A REJUVENATED Queensland Raceway made its Supercars Championship return across the weekend, and there’s little doubt in Tony Quinn’s eyes that it should be no one-hit wonder.
Quinn has invested heavily into sprucing up the Ipswich venue since purchasing it from John Tetley in 2021.
Six years on from its last Supercars round, QR’s long-awaited day in the sun came and a largely good impression was left.
There is, however, no guarantee just yet that it will be part of the 2026 calendar.
With Ruapuna Raceway confirmed to be a new addition, stakeholders are debating how to grow the schedule to 14 stops so that the Christchurch round doesn’t come at the expense of an existing event.
“Obviously when I bought the track, I had a lot to do: it’s almost like qualifying last and having to fight your way to the front,” said Quinn.
“But I have been helped by a great team of people that work here and are pretty much wedded to the place and because I pay them each week they keep coming back!
“But we always knew that if we presented a good product, that there would be a chance to talk about the V8s coming back.
“Me and (former Supercars chief operating officer) Tim Watsford had a chat last year, or whenever it was, and we sort of planted the seed of how could we make it happen. So now it’s happened.
“It’s been just so good. I haven’t met one grumpy person, which is unusual, but everybody has been so complimentary: all the drivers, all the teams, the Supercar guys have enjoyed the cooperation that we’ve offered and the knowledge that we’ve offered for this venue.
“I would be flabbergasted if we didn’t see them next year.”
The Ipswich Super440 concluded with a Sunday barnburner, although there was still no stopping Broc Feeney.