Heavy Metal Motor Racing
Watching 5-tonne behemoths thunder around a race track spouting plumes of diesel smoke into the air and making the earth tremble below is evidently a crowd-pleasing sight. For, not only does it require great skill and truck driving talent to do, but it also draws hoards of ardent fans and has even attracted a number of driving icons from other motorsport codes to ‘give it a go’.
It will probably come as no shock that as a sport truck racing originated in the good ‘ol US of A, however, the ‘when’ it began did surprise us, 17th June 1979 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway to be exact and what’s more it was the opening scene in the movie Smokey and the Bandit II – ‘you got your ears on?’
Around a dozen trucks of all sizes and makes took to the oval track in that inaugural race but from there truck racing began to gain a foothold with meets initially taking place on dirt or tarmac tracks in the Eastern United States and beyond.
After 1986, the trucks became highly modified and shed more than 2000lbs in weight and around the same time truck racing found its way into Europe with the FIA European Truck Racing Championship being created. The maximum race speed is restricted to 160 km/h, which is plenty, races are a rolling start and although it’s a non contact sport, due to the physical size, and closeness of trucks to each other, minor collisions can often occur. However, injuries to drivers are very rare.
Closer to home, Truck racing made its way to Australia in 1988 at a rain sodden Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne. The trucks themselves were simply working units, road-going tractor/prime movers of all forms (even sleeper cabs) that had been unhooked from their trailers, had race seats and a harness fitted and were then let loose on the track to race.
Initially they were one-off events held across Australia, however, a regular series was soon developed with ‘rounds’ taking place in a variety of states and as the sport evolved all trucks were required to be single drive units and no sleepers. The trucks became purpose-built race trucks.
In 1989, truck racing jumped the ditch to NZ as three normal every-day guys decided that racing tractor units in NZ sounded like a great idea (having seen racing from Europe and Australia). They developed road-going trucks into racing machines and developed three different classes, racing the Caltex New Zealand Truck Grand Prix at Pukekohe raceway that April. More than 25,000 people jammed Pukekohe raceway with thousands more watching on TV. It was the biggest motor racing crowd at the track in 20 years and one of the biggest sporting crowds of any sort for the year. Kiwi F1 icon Denny Hulme and Avon Hyde jointly took out the season championship.
Over the next few years, the NZ championship swapped between Robin Porter and Hyde then in 1993, truck racing’s ‘A’ class was renamed ‘Supertrucks’ and the formula was opened up to greater modifications for racing, everything from sports exhausts to superchargers and clutches, all gloves were off. And at the same time a light truck (sub 3-tonne) category was introduced.
Between ‘93 and the early noughties Ron Salter and Ian ‘Inky’ Tullock joined the fray, both with multiple wins and Andrew Porter (Robin’s son) adding to the family’s trophy cabinet four times since 2003.
Despite the obvious recent Covid disruptions, truck and Supertruck racing has retained its position on NZ’s motorsport calendar and for the past five years Troy Wheeler of Auckland based TWC Super Truck Racing has held the title, currently running a Freightliner with a C12 Caterpillar engine capable of putting out over 1600 horsepower.
Although recently restricted to just three tracks nationally, Timaru International Motor Raceway, Invercargill’s Teretonga Park and Christchurch’s Mike Pero Motorsport Park it’s still as popular as ever and with up to twelve trucks taking to the field and thousands watching them push the speed of these huge vehicles up to their (restricted) 160km/h it’s easy to see why.
“You can’t help but marvel when you see these things race; they are absolutely amazing to watch”