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Jim Read - Part 3 · Rusty's Garage

0:02
A listener production.
0:18
G'day, it's Rusty here, all set for part three of my podcast with Australian drag racing legend Jim Reid.
0:25
As I often say, if you've arrived here and not heard part one, jump back to the library and give it a listen.
0:32
This is also one of those rare episodes which we've made a three-parter, so if you want to...
0:38
chronologically take it in, make sure you find time for part two as well.
0:43
There's some fantastic yarns in there from a brush with death during COVID to a story only recently shared at his son Bruce's 60th, how a stern conversation with the police when he was a young father became the catalyst for Jim's lifelong passion for drag racing.
1:01
Plus, a frightening crash at Willow Bank that is etched like film in his mind.
1:06
And he recalls that day in detail.
1:09
And much, much more.
1:10
We begin part two by talking about the future.
1:14
A new venture announced literally as we sat there involving Andy Lopez, who promotes the Summonats, and respected motorsport TV director and producer Nathan Prendergast, who is a
1:26
a recent addition to the Rusty's Garage Library.
1:28
You can find that later.
1:30
After a period being fractured and only showing glimpses of its former glory, this news is something of a new beginning for drag racing and has great potential in Australia.
1:42
And it's already unified many areas of the sport and galvanised those who are the backbone of it.
1:53
Are you excited about that new chapter, mate?
1:55
I know that's happening pretty much, you know, as we talk probably.
1:58
I think it's today or tomorrow.
2:00
It's today.
2:01
We're not releasing this for a little while, so it's okay.
2:03
But, I mean, it's getting announced, I think, today as you and I talk here.
2:06
So, I mean, it's... Well, it needed to.
2:09
It needed to, didn't it?
2:10
Yeah.
2:10
Needed to unify things.
2:12
Yep.
2:13
The biggest victory for them is turning Karen around.
2:17
Hmm.
2:20
Have you ever read my book?
2:22
I am told I need to, so I haven't read it yet.
2:25
I'll give you one before you go.
2:26
Please, that'll be good.
2:28
And you'll understand about the conflict with Karen and I. I haven't gone there today.
2:36
I didn't know if you wanted to go down that path, so I've let it be.
2:38
I've just let it be.
2:40
A lot of years ago, he got his nose out of joint about something he shouldn't have.
2:47
He made allegations...
2:49
It's all in the book.
2:50
Okay.
2:50
It's all there.
2:52
Is it better now?
2:53
Is it better between the pair of you now?
2:54
I haven't spoken to him since 2010.
2:59
But I've said the boys converted him around.
3:07
That's where I was going in saying if you got him converted, I had you spoken to him.
3:11
No, I haven't spoken to him.
3:13
I said, I'm quite happy to move on.
3:16
And it's a shame.
3:18
It was jealousy.
3:19
That's all it was.
3:21
And everyone used to say, why do you bother with that guy?
3:25
And I said, well, we've been friends since early 70s, early 60s.
3:30
I said, he's never pissed on me.
3:32
Well, he did in 2010 when I was inducted into the Hall of Fame in America.
3:39
Now, the story was, him and I were the best of mates.
3:43
I used to go to the track every morning.
3:45
I'd leave home at seven.
3:46
He'd know I'd be driving up to Great Western Highway at 20 past.
3:49
He'd call me, come for a coffee, Rude.
3:51
Yep, right I go.
3:53
I'd go around because he didn't want to sort of talk to anyone else.
3:57
So we'd go around and sit around, we'd laugh and joke, and off I'd go.
4:02
And this particular morning in 2010, I'd call him for a coffee.
4:08
Well, I didn't know he...
4:11
I didn't know he didn't know that I got nominated to be in the International Drug Racing Hall of Fame.
4:21
And when I get there, Brett White, who worked for him,
4:26
Graham and I told her, I said, got to go, mate.
4:29
I'm off to the States tomorrow.
4:30
I said, right.
4:31
Didn't say another word.
4:33
Brett walked in, Jim, congratulations.
4:35
And he's going, what for?
4:37
What's happened, Jim?
