hospital, blamed my dad Bill Goode because of Archerfield Speedway.
Now the truth may finally be believed. It was the decision of the RNA to not renew the speedway lease, as they believed they didn’t need it.
This was preceded by many years of very strict rules, eg any damage to the infield grass had to be repaired the following week. Monday was inspection day and every drop of oil in the pits etc had to be removed immediately. Strict curfew. The list goes on, and no doubt VSAQ have also encountered this.
I had hoped the current RNA regime might have been a bit less pedantic about their regulations, but unfortunately it seems not to be. And yet during the Ekka the infield is turned into a paddock.
What should have been a fantastic anniversary celebration which potentially would have filled the grounds had been reduced to the watered down version, which has now also been canned.
Very disappointing for generations of speedway fans and former competitors.
i was one of many many peoplewho spent their saturday nights and many more hours working on and pushing bikes cars around the exhibition track we did this because we loved speedway now its gone like many more tracks around our once great country the funny thing is people know speedway tracks are in their towns but they build their houser close by and then complain about the noise but the councils dont care about speedway just money bloody disgraceful