Grafton Speedway has a long rich History of almost 100 years of Racing at the Grafton Showgrounds.

In 1925 some visiting Bowlers in particular Mr Hardiman from Newcastle had spoke with the Grafton Show Committee about the success of the Maitland Showgrounds Track for Motorcycles. The Grafton Show Committee Were Hesitant as it would cost over £1,000 and estimates will need to be sort after.

Later that year the Northern Rivers Speedway Committee came down to Grafton to view both the Grafton Racecourse and Grafton Showgrounds on the feasibility of creating a Race track. The NRSC Decided to work with the GSC. In December 1926 is it voted to hold racing at the Grafton Showgrounds on the 1/4 Mile Track though a Safety Fence would have to be erected.

The First Meeting for the Motorcycle Speedway was set down for 10th of December 1927. There were injuries in the Heats from Grafton Youngster A. Young who’s bike collided heavily with the Fence throwing Young to the ground and the bike ended up breaking the top paling and failing over to the other side of the fence.

Between 1927 and 1929 there were constant meetings but didn’t really ramp up until 1929 when Events where held often through to 1939 despite the Great Depression, but it came to an end when World War II Broke out.

Speedway racing at Grafton didn’t recommence until 1947 under the newly formed Clarence Valley Motorcycle club. Though Events weren’t held often

But in 1948 the Main Grandstand was burnt down in a Electrical Fire, The Grandstand was not rebuilt for a number of years which heavily effected the Motorcycle Speedway

August 1947 saw the first glimpse of what our Speedway Racing looks like with the first ever running of Speedcars at the Lismore Showground with a HUGE Crowd of 5000 strong.

In 1949 the Grafton Show Committee discussed a Letter which came from the Clarence Valley Motorcycle Club about changing the Track Surface to a Cinder to better suit the very increasing popularity of Midget Car Racing but due to costs and the Grandstand issue this was put onto the back burner.

In 1949 the Clarence Valley Motorcycle Club voted to move and build their own Speedway at Bawdens Bridge. This was Completed and the Club held Monthly Speedway Meetings on the 1/4 Mile track for the years to come. Speedway was still seen at the Showground for both the Grafton Show and Jacaranda Festivals though the only continuous meetings held were at the Bawdens Bridge Complex.

It was the 1970-71 season, when the Grafton Speedway track reopened for racing and was then promoted as the Grafton Showground, and the track’s first promoter was Toowoomba, Queensland-based businessman Dutton Stibbard, who only three years prior had opened the nearby Lismore Speedway with Neil Mansell, and the pair operated both tracks at the time during this early period. The track was a 440-metre track that has a surface base of dirt and clay mix. In the formative years of the Grafton Showground running as a speedway track, they ran mainly A, B, C Grade and Ladies Sedans, where star drivers from this period competed at the venue, such as big sedan names of the time like Allan Butcher, John Leslight, John Cartwright, Nev Pezzutti, Errol Campbell, Max Maher and Paul O’Neill.  

After a decade of operation and Grafton Showground growing in popularity, Stibbard stepped away from the promoting side of the track and local Robert Tucker took over the promotional issues. Tucker, who was a previous Grafton Speedway Club president and A Grade sedan racer himself, ran the track until the track’s closure in the 1986-87 season. Since the early 1980s, the track had been battling with the Speedway Act, as their safety fence wasn’t up to a suitable standard, which saw the track closed for most of 1982, and at the end of the 1986-87 season, the track closed, after the wooden fence was in disrepair.

Prior to the 1986-87 season, the Grafton Showground was enjoying solid car counts in sedans, which saw a strong line up Grafton-based drivers but also some from places like Lismore, Casino and Coffs Harbour, and during the early 1980s, the popular Sprintcars made multiple appearances at the track. Although the Grafton Showground was predominantly a sedan track, it at different times hosted solo motorcycles as part of their race meetings.

The Grafton Showground sat dormant as a speedway facility between 1987 and 1995, when the Grafton Speedway Club got together, along with the track’s new promoter in Ben Hall, to get the track back up and running eight years later. The biggest change for the track was to removal of the old wooden safety fence and having it replaced with a modern concrete safety fence. Apart from the new safety fence, the track had a name change with it now being called Grafton Speedway for its reopening during the middle of the 1995-96 season, and it has been operating every season ever since.

After three seasons in charge of promoting Grafton Speedway, Hall moved on and the promoter reigns were taken over by local businessman Greg Coombes. Coombes, who was a lawyer during the day and Modified Rod racer by night, was joined by Jason Green and Andrew Walker as co-promoters as a trio and they operated the track from the 1998-99 season. After nearly a decade, Coombes left his post as promoter and then for a couple of seasons, Eddie Mackney and a handful of local speedway enthusiasts promoted the track, before long-time Sydney promoter David Lander took over the promotion for the 2008-09 season.

For the late 1990s and early 2000s, Grafton Speedway had established itself as a V8 Dirt Modifieds, AMCA Nationals and Street Stockers track, where they staged many major events, such as NSW Titles for all three classes, as well as Mr Modified Series rounds for the V8 Dirt Modifieds. Fast forward over 20 years, it’s still very much known as the same, but it’s something that the Grafton Speedway track prides itself on.

After 10 years of running Grafton Speedway, Lander decided to step away from the promoter duties at the end of the 2016-17 season. For the 2017-18 season, Coffs Harbour-based businessman and speedway team owner Mick Corbett put up his hand to promote the venue with his passionate speedway family, and they have been in charge ever since.

Following the Corbetts having taken over the promoter duties of Grafton Speedway, they have taken the venue to a whole new level. The track has a long standing major sponsorship with Hessions Auto Parts, they have increased competitor and most importantly crowd numbers, and they continue to make improvements to the track, such as a new surface, safety fence and lighting. Grafton Speedway is still known as a V8 Dirt Modified, AMCA Nationals and Street Stockers favourite track, but in recent seasons, they have hosted the return of Sprintcars, along with numerous blue-ribbon events for their classes, and have hosted Australian Titles, for classes such as RSA Street Stockers, Modlites and SSA Junior Sedans.

Grafton Speedway is now regarded as one of the best regional tracks in Australia, and despite reaching these heights, the Corbetts are passionate about not resting on their laurels and continuing to grow the Grafton Speedway track!