It’s his third south-west visit to attend the South West Conveyancing Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic and he loves the area. “I follow pretty much anything with wheels,” he said. “I’m a complete motor head. If you’ve got five vehicles with a motor and a crazy man behind the wheel, I’ll probably watch.” 

He met now-Premier Speedway general manager David Mills and other south-west fans at the Knoxville Nationals about 20 years ago, sparking a long friendship.

Mr Trainer’s first visit to Warrnambool was for the classic and national championships in 2011, and again in 2014. He said his experience was “fairly mind blowing”, expecting 75 or 80 cars. “When I got here there was 120. It was much bigger than I thought it would be.” 

He hopes to make it an annual or biannual trip, already planning a visit in 2020. “The people here in Warrnambool and my friends are the reason I keep coming back. I could go to Arizona or Florida or somewhere in the United States and see racing but I choose to come here.”

Mr Trainer, from Minneapolis, is staying at the Best Western Olde Maritime for four nights and enjoys visiting local cafes and restaurants. “We like to go shopping and of course Kermonds Hamburgers is a must,” he said. “That was the first place I went. Oddly enough I found one of the American race car drivers sitting in there eating as well. Giovani Scelzi was in there eating a burger.”

He said the teen could be described as a prodigy. “It has to be natural talent because he doesn’t have years of experience telling him where to go, he just knows where to go. He seems like a terrific kid. I hope he does really well. He’s a really nice young man.”

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