MOTORSPORT: Sprintcars set for Adelaide 500
Fast-growing festival to include Stadium Super Trucks, Supercross, Cold Chisel and Crowded HouseBogan Christmas has officially been scheduled for November 14-17 this year with confirmation the VAILO Adelaide 500 will include – for the very first time – a temporary speedway oval that will play host to two full nights of Sprintcar racing.
Slated for the Thursday and Friday nights of the season-ending event for the Repco Supercars Championship, an invitation-only field of up to 40 cars will take on what is promised to be one of the best-attended speedway events ever held in Australia.
Additionally, the high-flying Boost Mobile Stadium Super Trucks are set to return to the event after a four-year absence, and the Australian Supercross Championship is also scheduled to feature the third round of its series on a custom-built track.
Elsewhere, the festival’s concert schedule has been confirmed, with Crowded House to perform on Saturday night, followed by Cold Chisel on Sunday.
The temporary oval, to be known as NAPA Speedway, will represent the first time an event of this type has been hosted in a downtown location.
American-based Aussie James McFadden, a two-times Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic champion and a 360 Nationals winner Stateside, is the first confirmed starter for the ‘Speedway in the City’ event.
“It’s fantastic that Sprintcars are going to be part of the VAILO Adelaide 500 with their own event,” said McFadden.
“I can’t think of a better place to do it – especially on the streets of Adelaide. It’s a great city for sport and motorsport. To be a part of the Adelaide 500 is huge and it’s one of the biggest motorsport events in the world.
“For us to showcase what we do on a stage as big as this is going to be fantastic.
“I grew up going to Speedway City in Adelaide, and I’m excited to come back to the town. I know how great the fans are, and I’m really excited that NAPA has supported this event.
“The South Australian Motorsport Board are going to make it an unbelievable show.
“To have a speedway built in the middle of the city, in conjunction with the VAILO Adelaide 500, is huge for the sport of speedway. It’s going to be an awesome show. There’ll be a lot of talented drivers and teams, and Sprintcar has such a big following in Australia.”
The Adelaide 500 has a long history of innovation in terms of sideshows to the main Supercars races.
The event introduced Stadium Super Trucks to the country in 2015, the same year that Jean-Eric Vergne put a Ferrari Formula 1 car through its paces in demonstration runs around the Adelaide Parklands.
Earlier in 2013, Ken Block brought the best of his gymkhana franchise to Australia with a series of shows.
While the Adelaide 500 was parked after the 2020 event, the event was revived as a core promise of Peter Malinauskas’ successful state election campaign in 2022.
Now once again under the control of the rejuvenated South Australian Motorsport Board, the 2023 event was noted as being one of the best attended to date, with an array of car shows and side attractions, capped by a Robbie Williams concert.
This year, outside of the Supercars, on-track action will feature the Dunlop Super2 Series, Porsche Carrera Cup, V8 SuperUtes and, for the first time, the Australian Trans Am Series.
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