Article By Kent Whitaker
Richard Petty, a famed name in motorsports, set an unofficial lap record on the Thunderdome track. NASCAR Icon Neil Bonnet won a race at the high-banked speedway designed to be like a famed American Superspeedway. Is this track in North Carolina, Alabama, or Tennessee? No, Australia is home to Calder Raceway Park Thunderdome – Australia’s historic American-style stock car racing track.
So how was a track, based on the layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina, constructed near Melbourne, Australia? It is a story that includes a speedy, and historic road course, with the dream of an Australian racing legend and businessperson who was keen on NASCAR.
Breaking Ground for Racing
In the 1960s, a group of Holden FJ car enthusiasts searched for a place to race near Melbourne. The group included Patrick Hawthorn, a petrol station owner, who owned property just West of Melbourne in Diggers Rest. This small community gained its name in the 1860s. Miners, known as “Diggers”, would take a rest while traveling between Melbourne and the Bendigo gold mines.
Hawthorn and his group of friends started clearing the land, roughed out a dirt racecourse, and built the bare minimum amount of infrastructure needed. The group included racing names such as Bob Jane, Norm Beechey, John Wood, and Peter Manton. The official opening date was 14 January 1962.
The track was a tremendous success and quickly moved from a playground for a group of motorsports lovers to a racing destination. Why? Because the design was great! The original layout is close to the road-course track used today. The facility grew and quickly gained a good reputation among racers and car enthusiasts.
Soon it included a dragstrip and hosted race events which were much larger than the original purpose of a place for a group of friends to run laps.
Bob Jane Puts his Mark on Calder!
Bob Jane, one of the men who helped start Calder, purchased the facility in the 1970s. Jane was a four-time winner of the Australian Touring Car Championship now known as the V8-Supercar Series. He was also the winner of many other races including the Bathurst 500 and he was a successful businessperson with his tire stores. Plus, he was curious about American NASCAR racing which would change motorsports in Australia!
Jane had traveled to the United States where he became friends with the son of the founder of the National Association of Stock Car Racing – NASCAR, Bill France Jr. Jane gathered as much information as possible, returned to Calder, and put millions of his funds into building the Thunderdome.
The Thunderdome track is a scaled-down version of Charlotte Motor Speedway built by NASCAR and Bill France. During construction, Jane decided to bring several engineers and workers over from the States as nobody in Australia had ever built that type of track. After several years of construction and delays the first racetrack opened in 1962.
The opening races started laying the historic groundwork of the Thunderdome. The first race that used the Thunderdome surface also included the road course track. It was a Class A Touring Car event won by John Bowe and Terry Shiel. They drove a Nissan Skyline and to date, it’s the only Japanese car that has won a race at the Thunderdome.
Then came the 1988 AUSCAR 200 which was another history-making event. It was won by 19-year-old female driver Terri Sawyer. She took the lead with only a handful of laps to go and held off any challenges. The caution flag was waved due to a spinning car and Sawyer drove to victory! It was the first race held only on the Thunderdome surface. Next up was the 1988 Goodyear NASCAR 500.
Famed NASCAR Names and Local Legends
The 1988 Goodyear NASCAR 500 was 280 laps which equaled 313.35 miles or 504.28 km. The field included 31 cars with 23 drivers from the United States, six from Australia, one from New Zealand, and one Canadian. Members of the famed “Alabama Gang” of NASCAR drivers were in the field including eventual race winner Neil Bonnet and Bobby Allison. Other NASCAR regulars were Micheal Waltrip, Dave Marcus, and Kyle Petty.
Richard Petty, known as “The King” to NASCAR fans and the voice of “Mr. The King” for the PIXAR Disney movie Cars, turned several test laps on the track. He set an unofficial record of 28.2 seconds with an average speed of 142.85 mph. This was just under a second faster than the pole time set by Neil Bonnett.
Australian drivers included Dick Johnson a five-time Touring Car Champion and multiple winner of the Bathurst 1000. Allan Grice, born in New Zealand, was knocking down wins in both New Zealand and Australia. The pair were local competitors who could give the Americans a run for the checkered flag.
The race went green with Neil Bonnett on the pole with his Pontiac Grand Prix. Bobby Allison was next in his Buick LeSabre. The second row was Allan Grice in his Oldsmobile Delta 88 and Robin Best piloting a Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
Bonnet and Allison battled most of the race for the front position with Grice giving them solid challenges for the front during the opening laps. Then, Allison and Grace made contact which forced Grice to spin through the infield grass bringing out the caution.
Grice would also be involved in a large crash that included several drivers on lap 80. The crash started with additional cars making contact in turns 3 and 4 causing a roadblock and plenty of tire smoke. Grice, who was having brake issues, rounded the turns at almost full speed before crashing into the pileup. Grice suffered injuries which included a broken collarbone.
There were 11 cautions for a total of 52 laps and only 15 drivers finished the race. The DNF cars included both Grice and Johnson. Neil Bonnet won the event from the pole with Bobby Allison placing second. Dave Marcis finished third with Glen Steurer fourth and Sumner McKnight rounding out the top five. Robin Best of Tasmania finished eleventh. Best would win the 1989/1990 and 1990/1991 Australian NASCAR Championships. He would also travel to the United States for races, including running in the Pepsi 200 at Sears Point, now known as Sonoma Raceway.
The Legacy of the Thunderdome at Calder Park
Sadly, the Thunderdome has lost the glory of those opening races. There are many reasons for this including the exploding popularity of the Supercar Series and road course racing among Australian race fans. Now, the Thunderdome has lost much of its seating, support buildings, and dedicated infrastructure.
If you drive on the Calder Freeway between Melbourne and Gisborne, you have probably seen the raised earth banks of the Thunderdome. You may have never visited – but many have over the years. The facility is still used for some track days and private events. The road course circuit and dragstrip are still operating. But it’s not like it was in years past.
Many of the major events have moved on and overall, the facility is a shadow of what it was in the past. For many race fans, the legendary Thunderdome, and Calder Park overall, helped them grow into the lovers of motorsports that they are today. The future of the NASCAR-inspired track is uncertain. Most videos of the venue on YouTube come from urban explorers and others acting as if they discovered a lost Inca Pyramid.
As for the rest of us, this is the spot where Bob Jane had a dream to bring the thunder of NASCAR to Australian motorsports fans which helped ignite a passion for the sport for countless gearheads. Hopefully, that legacy will somehow continue to grow.
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