Universal Joint

19/09/2026

Funny thing about a dirt track,,,

To somebody passing by,,, it’s just noise,,, dust,,, old grandstands & a bunch of cars going around in circles,,,

But I see something different,,,

I see a dad leaning through the window tightening his kid’s belts,,, knowing he’d give anything to protect them for every lap,,, but eventually he has to step away & let them chase their dream,,,

I see a mom standing at the fence nervous as hell,,, counting every lap until she sees that car come safely back through the gate,,,

I see kids carrying hero cards & wearing shirts with somebody else’s number on them,,, looking at local racers the same way other kids look at superheroes,,,

I see crews working underneath one little light at two in the morning,,, exhausted,,, broke,,, bleeding from busted knuckles,,, knowing damn well there probably isn’t enough money in the purse to pay for what they just tore up,,,

But they’ll fix it anyway,,,

Because Saturday is coming,,,

I see husbands & wives,,, fathers & sons,,, mothers & daughters,,, brothers,,, sisters,,, grandparents & grandchildren,,,

Sometimes three generations standing around the same race car,,,

Then one day,,, somebody who was always standing there isn’t there anymore,,,

There’s an empty chair in the pits,,,

An empty spot in the grandstands,,,

A name above the door of the race car,,,

A number being carried in somebody’s memory,,,

& suddenly you understand something,,,

We were never guaranteed another Saturday night together,,,

That’s why I take the pictures,,,

That’s why I try to capture everybody,,,

Because someday that photograph might be worth more than every trophy sitting on the shelf,,,

Someday somebody will look at it & say,,,

“There’s Dad,,,”

“There’s Mom,,,”

“There’s Grandpa,,,”

“That was my little boy before he grew up,,,”

“Man,,, I wish we could have just one more Saturday night,,,”

Race cars get sold,,,

Motors quit running,,,

Tracks eventually change,,,

Trophies collect dust,,,

Even our own names will eventually disappear from the lineup,,,

But those nights we spent together underneath those lights???

Those mattered,,,

Every hug,,,

Every argument followed by a handshake,,,

Every busted motor,,,

Every Victory Lane picture,,,

Every ride home talking about what we should’ve done differently,,,

Every time somebody yelled your name from across the pits,,,

We thought we were chasing checkered flags,,,

Maybe we weren’t,,,

Maybe all along we were building memories with people we never realized we were eventually going to miss,,,

So take the picture,,,

Hug your people,,,

Tell them you love them,,,

Stay another five minutes after the races,,,

Because one ordinary Saturday night you barely think twice about today,,, may someday become the night you’d give everything you own to live one more time,,,

The checkered flag was never the greatest thing dirt track racing gave us,,,

It gave us each other,,,

& long after that final motor goes silent,,,

- Jon Holliday

25/08/2026

POV: You married a race car driver.

You pictured beach vacations.

Instead, you’re planning weekends around race schedules.

You thought date nights would be dinner downtown.

Instead, they’re spent sitting in the grandstands cheering him on.

You imagined your summers would be relaxing.

Instead, they’re full of late nights, dirty shoes, race fuel, and memories you’ll talk about for years.

And somewhere along the way…

The racetrack became your favorite place to be. 🏁❤️

What part of racing life surprised you the most?

option Little Hands
POV: You’re watching your toddler run through the pits like he owns the place.

One day, he’ll be too big to ask for another ride on the golf cart.

Too big to wave at every driver.

Too big to fall asleep in your arms after the feature.

So today, you soak it all in.

Because these race nights won’t last forever. ❤️🏁

25/08/2026

01/08/2026

This event is amazing.

01/08/2026

ACL bearings still kicking ass.

Repco had a habit of taking engines nobody expected to race and making them win championships. In the 1960s, they acquired surplus Oldsmobile aluminum V8 blocks (from the engine GM had abandoned) and Phil Irving designed a Formula 1 engine around them. Jack Brabham won two consecutive World Championships in 1966 and 1967. A discarded American V8 won Formula 1. By 1970, Repco had a new project: take Holden's production 308-cubic-inch road-car V8, the engine that powered Australian family sedans, and turn it into a Formula 5000 race engine that could compete against purpose-built Chevrolet V8s in open-wheel racing. Same company. Same philosophy. Find an overlooked production engine. Re-engineer it. Win.

