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Interview with Harvey’s family about their first steps into quarter midget racing JQMV recently sat down with Harvey and his family to talk about their experience with the Arrive & Hire program, how they got started, and what the journey has been like so far. ⸻ What made you decide to try an Arrive & Hire experience in the first place? “Harvey has wanted to try quarter midgets since he was two and a half. Once he turned five, he asked every single day when he could start racing. We weren’t sure if he’d actually enjoy it, so we held off on buying one. Thanks to Australian Racing Products [ARP] and Peter & Ellen, a quarter midget became available for hire. Amanda and Darren O’Brien gave us a call to let us know, and we hired it that weekend down at Nyora. Harvey had the best time ever, so we decided to hire it again!” ⸻ How did your child react after their very first laps? “On Harvey’s first lap he was so nervous, but once he got a feel for the car and realized it wasn’t scary, he really got into it even though he was still slow. I was so thankful for the novice drivers who knew he was new, gave him space, and went around him. That helped Harvey understand that as long as he stuck to his line, he’d be okay.” ⸻ Was there a moment during Arrive & Hire when you thought, ‘We’re going to be doing this every weekend’? “I think after Harvey’s second race, when he came off the track grinning from ear to ear and couldn’t stop talking about it, Ross and I looked at each other and knew this is what he loves, this is his thing. So, bring on the racing weekends!” ⸻ What convinced you to purchase a quarter midget after trying it? “We decided to purchase a quarter midget because Harvey’s face says it all the smile, the confidence, the nonstop talking about it and telling everyone he knows. Plus, everyone has been so family-friendly and welcoming. It’s something we all enjoy together as a family.” ⸻ How have you found the club community and support from other families? “Oh, I don’t even know where to start I could go on for hours! But here’s a small list. First, a huge thank you to the O’Brien family Amanda & Darren, and Lewis (aka ‘Lewis driver’ to Harvey). If it wasn’t for these amazing people, we wouldn’t be where we are today. They gave a lot of advice and support in picking the right a quarter midget to purchase. A massive thank you as well to Shannon & Nicky for helping us get Harvey ready to race his own quarter midget. And thank you to everyone else who made us feel welcome from day one. We had no idea what we were doing, and people jumped in to help — offering advice, adjusting things, even helping move pedals (thank you, Shane Roycroft!). Once you’re on the infield, it’s incredible how every parent dads and mums will run out to help push a kart off just to keep the race going. It still gives me goosebumps about the kids… wow! The way they support each other is unbelievable. After every race, they congratulate one another, encourage each other, and they do it all on their own — no parents prompting them. It’s absolutely incredible. I couldn’t have asked to be part of a better club community. The support from all the families no matter the class, whether you own a kart or are hiring is amazing. Harvey, Ross, and I have truly made friendships that will last forever.” ⸻ How helpful was the Arrive & Hire program in giving you a proper taste of the sport? “Hiring is super easy! Just get in touch with Peter at ARP — he’ll let you know which days and tracks are available and how to apply for a license. When you hire a quarter midget, all the gear you need is included. Ellen will meet you at the track with the kart and gear and give you a quick rundown of what to do before the race, and any other requirements. If you’re new, don’t worry — ask as many questions as you need! It’s a really fun way to see if your child enjoys racing and to get a real taste of the sport.” ⸻ What would you tell other families about the Arrive & Hire experience? “The experience is super easy and really fun! If you’re new to racing, though, I’d definitely do a bit of homework first. Read up, and don’t be afraid to ask JQMV or Peter at ARP any questions — you’ll get way more out of it that way. Everyone at the track is super helpful, but knowing a little beforehand makes things smoother. We were lucky to have friends and family already into racing before we tried it — made everything a lot less intimidating and way more enjoyable.” ⸻ Do you see yourselves involved in quarter midget racing long-term? “We can see ourselves being part of quarter midget racing for a long time. No matter where he finishes, as long as he gets off the track smiling and saying he had the best day, we’re happy. We’ll keep going to every or almost every track we can.” ⸻ Any advice for parents thinking about doing their first Arrive & Hire? “My advice? Just have fun! Make friends, be part of this awesome racing club, and let the kids be kids — racing around, laughing, and enjoying time with their friends on the track. Don’t stress about results or finishing positions; the best part is seeing your child happy, smiling, and having the time of their life. Ask questions, learn a little about the sport, everyone is super welcoming and happy to help. It’s such a great way to spend time together as a family, share in the excitement, and be part of a fun, supportive club. Give it a try — it really can’t hurt! We’re so glad we took the leap and started this fun adventure. There’s nothing quite like watching your kid come off the track grinning from ear to ear and saying, ‘That was the best day ever!’”