4:40
Brett said, didn't you hear, Graham?
4:41
Jim's been inducted in the National Drag Racing Hall of Fame.
4:46
His hands went like this.
4:48
He went white with rage.
4:53
Shaking.
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Turned and walked away.
4:58
We're not in the habit of editing the conversations, but I have opted not to open this wound again by recounting, in detail at least, the breakdown of their friendship.
5:11
I'm grateful that Jim has opened up on the subject, but for two reasons, I reckon we'll park it here.
5:18
Firstly, he's a good one.
5:19
Jim shares his version of what went on in his book, The Jim Reed Story, The Good, Bad, and Ugly.
5:27
I'll leave it for you to read, and if you feel compelled to go deeper on this subject, you can find it there.
5:33
It's heavy, and I want to respectfully keep a neutral position.
5:38
That's fair, right?
5:39
Jim, as you can tell, is fiercely loyal and felt hurt by what was alleged.
5:45
Graham's not here to share his side, and I'm very conscious of that.
5:50
They are two fiercely competitive sportsmen who are both now in the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame.
5:58
Hopefully one day they'll be able to have a conversation again.
6:03
At least they are both eyes forward as the sport embarks on a new, more unified chapter with big potential for events and for the coverage to return to the glory days.
6:16
Now let's get back to the podcast.
6:22
Let's talk about a couple of things in relation to Sydney Dragway, building it, the mission to do it.
6:31
I mean, Castle Ray had been gone for about eight-odd years, I think, hadn't it?
6:34
Longer.
6:35
Longer.
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20 years.
6:36
Sorry, sorry, yes, because then we used...
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the main street at Eastern Creek, didn't we?
6:41
But the notion of building an American-style, you know, proper venue that would be great for the sport, that was a massive undertaking, wasn't it?
6:51
How...
6:53
Lobbying government and getting support from people like Alan Jones, who was a very significant media figure in this city... Would you believe... Mm-hmm.
7:02
..a bike racer's wife was a brilliant journalist.
7:08
Mm-hmm.
7:10
And she said to me, Jim, I'm going to write Alan Jones a letter.
7:15
And at the bottom of the letter she put, if you have any sympathy for us, you will ring Jim Reid.
7:24
Next thing you know, remember Daryl Braithwaite?
7:27
Yes, the singer.
7:27
His wife.
7:28
His wife.
7:31
uh mickey braithwaite mickey died of breast cancer poor bugger alan worshipped the ground she walked on okay mickey was just the nicest person you would ever she was just something again she'd bring with jim jim alan wants you to do this i want you to do that you know we'd chat away
7:52
She was the loveliest lady.
7:54
Alan had shattered Alan when she died.
7:56
Had a row of lights on the wall.
7:59
We'd be sitting in Alan's place having a chat.
8:02
That's when he lived at Newtown.
8:04
Yeah.
8:05
And you'd look up and for a second, blue light might come on.
8:10
Alan would know who it was.
8:13
The lights represented right up to the Prime Minister.
8:16
Oh, wow.
8:16
Oh, yeah.
8:17
The importance of the caller.
8:18
Yeah, and Mickey would press the button and Alan would decide whether he'd do it or not.
8:24
But Alan, this woman wrote this letter and it was outstanding.
8:34
And that's how we got into Alan.
8:36
It's just...
8:37
There are stories, mate, of, you know, rallying, you know, masses of people in the drag racing community to events that Alan came to to show their support for this and so on, didn't they?
8:55
We had used to having painted on the front wall.
8:57
As soon as I left, they took it off.
8:59
It would have been there for life.
9:01
Alan's name's on the plaque.
9:04
That's another funny story, the plaque.
9:07
Bob Carr weren't coming.
9:09
Maurice Yemmer was the one who made it all happen, so we got this plaque made by Stan Sainty.
9:14
Next movie we got a call, Alan's.
9:17
Alan's invited Bob and told him he should be there.
9:20
So we had to whip it back to stand and turn it over to the other side and put Bob Carr.
9:25
And they've made a decision that they're going to hang it with the Morris Yammer side now.
9:29
Are they?
