I was dragged kicking and screaming to the classic by my mechanic father to watch these spring cars as I thought they were called when I was six. Sitting on a Warrnambool Woollen Mills blanket on the Warrnambool side grass area, sticking fingers in my ears and rolling around the ground bored when the water truck seemingly did more laps than the cars, I had no idea I would become a fanatic. Carrying a banner made from one of mum's sheets all the way to Perth for the 1985 national title would surely qualify me for that status.

So, from my sketchy first memories of 1979, I've come up with 10 moments, some as a fan and others from (long) days and nights covering the event for The Standard.

As weird and wonderful as the winged machine were, the 1979 classic result was somewhat confusing. The cars that ran first and second that night looked identical. They were. Australia's greatest ever driver Garry Rush led home Victorian Graeme McCubbin in a famous one-two for the HM Headers Jack Maggs team. A photo of the pair separated by less than a car length became a keep-sake poster for many.

A baby-faced Jac Haudenschild streeted the field in 1981. It was the first time I'd seen an American win the classic. He was in another league and by the end of his career, a legend of the sport. He denied Mount Gambier's favourite son Bill Barrows the ultimate prize that year before returning the following year to clinch a famous double.

Garry Rush ended a three-year American streak of wins in 1984, defeating the previous year's champion Danny Smith. Their rivalry was intense and in an era of Men At Work's famous anthem Down Under, Rush carried the hopes of a nation. Sitting in the terrace, when Rush emerged from turn two in front of Smith, the roar was deafening. Smith won three of the next four as Rush was the only one to stop him.

The closest finish I can remember. A young Max Dumesny is within sight of the line only for the master Garry Rush to surge off the last corner, claiming the win in a photo-finish, silencing Dumesny's home crowd.

The first classic I covered for The Standard produced the result every south-west fan had craved - Nullawarre's Max Dumesny, who had been on the podium the previous four years for two seconds and two thirds, broke through for his maiden win. I had interviewed him for a grade six project when he was a motorcycle mechanic in Koroit Street, and followed his progress closely. I will never forget the crush of the crowd that night, Mount Max as it became, had never been so packed.

South Australian Trevor Green produced the drive of his life to win the classic on the Monday afternoon after a spectacular thunderstorm washed out much of the Sunday night program. Green's emotional post-race celebrations will never be forgotten.

Sydneysider Skip Jackson won in 1998 but the biggest talking point came before and after the race. The lights went out through what many thought was an electrical fault. It was only the next day it was revealed thieves made off with more than $174,000 from the club's office during the blackout. Those responsible have never been caught and the club endured years of financial heartache.

A favourite of mine Max Dumesny claimed his third and last classic. But did the crowd give Max the biggest roar that Sunday night? The 2004 classic B-Main produced an astonishing reaction from the fans when a 22-year-old Erin Crocker from Massachusetts swept to the lead with a couple of laps remaining. With the chequered flag about to be waved, countryman Travis Rilat, assured of an A-Main place, attempted to slide under the mid-track running Crocker. Rilat slid upwards, knocked Crocker into the fence and her race was done. Rilat refused to go to the rear of the field for the re-start, the crowd booed and even legendary American Jack Hewitt described his antics as embarrassing. The race was declared without further racing because of Rilat's stubbornness, which meant Crocker was classified a finisher and therefore created history becoming the first and only woman to make the A-Main. During a lengthy stewards hearing the fans chanted "Erin, Erin, Erin" before confirmation of her qualification. Rilat from the back of his transporter told me: "Tell them not to hate me. Tell them to love me."

Will always be remembered as the year the weather won. Northern Territory tree-lopper Ben Atkinson had topped the points for the Sunday night finale but the heavens opened on a balmy night as cars were waiting to be pushed off for the B-Main. The night was abandoned and then on Monday the rain continued preventing any further racing. Drivers voted to split the prize money evenly.

While Max Dumesny, who moved to Sydney in the late 1980s, was always considered a local, Jamie Veal became the first Warrnambool-based driver to take the classic in 2016. He had grown up not far from the track where his dad Ken had raced. A new star was born with a dominant display that included some incredible scenes in front of Mount Max. It started a run of Warrnambool wins, his mate James McFadden the following year and Corey McCullagh in 2018.