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JQMV are thrilled to welcome Diamond Finish Epoxy as our 2025/2026 Country Cup sponsor! In addition and with thanks to Wizard Motorsport, JQMV will be adding a bit of fun to our Country Cup Rounds. If the kids can find an eye sticker on the day, there are unreal prizes to be won! Keep your eyes peeled #JQMV #CountryCup #DiamondFinishEpoxy #NyoraRaceway #ClubRacingIsAliveAndWell  Junior Quarter Midgets Victoria Announces Exciting Partnership with Sprintcar Trading Cards for 2025/26 Season Junior Quarter Midgets Victoria (JQMV) is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Sprintcar Trading Cards for the 2025/26 racing season! Fans and families can look forward to collecting official trading card packs at JQMV events throughout the year. These cards will also be awarded as special prizes to junior drivers during the season, adding a fun and memorable element to race day. We extend a big thank you to Mat from Sprintcar Trading Cards for coming on board and supporting our grassroots racing community. We can’t wait to see the kids coming together, swapping and trading cards, and sharing their passion for motorsport in a whole new way. Check them out at www.sprintcartradingcards.com
The committee has been working on some JQMV merchandise. We have for sale some black t shirts and hoodies. Available in all sizes as listed below in the size chart. We are yet to have any printed as we would like to know what sizes are required. GILDAN is the brand of clothing we are using - a tested and trusted brand of speedway clothing used by most in the world of speedway! If you would like to place an order please email the club with sizes and quantities you would like. We will compile and order as a whole. If orders could please be placed by the 15th August that would be fantastic. Hoodies $45 T-Shirts $30 [email protected] Stay Safe!! The JQMV Committee 
Good Evening Everyone!
Some exciting news tonight - finally the release of the JQMV race calendar for the season 2021 / 2022. This season we have decided to introduce a slightly new concept to the championship series. This season we will endeavour to race all 8 series rounds, however the twist is we will only count the points from you 7 highest point scoring rounds. Put simply each driver has to ‘drop one round’ this can be either their worst points round or quite simply if you can’t attend one race meeting you will not be disadvantaged in the overall points standings. Please note that this calendar is subject to change throughout the season, as we navigate our way through the COVID -19 challenges. Some dates may be cancelled and some may added so please keep your eyes out for the changes. A reminder to all that your memberships are now due. Please head on over to the website , download your membership form, complete, pay and email forms to Helen Drew. You will find Helen’s email address on the top of the membership pack. Also a reminder about securing your JQMV merchandise. Could you please comment on the previous post about tees and hoodies or send a email to the club to secure quantities and sizes ASAP - please note adult sizing goes up to 3xl. Our first green sheet day is in a couple of weeks we look forward to seeing you there. If you could please spare some time while your there at the track to help tidy up we would appreciate it greatly. If you can bring a mower or whipper snipper that would be great! Many hands make light work! That’s all for now - see you in a couple of weeks Over and out! JQMV Committee Have we all recovered from our Hoosier Tire Australia Victorian Title yet? It was a hectic day with many weather inturuptions to go along with the largest car count that we’ve ever had in one race meet at the JQMV! But, we got the meeting done...and it was a whole lot of fun!! Firstly, a big shout out goes to all our racers, their crews and their supporters that stuck fat on the day. In trying conditions, everyone stayed keen for the contest and we saw some awesome racing throughout our heats and finals! Congratulations to all our feature winners...the new V1’s of their class: Novice-V40 Leo Tancredi Junior Restricted-V66 Jed Moorfoot 120 Open- V27 Jamie Balcombe 160 Senior- V6 Blake Balcombe All these drivers drove hard on the day and deserved their spots on top of the podium. Thanks to Will Lamb from Howe Automotive and Daylesford Dyno Tune, we’d also like to congratulate our other winners on the day.... Hard charger award: V28 Wil Orders Drive of the day: V27 Jamie Balcombe Hard luck award: V89 Kayde Mankey We all know that it takes a lot of work behind the scenes to get a big event like this happening. So, heres a generic blanket statement of thanks to everyone who chipped in along the way to turn the Vic Title into the event it was...because I’ll surely forget someone I’m this write up that really deserves a thanks!! Everyone’s efforts are greatly appreciated. From track prep, to lawn mowing, to site prep and pack up etc....it all goes towards making the day run smoothly and as a club, we appreciate and need these people to do what they do so the kids can have fun and race! More specifically, we’d like to thank: Lynda & Michael Tancredi and Westcoast Concreting for the huge effort they put in from the very start to get this up and running. They have become our track sponsors and planned this day from a long way out. They have basically weatherproofed the pit area for days like Sunday and, among other things, got our little raceway looking like a proper, legitimate raceway! Cheers guys Wade Aunger& Liam James Aunger for treating this day like it was The Classic or Chariots of Thunder!! You’re work in the lead up with driver profiles, all the way through to the commentary on Raceday and trophy presentations, was nothing short of amazing! I’m sure every kid felt the rock star vibes you were hoping for!... and, even if they didn’t quite appreciate it, I know all the grown ups did! Freddie Baker and Mandy Searle from Max Dumesny Motorsport...the Hoosier brand was ever present throughout the day and we are extremely appreciative of your sponsorship, the prizes you provided and your overall support of our little raceway throughout this Hoosier Tire Australia Victorian Title for Junior Quarter Midgets. Tyler Barton from Ash Media for capturing the video footage on the day. Shane Sharrock from Rock Solid Productions for your photographic work on the day. Lachlan Trotter for your work in painting/prepping the infield for the day. John Humphries, Helen and Kylie for their work again in the canteen. Keeping the masses fed as per usual So, that’s a wrap from me tonight. I think it turned out being a great event, despite the conditions, and we have definitely raised the bar for Title days in the future!! We hope all the kids had a ball! Stay tuned for information on our upcoming race days as we approach them, but, for now it’s goodnight. Thanks all, The JQMV committee P.S. Another mention to John Humphries for capturing this epic pic of the cars on the infield   We hope everyone’s safe, well and prepared for a big weekend of racing!