9:30
Are they?
9:30
Yeah.
9:31
But I mean, it was a huge deal, mate, and it took years, didn't it?
9:37
Just walk us through a bit of that and how it came together.
9:40
Six years.
9:40
Six years.
9:41
Well, see, we had an election.
9:42
Yep.
9:43
Then we had the Olympic Games and then another election.
9:46
Yep.
9:47
And every time we'd get on down the road...
9:49
So we're talking around toward the end of 2000 and the early part of the new century, aren't we?
9:54
Yeah, well, I costed it, and I figured I could build it with acceptable toilet blocks and everything like that.
10:01
for $27 million.
10:04
What you've got to understand when the government builds something, it costs three times because two people have got to get a drink and someone's got to get paid to do it.
10:12
Anyway, the head of the Olympic Coordination Authority said, Jim, that's a $57 million project.
10:23
I said, where do you get off saying that?
10:25
Well, that's what it would cost if we built it.
10:27
I'm not asking you to build it.
10:28
We'll do it.
10:29
And I said, I'll do it.
10:30
And they said, you can't because you're a private gym and there's five million people around this city who would all like the same opportunity for the government to give them a handout.
10:43
It's got to be done by... A tender process and a... All of the bullshit.
10:49
Well, in the end, it was...
10:54
Bob come up with $27 million.
10:56
Now, one of the things we didn't know, Bob could spend $20 million.
11:01
Any Premier at any given minute can spend $20 million once a year, not have to go to Cabinet.
11:07
Hit the go button.
11:08
Just do it.
11:10
So Bob spent $27 million but didn't tell us that $7 million of the money, no, $27 million, $7 million of the money was to move the highway.
11:24
Oh, right.
11:25
So that's $7 million that didn't come... To you.
11:29
...to us.
11:31
So then Hollands get the job, and Hollands told Bob that they would build the car parks.
11:39
Well, the last minute they pulled out a building of the car parks because they didn't get the job digging the big hole over at the tip.
11:45
They were going to bring all the dirt over and put it in there.
11:49
And so we were further behind the eight ball...
11:53
All of a sudden, all of this shoddy work's going on, and the toilet blocks were built.
11:58
They should have been condemned by the health department because, well, they were built flat in the ground.
12:03
They were supposed to have a 300 air gap underneath them, and they didn't.
12:08
And then to put the 300 air gap, they had to put ramps in for the handicaps so they didn't want to pay for the ramps.
12:14
So they just plonked them all straight in the ground, half of them.
12:17
Half the problem with it was with the plumbing underneath them because they were built for building sites.
12:23
And there's still some there.
12:24
All the floors fell out.
12:25
And Bob come along to us and said, now, is there anything you can do to lighten the load?
12:33
I said, what do you mean?
12:35
Well, is there any project you guys can come up with where we can get some money back because we've got to get money back in the coffins?
12:41
Well, it didn't dawn on me until Morris Emma smarted me up.
12:44
Bob had pulled $20 million.
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out without telling the cabinet, right?
12:49
And the other $7 million was allocated to Blacktown Council.
12:54
So Bob's arse was covered.
12:56
And he told us, I'm giving you $27 million.
12:58
He didn't.
12:59
And it was shoddy.
13:00
It was just the wing walls, the drainage was never done right behind them.
13:05
The main building leaked water constantly.
13:09
The elevator would stop halfway up and down.
13:11
We could never get it fixed until...
13:14
The old man upstairs must have been looking down one day, but the prick who was supposed to fix the elevator in public works kept saying no, happened to get jammed halfway between floors in the elevator.
13:24
While he's in it, while he's in it.
13:26
Then they fixed him.
13:29
So it was just, it was a comedy of errors.
13:33
I'd go out there every day, every day I'd go out there, because if you didn't, they'd say, oh, well, you weren't here if something went wrong.
13:42
And they're boring up and down, up and down.
13:44
And every time you'd make a suggestion, they'd threaten to stop.
13:48
And it was just, they pulled the concrete wrong, put gaps in it, then they had to grind it.
