NEW SDO FOR NSW

The wait is finally over for New South Wales speedway venues, clubs and racers, with experienced racer and business owner Michael Braggs joining the Speedway Australia team as NSW Sport Development Officer.

General Manager Darren Tindal was excited about the appointment, labelling Michael as “exactly what NSW needs.”

“Michael comes to us with a rich family racing history and the moment I met him, I knew he was the right guy for the job. He’s approachable and has great depth in his understanding of how the motorsport world works, so he’s exactly what New South Wales needs to take the sport forward.”

Based in the NSW Central Coast at Lake Munmorah, the 41-year-old father of two boys Tommy (7) and Zac (5) moved from Melbourne five years ago with wife Alana “to get away from the cold” and the landing spot has proved an advantage for claiming the Speedway Australia role, positioning him for easy access to country tracks as well as the new metropolitan venue at Eastern Creek.

“I was raised in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and Dad was president at Granite Park Speedway in Seymour and Mum was a commentator there while they both raced sedans, so I was essentially raised at the speedway.”

“My parents weren’t that keen on me or my sister racing as they were concerned about safety and cost, but while working as an apprentice mechanic, I started to dabble with drag racing as a teenager and enjoyed that for about twenty years with some really good results across multiple brackets, but the desire to race speedway was in my blood and never left me,” he laughed. “So I jumped into Wingless racing a few years back and love it. It’s excellent “bang for buck” compared to other forms of motorsport.”

Michael had his first run in a Sprintcar at the Eastern Creek practice night last Saturday, blooding him for an even greater desire to race at the elite level in the future.

“It’s always been my dream to race a Sprintcar, but as I was rolling out the gate I was a little concerned I was about to embarrass myself, but I was really rapt with how quickly I felt comfortable and once I relaxed I had a blast and went quicker than expected, so that was great!”

Michael will put his “Speed King” shower screen business on the sidelines, however his Wingless racing will continue around his track visit obligations in the new role.

“I’m excited about going on the journey with all the tracks, clubs, officials and racers throughout the state and working with them to build their resources and workshop ideas on how to improve their systems and make things easier, while improving the overall entertainment package that the sport has to offer.”

“Engaging the next generation is a big key to securing the sport’s future so I’m really looking forward to finding and creating pathways for our younger stakeholders to bring their understanding of the market to the sport to increase our relevance and freshen our use of technology as well.”

Stay tuned to the Speedway Australia social media platforms as we sit down with “Braggsy” for a chat in the coming weeks.