The driver last week parted with car-owner Droste Motorsport and has been frantically racing to build a car from scratch as he prepares for his South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic heat on Saturday.

“We’ve been up until midnight every night just trying to get the car together with some early starts as well,” Van Ginneken said.

“We’ve been working hard to get it done. I’ve been lucky to have a couple of new sponsors on board too, which has helped me out a lot. I couldn’t do that without them.

“It’s the same brand of car with a Maxwell engine and we’ve also got the same chassis. It’s not anything new – I know what I’m driving.

“It’s just this time, I’m back driving for myself and we’ve got no excuses as to why we can’t do well.”

Van Ginneken, who progressed to sprintcars in 2011 after a stint in formula 500s, said the energy around the city was palpable.

He said it had been challenging to juggle family life with sprintcars and work.

“With two young kids and a wife to keep happy, it gets a bit busy,” he laughed.

“But they love it as much as I do.

“Being involved in the building industry, people recognise your name and say ‘it must be exciting’ and it is.”

The 31-year-old revealed he planned more dates but prioritised the classic after splitting from the Droste team.

“We didn’t get to race Avalon  or Mount Gambier but we’ll be ready for the classic and for the Australian titles next week after that again,” he said.