As some of you will know I have been attempting to trace the origins of banger racing beyond the accepted 1967/68 genesis of the sport. Just found this whilst browsing and I quote I found this (programme) from Brafield dated August 28th 1960. On page 2 there it was in black and white, the late Geoff Barnett starting it all with just 2 lines of print Today we introduce Jalopy racing. The rules? You must wear a crash hat. Car - ex road, no armour. Simple I remember we had 4 races that day with progressively fewer cars in each event and an American gentleman from Chelveston Air Force base won 3 of them. That was Doc Kelly a refugee from the US stock car scene and 2 weeks later he repeated his success in an old Morris open tourer. The article goes on to mention a fatality at another circuit so it was no means confined to Northampton although that incident appears to have brought about the end, certainly at Brafield as the Board of Control became involved. So there we have it, banger RACING as opposed to DD events seems to have its origins way past the accepted start, just under a different name. With Graham Brown
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 11:09:32 +0000
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