Who is Tony Blacker?
A golf professional by day and a race car driver on weekends! During Tony’s childhood, many weekends were spent at the race track as a spectator, with hopes of following in his father Terry’s footsteps of one day having a drive. Terry (aka Chief) was a regular racer at Mothar Mountain Speedway in Gympie in the early 1960s.
Fast forward to 1999, Tony, along with his sister Tanya and brother-in-law George, were sitting on the hill at Archerfield Speedway waiting for the races to commence when a new division took the track for a promotional lap to entice would-be racers to buy a car and go racing. Needless to say, three cars were purchased the following Tuesday, and Tony, George, and Tanya became proud members of the Sigma division. The Sigma division was an entry-level introduction to speedway racing, and Tony quickly learned what it takes to navigate a race car around a dirt oval track at considerable speed. Many practice days were spent honing the craft, having fun with family, and making new friendships. Thus, the Family Speedway team was born! Each race meeting saw Tony’s parents attending to cheer both him and Tanya on from the grandstands.
Not long after starting in Sigmas (with a few replacement cars purchased), Tony invested in another car and joined the East Coast A Grade Club. This club traveled interstate and to other tracks, allowing Tony to gain invaluable experience to progress his skills. The goal of becoming Australian Club Champion was in Tony’s sights, and in the 2003/2004 season, this goal came to fruition. Tony was a great ambassador for the club, not only with his skill on the race track but also through the countless hours and money that went into presenting an immaculate car (many said the car looked too good to race!). With his sister Tanya also competing in the same division, it became apparent that a family that raced together stayed together. There weren’t too many altercations on the track between the two, and mutual respect for each other’s driving ability and machinery was always at the forefront on and off the track.
From sedan racing, Tony then invested in a V8 Sprintcar—another dream goal he wanted to achieve. Although his stint in this division was short, it gave Tony a taste of what could be. However, his golf career took precedence, and he moved overseas until 2019.
Since Tony’s return to Australia, he has continually shown a keen interest in the sport, attending race meetings as a spectator to show his own family (Dini, Kayla, and Blair) what his passion outside golf was—Speedway Racing! A family meeting with sister Tanya and brother-in-law George led to a discussion of how to make this happen and what division to run. The Australia-wide division of Production Sedans, run through Speedway Sedans Australia, was the obvious choice due to the opportunity to run at different tracks, online/TV Pay Per-view exposure, and national recognition for state and Australian titles. The added bonus of this division is that passengers are allowed to take part in a race, enabling Tony to share the excitement with his sponsors. The dream to race was reignited with phone calls made to Crew Chief (and best mate) Graeme Davey and previous supporters of the initial team to get Tony back on the track!
The decision to build a brand new FG Falcon was made, registering with the same Gympie Club Terry was a member of and securing the race number 43. Tony has engaged several specialists in their fields to help with the new build and recognizes that the return to racing would not be possible without the huge support of sponsors, family, and friends who all play an important part behind the scenes.
