Victoria’s Heathcote Raceway Park is looking forward to a new lease on life in the hands of new owner Lance Warren, which will include sanctioning from IHRA Australia.
In a statement from IHRA Australia, it was announced that Heathcote Raceway Park would be part of a multi-year sanctioning agreement between the two parties.
Warren has big plans for Heathcote, with major upgrades in the works.
IHRA Australia managing director Maurice Allen welcomed the new ownership for the Bendigo venue.
“Drag racing in Victoria has been crying out for somebody to step up and commit to a world class venue,” he said. “I commend Lance and his team for seeing the potential that Heathcote holds, and for helping secure the future of the sport in the state.
“We look forward to working closely with Lance to ensure that the upgrades to the venue match the safety requirements, but also to introduce Lance and his team to the IHRA Member Track network which now stands at nine tracks across the country.”
From Warren’s perspective, the ability to be part of several major series including 400 Thunder, Jamboree and the Kenda 660 Drag Radial Series was a deciding factor.
“It was a no-brainer. We want to bring the biggest events to the region, and we felt that IHRA was best positioned to help us do that,” he said.
“When you look events like the 400 Thunder Drag Racing Series, Jamboree, Grudge Kings and the Kenda Radial Series across the country, and most of the major venues that we are aspiring to be mentioned alongside, they all have one thing in common – IHRA Australia. And when you add the support network from Maurice and his team, we are certainly going to be able to accommodate and support the progression of racers of all levels from the off-street guys all the way up to wherever they might end up in the sport. IHRA Australia is the best choice for us to help our track get to where we need to go.”
In discussions about the sanctioning move on Facebook, Warren noted that the venue would still host unsanctioned events.
“(The deal) still gives us the ability to run our own non-sanctioned events that HPR is known for. This is a major win for us and we see no negatives with this deal, only positives,” he said.
