Australian NASCAR Drivers

Before Marcos Ambrose came from the land down under, several Australian racers attempted a venture to NASCAR's top series. Interest in stock cars began to grow in Australia during the 1980's, and it was officially announced in December 1987 that NASCAR would hold an exhibition race at Melbourne's Calder Park Thunderdome in February 1988 between the Richmond and Rockingham races. The Winston Cup Series first two race winners that season, Bobby Allison and Neil Bonnett, headlined the event but there were also several Australian drivers coming from several different types of racing to drive in the event. TV coverage of the race can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B0443AE5A61B32EA&search_query=nascar+australia

Prior to this event, a couple of them did try there hand at the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Tony Spanos drove a Chevrolet for legend James Hylton; however, he did not have much success. From 1987-1989, Spanos only made the field in one of eleven attempts finishing 18th at Martinsville in his only NASCAR points-paying start.

Longtime racing veteran Allan Grice made his first foray into NASCAR in 1987, with the help from Butch Mock and Richard Childress. Grice qualified 36th and finished 35th at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Fellow Australian Graeme Crosby also received assistance for the race, but did not make the field. Grice had a vast resume' in Australian racing, winning many championships over three decades. However, Grice would only make one more NASCAR start in 1989, finishing 34th once again in the Coca-Cola 600.

Two drivers who made their stock car debut in the Australia exhibition race in 1988 went on to race in the Cup Series a year after. Most notably, Dick Johnson, a four time Australian Touring Car champion at the time made his Cup Series debut in the inaugural race at Sears Point Raceway in his Redkote sponsored Ford. Johnson provided commentary for the ESPN crew during the race and had his share of problems as you can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7PxoDrOboE&feature=related. Johnson would finish the race, but back in 32nd place. He would go on to attempt four more races in 1989, qualifying for three of them with a best finish of 22nd at Pocono. He would make four more attempts in 1990, with a best finish of 27th in his last start at Watkins Glen. Johnson would go back to racing Australian Touring Cars before retiring in 1999. He continues to own a racing team for his son Steven in the Australian V8 Supercar Series.

Terry Byers also made selected starts in 1989 and 1990. Byers made his debut in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1989, starting 35th and finishing 21st. Byers attempted three more races over the summer and made the show for two of them, finishing 19th and 21st at the Pocono races. In 1990 Byers would not be as fortunate, failing to finish both of his starts which occurred at Charlotte and Daytona. Byers reemerged in 1995 announcing his intention to run for rookie of the year, but failed to qualify in all of his attempts including a practice wreck in preparation for the fall Charlotte race which sent him to the hospital. He would only make a handful of attempts through 1996 before disappearing from the NASCAR scene again.

While the Aussies had mixed results in the top levels, NASCAR's presence did play a major impact in Australian racing. Following the inaugural exhibition race, NASCAR returned twice to Calder Park Thunderdome in December 1988 and December 1990. An Australian NASCAR-type tour called AUSCAR was formed and competed until 2001.

After the recent success of Marcos Ambrose, there has been a resurgence of Australian interest in NASCAR. Many drivers hope to follow in Ambrose's footsteps, one of those being Owen Kelly. Kelly spent about a decade racing V8 Supercars and Formula Fords before making the move to America in 2008 and started out on a local level at Motor Mile Speedway driving a late model stock car fielded by JR Motorsports. In 2009, Kelly made the move to the UARA Stars Late Model Stock Car Series and currently sits tenth in points with a best finish of fourth.