Phil Irving, the same engineer who designed the Brabham F1 engine, adapted Holden's 308 V8 block for open-wheel competition. The production 308 made approximately 220 HP in a Holden Kingswood sedan. Irving's racing version made 495 HP at 7,500 RPM. More than double the power from the same basic block casting. The modifications were comprehensive: four-bolt main bearing caps machined into blocks sourced strengthened from the factory. Special steel crankshaft replacing the production cast unit. Lightweight forged pistons. Wade performance camshaft. Heavily reworked cylinder heads with larger valves and reshaped ports. Lucas mechanical fuel injection with individual slide throttles and long velocity stacks. Dry-sump lubrication system with belt-driven external oil pumps. Dual-coil Bosch ignition. More than 150 special components designed and manufactured by Repco's subsidiary Redco Pty. Ltd. in Melbourne. The engine revved past 8,000 RPM from an architecture that redlined at 5,200 RPM in the family sedan.

The Repco-Holden's advantage over the dominant Chevrolet V8s wasn't peak horsepower. At 495 HP, it was roughly equal to the 500-HP Chevrolet 302s and destroked 350s running in Formula 5000. The advantage was mid-range torque. John McCormack, who raced both Chevrolet and Repco-Holden engines, was adamant that the Repco-Holden was the better engine because its torque band was broader and more useable through corner exits where throttle modulation mattered more than peak power. A few flat-plane crankshaft versions built in 1973 and 1974 pushed output closer to 525 HP but were less reliable. The standard cross-plane version remained the preferred choice because it won races through durability and drivability rather than outright speed.

Frank Matich won the 1970 Australian Grand Prix in a McLaren M10B powered by a Repco-Holden at the engine's debut race. Matich then designed and built his own chassis (the Matich A50 through A53, constructed by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation from aluminum and titanium monocoques) specifically around the Repco-Holden engine. Kevin Bartlett campaigned Repco-Holden-powered Lola T300s and T332s. McCormack won the 1975 CAMS Gold Star (Australian Drivers' Championship) in an Elfin MR6 with the Repco-Holden. John Goss won the 1976 Australian Grand Prix at Sandown in a Matich A53 Repco-Holden. The development work Repco did on the 308 for racing spun off directly into Holden's road car program: the L34 performance package for the 1974 Torana SL/R 5000 used stronger rods, an improved crankshaft, lightweight flywheel, baffled sump, and roller rockers that all originated from the F5000 program. A family sedan engine that became a race engine that became a better family sedan engine. Repco's specialty: making overlooked engines win.

14/07/2026

We are in need of someone with a traffic controller certification (TRFC-08) to help us officiate at our Lufra Hillclimb on the 22nd of August.

Without a certified traffic controller we will likely have to cancel the event.

If you or anyone you know may be able to help please reach out!

14/07/2026

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1468506888415476&id=100057685358610&post_id=100057685358610_1468506888415476&mibextid=CDWPTG

We are in need of someone with a traffic controller certification (TRFC-08) to help us officiate at our Lufra Hillclimb on the 22nd of August.

Without a certified traffic controller we will likely have to cancel the event.

If you or anyone you know may be able to help please reach out!

18/06/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1E99vShS9A/

09/06/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1axCz5ZFqs/

Australia lets people drive mobility scooters down footpaths at walking speed, but apparently a bloke sitting on a motorised esky with a few cold beers is where the government finally draws the line.

And honestly, the motorised esky might be the most Australian invention ever created. Someone basically looked at camping and said: “what if the cooler carried ME instead?”

Suddenly you’ve got blokes cruising through caravan parks at 20km/h with a sausage roll in one hand and a VB in the other like kings of the asphalt.

The funniest part is these things are somehow illegal despite being slower than most e-bikes. Which means somewhere in Australia there are police officers legally required to chase down a middle-aged bloke riding an esky full of Great Northern cans.

Honestly if that isn’t proof this country has lost its way, nothing is.

07/06/2026

A good mate running his 25th Finke.

The 460 kilometre, two-day, off-road Finke Desert Race will rip through the red dust of Central Australia for its 50th anniversary from Friday, and Arrernte man Alan Henderson has been there for half ...