Let us start with that. *Pit time for the Daylesford club show on Saturday, as per their committee, is 8am for a 9am start. It will be gate admission for those attending this event. *Pit time for Round 4 of our Championship Series, at Laang Speedway, on Sunday the 14.03.21, is 10am for an 11am start. Admission price will be $40 for the families first car...$20 for each other car. Both these tracks must have Speedway Australia stewards and Scrutineers. As far as we know, this is the case. But, can we just keep this in mind when we are racing sanctioned JQMV events. Now, let’s all have a little reminder chat about our race day etiquette and rules. Some issues have already arisen from our only completed race meet of the year. We just need to sharpen up on a few things to make sure things run smoothly....for the kids, the organisers and he race meet overall. - Hi-Vis clothing must be worn when on the infield. - No shorts above the knee, open toed shoes or singlets to be worn on the infield or in the pit area. - No driver or pit crew can talk to the Cheif Steward about any race incidents or decisions. Communication must go through the drivers rep. As per the previous rule, we understand this is more of an issue at our partner tracks at Daylesford, Laang and Nyora. Whilst we’d like to think that gentle reminders will help, the committee have decided to bring in a couple of guidelines to help us achieve this at these tracks. These will limit the amount of possible interaction with officials and will make things safer overall for our racers, officials and crews. So.... - Only one crew per car will be allowed out on the track at these venues. All other crew/family must observe the racing from the viewing areas of each track. We understand that our people want to all be as close to the action as possible and be right there to cheer on our little stars, but, we can’t have situations where it’s going to cause more harm than good, should a situation arise where the worst happens?! After another obvious issue arose last week, the committee has also decided to streamline the way our Novice finals are run. With so many newbies in the field, we can’t have another situation where our lead cars catch the tailenders before they’ve put their foot on the throttle at the drop of the green flag. To combat this, we will be splitting our Novice finals into an ‘A’ and ‘B’ Main when the field of cars exceed 10. ‘A’ Main cars will be the top points scorers. There will be no cars transfer. Points will be allocated as per the finishing order of both mains, as though it was a full field. There is still some discussion around what the split will be, so, stand by on that and we will update that later on. Ok. Lastly from me tonight, we have loved seeing the driver profiles being posted by Wade Aunger over the last week or so. Can we please keep them coming in. It’s great to see the personalities of our drivers, and it’s a great chance to give your sponsors and supporters a pump up, as we build towards the Vic Title in a few weeks time. A bit to absorb tonight. So, take it in, and let’s all get to Laang ready to go. Stay safe everyone. The JQMV committee More race dates have been added to the 20/21 season. be sure to click on the CALENDAR tab to have a look!
MAJOR PLANS FOR 2021 VICTORIAN JUNIOR QUARTER MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP!
For immediate release February 23, 2021 The 2021 Junior Quarter Midget Victorian Title is receiving a major boost! With the support of the JQMV committee, a new naming rights sponsor and a new injection of showbiz has all been thrown into the mix, as track sponsor and event organiser, Michael Tancredi, seeks to make the one-off event something to remember for teams and supporters alike. On Sunday, April 11 Hoosier Tire Australia will present the biggest showcase of Victorian Junior Quarter Midget racing seen yet. “I really want this to be special,” says Tancredi, “we’re organising a lot of things behind the scenes that will make the day memorable for everyone involved. For Quarter Midget racing it’s going to be next level. The emphasis is on having fun and showing off our sport in the best way.” Tancredi has some aces up his sleeve. “I can’t say too much right now but we’ll be releasing information regularly,” Tancredi continues, “we really want to showcase Quarter Midgets in the best possible manner and get new people into the sport. It’s a fantastic category and I think we can show a wider audience what it’s all about.” Sunday, April 11. Lock in that date. Teams that are planning to enter the event can be assured that a bit of glitz and glamour is going into the day with the young drivers being spotlighted like rock stars. Ends release… ATTENTION all who are attending Daylesford Speedway on Sunday the 28th February.. Please be in the pits by 9am for a 10am SHARP start. This time has been confirmed by
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