Wangaratta City Raceway winds down for Christmas

THEIR final race meet for 2024 is in the rear-view mirror, but members and volunteers at Wangaratta City Raceway will be working hard through the holiday break to get everything ready for 2025. The track has seen three days of massive race meets already in the 2024-25 season, but there’s plenty more to come. A total of six racing days remain on the club’s calendar, with a whopping eight titles up for grabs, all set to be contested in the new year. Club president Kenneth Mankey said the club was in an incredible position at the halfway point of their racing calendar. “It’s been a busy, busy year,” he said. “We’re three race meetings into our season, it’s probably the biggest season we’ve had so far numbers-wise for car entries and spectators that are coming through the gate. “Now we’ve finished that race meeting last weekend, it’s all hands on deck to do a fair bit of upgrades we’ve been planning to do. “We did heaps over the off-season, we have two months off to do these other upgrades.” The track has seen a flood of attendees all through the start of the season, which Mankey couldn’t be more excited about. “It’s unreal, even though it’s early in the season, to get the numbers we’ve been getting through the gate is unreal,” he said. “We’re getting huge numbers, where other tracks are actually cancelling because they can’t get enough cars, but we’re almost getting too many. “I put it down to the vibe around the venue – the atmosphere around the club; the racing and track condition is really good. “Our calendar is structured very well, the classes we run on race day don’t clash with any other track. “When we have that class on, all the drivers want to come to Wangaratta because they’re not racing at other tracks. “Normally we’ve got plenty of food in our canteen but we’ve sold out every round this year, it’s gone to the next level. “You look on the bank and you see the bank full, and you think ‘yeah this is working, what we’re trying to achieve is working’.” With the next race meeting set for the Australia Day long weekend – featuring the Street Stock and Junior Victorian Titles over two massive days of racing - and the club has two months to finish upgrades such as new traffic lights and repairing the concrete walls. Mankey said the two-month break was also beneficial for club members to recharge and enjoy the holidays with family. “I’m glad we’ve structured the calendar this year to have that two-month period off so everyone can spend it with their families over Christmas, because every year before we’ve run over Christmas and it’s been flat out around the track,” he said. “This year, everyone can go do their thing with their families, enjoy their Christmas and relax, then we get back into in at the end of January. “I just want to thank everyone who goes there: all the spectators, the fans, the volunteers, the drivers, the committee members, sponsors, everyone who comes through our gates to be part of the venue.” Racing returns to Wangaratta on Saturday, January 25 and Sunday, January 26 with the SSA Street Stocks Vic Title, SSA Juniors Vic Title, and SSA Production Sedans.

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