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Hit W.A Living Legend 70.... Edition 4

You can feel it before the first car even rolls out. It starts earlier than race night. It’s the messages during the week, the last minute parts run, the trailer check, the “what time are you leaving?” call. Then it turns into something you can actually hear and smell when you arrive, tools in the pits, fuel in the air, engines clearing their throats, and that first hint that the track is going to make everyone earn it.

This weekend, Collie Speedway hosts the 4th edition of the Living Legend 70….

If you’ve been around WA speedway long enough, you already know this isn’t just another feature race. It’s a night that feels like the sport looking after its own, a night that belongs to everyone who has ever loaded up in the dark, chased parts on a Friday, or stood on the hill with dust in their teeth and a grin they couldn’t wipe off.

Because speedway isn’t only what happens on the clay, It’s the families who build their weeks around it. The kids who grow up thinking the sound of an engine warming up is normal. The partners who pack the esky, wash the race gear, and still turn up smiling. The mates who don’t even ask what you need, they just start helping.

And in every speedway community, there are a few people who quietly become the glue. The ones who make the place feel like home.

That’s why people call Barry Hunter the “The Living Legend”. Not because it sounds good on a poster but because it’s what he’s been to so many people for so many years.

The Living Legend 70 is raced in recognition of Barry. A racer, a club man, and a name that carries real weight in Western Australian speedway. Barry is widely recognised as a former President of the Bunbury Car Club, and that matters because those roles rarely come with applause. They come with meetings, decisions, phone calls, and the responsibility of keeping things fair, steady, and worth coming back to.

But if you ask around, people won’t just talk about titles…. They’ll talk about time. They’ll tell you Barry always made time for everyone else, whether you were a seasoned competitor, a new face trying to work out where you fit, or someone who’d had a rough run and just needed a steady word. They’ll tell you about the way he’d open his shed, make you feel welcome, and hand you a beer that would knock your socks off. Not as a big show, but as a simple, unmistakable message… you’re one of us here.

The truth is, the people who build this sport rarely do it alone. Behind the “Living Legend” is the kind of loyalty and partnership that speedway families understand, the quiet support that turns long nights into a life, and hard seasons into a story worth telling.

When you talk about the early days of Legend Cars in Western Australia, you hear the same respect in people’s voices. The hard yards. The sacrifice. The stubborn belief that the division was worth building.

Barry was there for that. And it’s only right to also acknowledge Mike Gould, a name that matters in those early days too, and one that deserves to be remembered and because this race is built on that kind of contribution, the honour roll already feels like a proper piece of history:

• 2022/23: Daniel Wallis
• 2023/24: Nathan Bennan
• 2024/25: Paul Joss

Three seasons, three winners, three different stories, each one earned and now it’s time for Edition 4, and the format is set to build the pressure properly…

Three 10 lap heat races, followed by a 40 lap A-Main. That’s 70 laps in total and it’s as simple as it is unforgiving.

No shortcuts. No easy wins. Just traffic, pressure, and the kind of race where the story doesn’t truly start until the second half. It’s a contest that rewards patience, composure, and the ability to keep your head when the night gets long, exactly the qualities that have always mattered in this sport.

If you’re a competitor, you’re not just lining up for a trophy. You’re lining up for a race that means something, a race that says thank you to the people who made room for others, and who helped build Legend Cars W.A into what it is.

If you’re in the pits, you’re part of the engine room. If you’re on the hill, you’re part of the atmosphere that makes speedway what it is. Either way, you’re not just watching another feature, your part of a story WA speedway is still writing.

To Barry and his beautiful wife Pauline, thank you for the years, the sacrifice, and the way you’ve made people feel welcome, valued, and included.

Now it’s time to go racing and add the next name to the Living Legend 70 honour roll.

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