Beechworth

While the Tarrawingee circuit hosted conventional motor racing meetings in what could be termed the ‘CAMS tradition’ and using the governing body’s rulebook, other tracks nearby operated outside CAMS’ sphere.

A good example was at Beechworth, 20 minutes drive north-east of Tarrawingee, with racing run by the Beechworth Motor Club. The club, formed in the early 1960s, ran meetings from the mid 1960s into the ‘70s, when another body wielded a big stick and racing stopped. More on that soon.

Racing took place on a circuit situated in a disused gold mine quarry, a site that became known as Silver Creek, but was originally Mad Mans Gully, a reference to the effect the discovery of gold on the site in the 1850s had on the behaviour of townfolk who became prospectors. Ironically, a decade after the colourful ‘Mad Mans’ moniker was adopted, the Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum was built upstream of the site.

It was something of a running gag for racers during the track’s lifespan that the site was aptly named. Spectators who took in their antics from the prime viewing positions overlooking the quarry no doubt agreed. With paying punters perched up high on the edge of the quarry, Beechworth was not unlike the Hume Weir circuit, 45 minutes to the north. Except that Hume Weir was bitumen sealed.

Beechworth’s natural gravel surface was coated with sump oil. The action could best be described as speedway-esque yet occurred on a simple unsealed racetrack with a hairpin bend (Tanswell Corner) and both left-and righthand corners. Humpy Holdens were a popular choice of vehicle for the ‘run what you brung’ sedan competition.

Beechworth’s big annual event was called the Victorian Country Hot Rod Championship, with competitors coming from the Ovens and Murray area as well as southern NSW. Not quite speedway, but a long way from being mainstream motor racing. Nonetheless, everyone enjoyed themselves in an era when the fun police were not yet out in force.

It was not safety fears that ended racing at Beechworth in the mid 1970s, but rather environmental concerns, speci cally insurmountable water-catchment issues. With thousands of gallons of sump oil used on the track in about a 10-year period, Victoria’s Environmental Protection Authority was threatening nes for its continued use. With Silver Creek draining into Beechworth’s nearby Lake Sambell and bitumen-sealing not economically viable, a fun but poorly documented era of racing came to an end.

What’s left today

There’s really no evidence of Beechworth’s racing past at the site today. In fact, there’s little trace of the abandoned quarry, with considerable earthworks turning the site into green paddocks. The track was located on what is now private property and is inaccessible to the public. Sadly, there are no signs or plaques by the roadside. Racing at Beechworth was so low-key, it’s virtually disappeared from history.