Timboon driver Luke Walker and his pit crew are testament to that.

Walker, 23, and his team, including parents Bevan and Shirley, worked hard to return to the track for the World Series Sprintcars round at Premier Speedway on New Year’s Day.

“I haven’t done the last couple of race meetings at Avalon and Warrnambool because we had a bit of a crash at Simpson,” he said from the pits after qualifying third fastest in his flight on Tuesday night.

“We had to fix it all up, so this is all the random bits from around the sheds we’ve put together.

“There was a little bit of chasing around, we had to source bits and fix everything up.”

Walker said it was important to race again before the three-night Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic at the Allansford track in mid-January.

“I definitely wanted to come back because we wanted to give it a run before the classic,” he said.

“We wanted to see the car as a whole, we just slapped it together so you want to give it a run before the biggest race of the year.

“We might mix a few things around but it will be pretty similar.”

Walker works closely with his parents, girlfriend Mikayla Hein and uncle Ian Vagg to live out his sprintcar dream. He called on Colac’s Ray Cole to help out at Premier on New Year’s Day too.

He said the support he received, from his team, sponsors and the Timboon community, was integral.

“It’s massive, racing sprintcars, a lot of work goes into it and without them I couldn’t do it,” he said.

“We’ve been going OK (this season) but had just a bit of bad luck.

“We were going all right here a few weeks ago. We started moving forward in the A-Main and the sideboard came off.

“At Avalon we were fourth in the A-Main and span out and that was the end of that.

“I think we’ve been quick but it’s all got to come together.

“We’re a new team so we’re still learning and trying to get better every week.”

Walker is busy off the track too – his business is 14 months old.

“I started up up my own company and it’s mechanical engine designs and I build a lot of stuff,” he said.

“It’s really busy. I work out of mum and dad’s workshop here.

“I’ve been flat out the whole time.

“I was a little bit hesitant and when I started up I planned to work for dad a bit and I’ve done hardly any work for him, I haven’t had time.

“Sometimes you’ve got to take a bit of a risk on yourself I suppose.”

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