AFTER years of hard work Brock Hallett is finally reaping the rewards of his sprintcar success, racing in a fulltime capacity across the nation.

Hallett moved to Portland more than four years ago and has since been working on his craft in races throughout Victoria and across the border.

Even though he is now leading in some of the biggest sprintcar races in Australia, Hallett began his racing journey in Queensland at the age of three years old.

“When I was three years old I got my first go kart, we lived on a but of acreage in Queensland and mum and dad built me a bit of a go kart track and that’s where I learned to drive and where it all started,” he said.

“I wasn’t really much of a sportsperson when I was younger, honestly I just wasn’t very good. It was generally racing, or just being at the racetrack or watching racing on TV.

“Once I hit seven I started racing go karts until I was 15 and that’s when I moved into speedway. You have to be 16 at the time to race speedway so since 16 I’ve been in it for 16 years now.”

Hallett made the move to Portland to be with his partner, Skye Stevenson, and has since been based locally while spending plenty of time on the road.

“I’ve been here for about four or five years, most of my early racing was based in Queensland when I lived there but I would travel to Victoria because it’s a bigger sport down here than it is in Queensland. Victoria is where the biggest races are.

“The last four or five years is when I started travelling around on a national level more and interstate.”

Transitioning to the top

Hallett has been working his way up in the sprintcar world and for the past few years has cemented himself as a top contender in national races.

In part, he says it comes down to experience, as well as some fortunate opportunities and plenty of hard work.

“It’s obviously quite a financially draining sport so the last 15 years I’ve worked really hard to try and have the best opportunities I can and now in the last few years I’ve been given a really good opportunity with what I’ve got,” he said.

The qualified fitter and turner said his ability to focus on his racing has change dramatically over the years.

“You’d have a Monday to Friday job, I’m a fitter machinist – that’s my trade – so I’d do that and then come home and do my own stuff at night time to help pay for the racing but now my Monday to Friday job is my racing,” he said.

“You can do a lot of other things in between as long as it’s ready by the weekend, but there is a lot of prep work that goes into getting things ready, especially in the busy times like now.

“Some weeks you might do 10 hours and then other week you do 100 hours – it’s great you’re doing what you love and you get paid to be a part of a sport that you love so it’s definitely better than going to work every morning.”

The position he’s in now doesn’t get lost on the driver, who says he knows he is in a position that other people can sometimes only dream about.

“It was always a dream, so many kids have the potential to do that but there’s not that many opportunities,” he said.

“Everyone dreams of being a full-time race car driver and being able to run for a big team but there’s not too many people that actually get to do it so I feel very lucky and very privileged and knowing that all the hard work over the past few years has finally paid off.

“It still leaves me in a good position for the next 10 years and really try and excel my career.”

To get into the position he is in, Hallett says it wouldn’t be possible without the support he’s received.

“I’m so thankful for all the people I have on board especially locals like Portland Earthmovers have been a massive help and Ferguson Diesel in Mount Gambier has also been a supporter of mine or several years,” he said.

“GW racing as well, without them I wouldn’t have this opportunity – what they’ve done for me is amazing.”

A few busy weeks

Across the holiday period Hallett heads into his busiest racing schedule for the year, after weekend races that past month lead into a hectic summer of driving.

Speedweek kicks off today with a full week of racing against some of the best drivers across Victoria and South Australia.

Four nights of racing take place at Mount Gambier, Murray Bridge, Warrnambool and Geelong.

Following this he will be heading off throughout January and February to contest in more races nationally.

While it means there is little time at home, Hallett says he tries to get back to Portland as much as he can.

“You can never be home enough – most of the year we just race on the weekends and then for the next month I’ll try and be home a couple of days a week,” he said.

“Once Boxing Day is done we’ll be on the road and then back for a day or so and then most of January we’ll be away. You just try to juggle it and sometimes I’ll fly back.

“My partner is great about it and she’ll be backwards and forwards as well – it hasn’t really changed over the last five years.”

Hallett heads into the next few weeks of racing with some confidence after winning at the Eastern Creek Speedway in their feature race a few weeks ago.

“I feel like I’m the most organised I’ve ever been and I’m feeling really good in the car and we’re having a good run apart from all the rain we’re getting – I feel good in the car,” he said.

‘A way of life’

After finding the sport at just three years old Hallett says he had big ambitions growing up but will now spend the next 10 years trying to reach the height of his driving career.

“The sprintcars are the top level in the speedway side of things, a lot of kids dream about Formula One and that sort of thing didn’t interest me that much,” he said.

“I’m too old now but going down the NASCAR path is what would have interest me about 15 years ago.

“I feel like I still have plenty of years left in my racing.

“Hitting 30 is when you mature a bit and start making some more mature decisions in the race car so I feel like I’m at my best and most people are when they hit their thirties.”

Even when Hallett is no longer behind the wheel in a race car, he says he will always be involved in speedway.

“It’s just a way of life for me – people get up every morning and go for a run as part of their routine, I just get up and go racing,” he said.

“It’s going to be in my blood forever whether I’m racing or just being a part of it. Once I do retire in 10, 15, 20 years time, whenever it is, I’ll still be involved and supporting or helping or doing something.”