Rowley Park Speedway
| The Place Where Champions Gather The Brick Pit The Butter Box |
|
|---|---|
| Location |
Torrens Road Brompton, South Australia |
| Coordinates | 34°53′36″S 138°34′36″E / 34.89333°S 138.57667°ECoordinates: 34°53′36″S 138°34′36″E / 34.89333°S 138.57667°E |
| Capacity | 15,000 |
| Owner | Soccer Association of South Australia |
| Operator | Wal Watson (1949-1951) Alf Shields (1951-1954) Kym Bonython (1954-1973) The Consortium consisting of Kevin Fischer, Cec Eichler, Rex Sendy and Ray Skipper (1973/74) Racing Drivers Association of South Australia (1974-1979) |
| Opened | 21 December 1949 |
| Closed | 6 April 1979 |
| Major events |
Australian Sprintcar Championship Australian Speedcar Championship Australian Super Sedan Championship Australian Solo Championship Australian Sidecar Championship Rick Harvey Memorial Harry Neale Memorial Golden Fleece 50 Lap Speedcar Derby Australasian Solo Final Various SA Championships |
| Oval | |
| Surface | Dolomite |
| Length | 0.222 mi (0.358 km) |
| Lap record | 0:14.8 (Jimmy Sills ( ) / Steve brazier ( ), , 1978, Sprintcar) |
Rowley Park Speedway is a former dirt track racing venue that was located on Torrens Road in Brompton, South Australia and supplanted the Kilburn speedway (1946–1951) and the earlier Camden motordrome (1935–1941). The speedway ran continually during Australia's speedway seasons (usually October to April) from its opening meeting on Wednesday 21 December 1949 until its last meeting on Friday 6 April 1979.
Rowley Park was originally conceived in 1948 by a group of Kilburn Speedway Speedcar drivers who were disgruntled with the Melbourne based promotors Kirjon Speedway Pty Ltd. The Soccer Association of South Australia owned the site of a former "pughole" (South Australian term for a clay pit or brick pit) on Torrens Rd. at Brompton named Rowley Park which was located only 5 km from the city and the original plan was for the land to be the home of Soccer in SA. It was purchased by, and named for, Mr Enoch Procter (Ted) Rowley, an English-born dentist who moved to Adelaide from Kalgoorlie in 1908 where he had forged a reputation as being Western Australia's best soccer goalkeeper. However, the Soccer Association had received bad press regarding its failure to grow grass on the site. Rowley Park also had a tendency to flood during winter as the bottom of "The Brick Pit" was below the level of the water table, which made playing soccer virtually impossible.
The Soccer Association then obtained a lease on Hindmarsh Oval from the Hindmarsh Council, but as owners of Rowley Park were keen to make money from it rather than let it sit unused. The initial lease for the speedway was £26 per meeting plus a toll of 1 penny per head through the gate based on a minimum of 23 race meetings per season.
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