South Australian Speedcar Championship

The South Australian Speedcar Championship is a Speedcar championship held in the state of South Australia on an annual basis during the Australian speedway season.

South Australia was the third Australian state behind Victoria and New South Wales to race speedcars when races began at the Camden Motordrome on 28 December 1935. Two years later saw the formation of the states first governing body, South Australian Speedways Limited.^[1]

The first State Championship was run at the Kilburn Speedway in Adelaide in 1946/47 and was won by Victorian driver Jack O'Dea.^[2]

Adelaide based drivers Murray Hoffman, and former Speedcar and Sprintcar national champion Phil March jointly hold the record with four wins each. The now defunct Rowley Park Speedway in Adelaide hosted the championship on 29 occasions between 1959/50 and 1978/79. Speedway Park/City is next hosting on 20 occasions between 1979/80 and 1999/2000.

Of the state titles held since 1946/47, there have been 6 won by overseas visitors. They have been Bob Tattersall (1958/59, 1967/68), Jimmy Davies (1962/63, 1963/64) and Mark Passerrelli (1987/88) from the United States, and New Zealand speedway star Barry Butterworth (1964/65).

One family has made the SA Title record books in recent times with four members of the same family winning the event. Garry Dillon took the win in 1993/94; his son Luke Dillon driving for his Uncle Stephen Dillon won in 2006/07; son Lee Dillon won in 2008/09 driving for fellow SA Speedcar racer Mark Harrington; and cousin Ben Dillon who won the event in 2010/11 driving for his father Stephen.

The reigning SA Champion is WA's Tom Payet, until a new winner is crowned at Murray Bridge Speedway (Riverview Speedway), Murray Bridge in March 2024.

REF: www.SAspeedcars.com

All drivers are from South Australia (SA) unless otherwise stated.

Year	Venue	City	Winner
1946/47	Kilburn Speedway	Adelaide	Jack O'Dea (Vic)
1947/48	Kilburn Speedway	Adelaide	Harley Hammond
1948/49	Kilburn Speedway	Adelaide	Jack O'Dea (Vic)
1949/50	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Alf Beasley (Vic)
Year	Venue	City	Winner
1950/51	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Harry Neale
1951/52	Not Held
1952/53	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Rick Harvey
1953/54	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Dave Cooper
1954/55	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Len Golding
1955/56	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Arn Sunstrom
1956/57	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Harry Neale
1957/58	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Murray Hoffman
1958/59	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Bob Tattersall ()
1959/60	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Kym Bonython
Year	Venue	City	Winner
1960/61	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Murray Hoffman
1961/62	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Ron Wood
1962/63	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Jimmy Davies ()
1963/64	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Jimmy Davies ()
1964/65	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Barry Butterworth ()
1965/66	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Murray Hoffman
1966/67	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Murray Hoffman
1967/68	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Bob Tattersall ()
1968/69	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Peter Maltby
1969/70	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Ray Oram (NSW)
Year	Venue	City	Winner
1970/71	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Peter Maltby
1971/72	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Ronald Mackay (NSW)
1972/73	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Doug Sunstrom
1973/74	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Greg Anderson
1974/75	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Bob McMillan
1975/76	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Phil Herreen
1976/77	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Howard Marks (NT)
1977/78	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Rex Hodgson
1978/79	Rowley Park Speedway	Adelaide	Greg Anderson
1979/80	Speedway Park	Virginia	Steve Stewart
Year	Venue	City	Winner
1980/81	Speedway Park	Virginia	Bill Wigzell
1981/82	Speedway Park	Virginia	Phil March
1982/83	Speedway Park	Virginia	Peter Maltby
1983/84	Speedway Park	Virginia	Phil March
1984/85	Speedway Park	Virginia	Phil March
1985/86	Speedway Park	Virginia	Phil March
1986/87	Speedway Park	Virginia	Phil Herreen
1987/88	Speedway Park	Virginia	Mark Passerrelli ()
1988/89	Speedway Park	Virginia	Trevor Green*
1989/90	Speedway Park	Virginia	Trevor Green
Year	Venue	City	Winner
1990/91	Speedway Park	Virginia	Jeff Blake (NT)
1991/92	Speedway Park	Virginia	Neville Lance (WA)
1992/93	Speedway Park	Virginia	Mark Reuter
1993/94	Speedway Park	Virginia	Gary Dillon
1994/95	Speedway Park	Virginia	Chas Calandro
1995/96	Not Held
1996/97	Speedway City	Virginia	Warrenne Ekins (NT)
1997/98	Speedway City	Virginia	Wayne Cover (WA)
1998/99	Not Held
1999/2000	Speedway City	Virginia	Mark Brown (NSW)
Year	Venue	City	Winner
2000/01	Not Held
2001/02	Wayville Showground	Adelaide	Warrenne Ekins (NT)
2002/03	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Peter Ghent Jnr (VIC)
2003/04	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Peter Ghent Jnr (VIC)
2004/05	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Steven Graham (NSW)
2005/06	Borderline Speedway	Mount Gambier	Troy Jordan (VIC)
2006/07	Sunline Speedway	Waikerie	Luke Dillon
2007/08	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Mark Brown (NSW)
2008/09	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Lee Dillon
2009/10	Tolmer Speedway	Bordertown	Brendan Palmer (QLD)
Year	Venue	City	Winner
2010/11	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Ben Dillon
2011/12	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Travis Mills (VIC)
2012/13	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Adam Clarke (NSW)
2013/14	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Mark Brown (NSW)
2014/15	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Anthony Chaffey (QLD)
2015/16	Westline Speedway	Whyalla	Nick Rowe (WA)
2016/17	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Nathan Smee (NSW)
2017/18	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	Dayne Kingshott (WA)
2018/19	Borderline Speedway	Mount Gambier	Matt Jackson (NSW)
2019/20	Borderline Speedway	Mount Gambier	Nathan Smee (NSW)
2020/21	Not Held - COVID
2021/22	Not Held - Washed out
2022/23	Borderline Speedway	Mount Gambier	Tom Payet (WA)
2023/24	Riverview Speedway	Murray Bridge	TBD - March 2024

* Trevor Green, the 1988/89 champion, became the first rookie to win the SA title. He backed it up with his second title in 1989/90.