21/06/2026
AUSTRALIAN SPEEDWAY HISTORY BOOKS
Back in 2015 I self-published the first of many books on the history of Australian Speedway racing.
Sadly – despite over a hundred years of dirt-track action – very little is known about the sport’s origins – compared to cricket, the various football codes and horse racing – where many historical publications are readily available to the general public.
And that situation is never going to change.
Eleven years ago I published – THE ALL-TIME CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY FACT FILE 1927-2000 “END OF AN ERA” – a statistical review of the long running Claremont Speedway.
Many more followed – see list below – the majority concentrating on the Western Australian speedway scene.
In 2017 I published SINGAPORE SPEEDWAY 1930 – the virtually unknown – and fascinating – story of the short lived (six meetings) happenings in Singapore – that had several competitors and officials from Claremont.
After book #13 I took a break – I had sent copies of all of my books to the Battye Library in Perth for future generations to read.
It has always been a labour of love – there was never any expectation of making a profit from this – and that has certainly been the case.
Then – after a break – I got back in front of the computer to plough my way through a myriad of newspaper articles on “Trove” – the Australian library site that is simply amazing to look at – and the result was the virtually unknown story of the start of Midget (Speedcar) racing in Australia.
MIDGET RACING DOWN UNDER The Inaugural 1934-35 Season (Olympic Park, Melbourne) – was published in November 2021.
Again – that was it – I said – but I cannot help it – an addiction I reckon – and I am off on another mission.
This time I am researching the amazing journey across the country back in the 1932-33 season by Mr. John S. Hoskins and his team of English and Australian riders – 18 riders plus 38 bikes (J.A.P.’s) + spares – racing at the Claremont Speedway (WA), Wayville Speedway (SA), Exhibition Speedway (Victoria) and the Speedway Royal (New South Wales) – and in typical Hoskins fashion, running rounds of the “World Championship” and test matches.
And – if time doesn’t beat me – I have plans to also tell the story of the first season of racing at both the Sydney Royal and the Exhibition Speedway in Brisbane.
Ken Brown – Historical Speedway Books
CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY 1927-28 “THE LIGHTS GO ON”
CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY 1928-29 “BACK FOR MORE”
CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY 1929-30 “THIRD TIME AROUND”
CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY 1930-37 “THE TURBULENT THIRTIES”
CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY 1946-47 “THE MIGHTY MIDGETS”
CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY 1947-54 “THE POST WAR YEARS”
CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY 1955-57 “THE STOCK CAR ERA”
THE ALL-TIME CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY FACT FILE 1927-2000 “END OF AN ERA”
CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY 1946-2000 – THE MAIN EVENT – “Feature Race Winners From Abbley to Zivetts”
CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY 1946-2000 – THE MAIN EVENT #2 – “Feature Race Winners Week by Week”
SINGAPORE SPEEDWAY 1930
THE AHG SPRINTCAR SERIES FACT FILE 2000-2017
WORLD SERIES SPRINTCARS FACT FILE 1987-2017
THE U.S. VERSUS US “History of the Western Australian Sprintcar Speedweek Series” 1982-2018
MIDGET RACING DOWN UNDER The Inaugural 1934-35 Season (Olympic Park, Melbourne)
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TO PURCHASE ANY OF THESE HISTORICAL SPEEDWAY BOOKS CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW - THIS BRINGS UP "THE ALL-TIME CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY FACT FILE 1927-2000 “END OF AN ERA" BOOK. SCROLL DOWN TO FIND DETAILS OF THE OTHER BOOKS.
https://au.blurb.com/b/7034115-the-all-time-claremont-speedway-fact-file
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Co-Authored – with Peter Pascoe & Brad Thompson
CLAREMONT SPEEDWAY SNAPSHOTS Volume 1
CAGELESS & COURAGEOUS The pre-roll cage era of WA Speedcars Volume 1
CAGELESS & COURAGEOUS The pre-roll cage era of WA Speedcars Volume 2
TEAR-UPS & TEAR-OFFS – THE PETER ROEBUCK SPEEDWAY COLLECTION
