Wilson McShane, Yorke Peninsula Country Times

Kadina’s Tate Cowie will join an elite cohort of drivers later this week (November 14-15), when he races in front of a crowd of close to 10,000 people at the VAILO Adelaide 500.

Cowie will compete in his wingless sprint car — the largest open wheel speedway category in Australia — against 12 competitors from across South Australia.

Cowie, who has been racing wingless speed cars for about two years, said he was excited to compete against quality opposition.

“I’m extremely excited. It’ll be a good opportunity to showcase sponsors and hopefully grow the sport a bit more,” he said.

While humbled with his opportunity to race, he said he was confident his team (Tate Cowie Motorsport) could achieve success.

“I’d say we’ve got a fairly decent chance. They’ve picked probably 12 of the best cars to run there, but I think we can still go well.

“[When I first started] we raced the state title and ended up fifth out of 37 cars.

“And then, last year, we had a podium finish at the state round, and then this year had a fourth at Murray Bridge, and third the other weekend at Whyalla, so we’re trying to keep it consistent.”

Competitors will race two 10-lap heats, that will determine where racers start during the feature race, which is typically 20 to 30 laps long.

Spectators can view the race on Clay-Per-View or purchase a ticket to the Adelaide 500 to attend in person.

Cowie said he hoped this exposure would further grow the sport.

“Because we’re more of a budget sort of class, your average joe could sort of look at it and go ‘oh yeah I can afford to race one of these’ and hopefully grow the class from there.”

This article appeared in the Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 12 November 2024.