CHRIS Rodda is the quintessential speedway enthusiast.
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He’s a lifelong sprintcar supporter whose passion for the sport spilled into dabbling in racing.
Now, the Colac father-of-one is preparing to battle the big names in one of Australia’s most prestigious races.
Rodda, 33, is realisitic about his chances.
He knows he won’t walk away with the South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic crown.
An A-Main berth on the final night would surpass his expectations too.
He just wants to be one of the 96 drivers – there are 111 entered – to progress to the three-night showcase’s finale.
“We know where we are, we’re not a team that is ever going to win it, we just like to go out there and compete,” Rodda said.
“For us we have different goals I suppose to what others do. I guess for us a B-Main would be sensational.
“I always dreamt about racing a sprintcar. As a young kid, you thought that was what you wanted to do and what you were going to do for a living.
“I soon realised when I was younger that it’s not where I was going to go so I got out of speedway.
“I raced a sprintcar once and sold it to purchase my partners out in a business. I concentrated on business for the next six years and got back into it when we could afford to do it basically.
“Probably the worst thing is we’re a little behind the eight-ball. Now that I am a little bit older it’s harder to get going with it.”
Car troubles wrecked Rodda’s first two Classic attempts.
His debut was over before it started with engine troubles forcing him out and a flat tyre while leading the D-Main cost him 12 months ago.
He is hoping it’s a case of third time lucky at the Allansford meeting.
“We look forward to the Classic weekend because it’s something I have grown up attending and just enjoyed watching, so to be out racing in it now is brilliant,” Rodda said.
“It’s basically me and my mates who have grown up watching speedway (who work on my car).
“They help me out and Dave McFadden, James’ old man, looks after my car. It stays at his house.
“Him and ‘Chook’ (Michael Whitehead) usually look after me on the night in terms of set up so they’ve been brilliant.”
Rodda, who has raced go-karts, formula 500s, motorbikes and rally cars, business commitments with West Vic Sheds and Garages and BuildPro Colac had limited his time behind the sprintcar wheel.
“This is my third season and we’ve probably only raced in total 20 nights,” he said.
“I run a couple of businesses in Colac and I sponsor Corey McCullagh and Jye O’Keeffe.
“Myself and Corey raced go-karts for a while. They are a lot more talented than I am so I am happy to help them out and I enjoy seeing our name on the cars and them doing well.”
Rodda is hopeful he can expand his racing schedule in the next 12 months.
His daughter, Layla, 2, loves spending time at the track watching him race.
“We have had a pretty relaxed year – I think this is only our fifth race meeting,” he said of the Classic.
“We have never really had a full-on crack yet. Probably next season is the plan to do a lot more racing and try and improve, because without racing we just don’t improve a lot.”
It’s the love of a sport he grew up watching from the sidelines that fuels his desire to achieve that improvement.
“It’s something that not everyone can do I suppose,” Rodda said.
“You get that buzz that a lot of people are watching and thinking ‘I’d love to be able to do that’.
“It’s got to be the speed, there’s nothing else like it. I have driven a lot of different pieces and nothing compares to a sprintcar.”