13:56
Then they had some guy with a five metre long piece of timber going along trying a cigarette paper underneath it and there was hills and hollers everywhere.
14:07
The workmanship was as shoddy as you'd ever believe.
14:11
And don't worry, it'll get fixed.
14:14
So he comes up to us and says, can you come up with a game plan or a business plan where we can get some money back?
14:22
Well, between the freeway and Eastern Creek, that used to be wide open spaces all up there.
14:28
And I said, well, all that land over there,
14:32
You can develop it into industrial.
14:35
Where Arnott's is now, where all those buildings are now.
14:37
No, we're on... Oh, the far side.
14:39
Sorry, the other side, I beg your pardon.
14:41
The freeway, right?
14:41
Yep, yep.
14:42
You know where the big hotel is on?
14:44
There's the roundabout.
14:44
Yes.
14:45
The big hotel is on the corner.
14:46
Yep.
14:46
When you turn the roundabout... On the other side of that.
14:49
That turn four, it's called, right?
14:51
Yep.
14:52
Well, that was our idea.
14:53
Okay.
14:55
So they just started demolishing Wonderland...
14:59
And Bob calls me up, or his representative calls me up and says, Bob needs to get some money back quick.
15:06
You can have it all for $22 million.
15:09
So I ring up all the guys I knew with plenty of money.
15:12
They'd all just bought Wonderland and all of that stuff before that big intersection was made.
15:17
They said, Jim, we can't help you.
15:20
So I said, shit, what do I do?
15:21
So I went back and said, look, no, what we'll do, we'll get an auction.
15:25
So we get $38 million for it.
15:27
Whoa.
15:28
All right?
15:28
Whoa.
15:30
Not would he give us back one dime, just be grateful.
15:34
Not would he give us a dime to spend fixing things.
15:38
We had no pit areas, no this, no that.
15:40
I borrowed $2 million to build a pit area in the pits.
15:45
Then we spent $11 million all up of our own money.
15:48
The big cafeteria that's there, we built that.
15:52
I did a deal for all the other buildings to be built free of charge.
15:57
Mulgoa quarries were digging all the tunnels, not digging them but carting the dirt away.
16:02
So it was all certified dirt.
16:05
So we made a quarter of a million dollars there by taking the certified dirt for the filling and they stuck the speedway in the middle of it.
16:14
We lost that much.
16:15
If you went out there and looked at you, you'd shake your head.
16:18
The place was a shithole when we moved in.
16:21
We had tractors pulling people out of bogs and in the car parks.
16:25
It was just disgraceful to happen at the first event.
16:28
But that's how it went and we consequently just kept moving on.
16:34
Because I was worn out six years fighting at the place.
16:37
And I thought, oh, well, we're here.
16:38
We'll get it up, get it going.
16:40
How does the... Let's just come back one step for a second.
16:43
How does the 14-year-old who didn't finish school, who admittedly has gone on and run his own businesses successfully and dealt with big corporations that are sponsors and so on, how does that bloke go with politics, with...
16:57
lobbying with... Because you're just a straight talker, mate.
17:00
A handshake is a handshake, and that's basically the end of it, isn't it?
17:04
I'll tell you what happened.
17:05
You remember...
17:07
I can't remember her name, but the member for Parramatta was the Minister for Sport, and he died.
17:14
And he left this gorgeous-looking wife who got voted back in as his seat, so they made her the Sports Minister.
17:25
But...
17:27
First off, they came to me and said, we want you to run for the seat of Parramatta.
17:35
Holy!
17:35
Well, I lived in Maryland, yes.
17:36
Did you give that some serious thought?
17:39
Would you have done that?
17:40
Well, I'll tell you what happened.
17:44
So, when Phil says to me, we'll back you all the way.
17:48
So...
17:51
I go to a meeting and I sit down with them.
17:53
They said, you're a shoe and you'll get it.
17:55
You'll win it.
17:56
I said, right, well, tell me what I've got to do.
17:58
They said, nothing.
17:59
I said, what do you mean nothing?
18:00
No, they said, we'll give you a mind to you.
18:01
He'll tell you what you've got to do.
18:03
I said, what?
18:05
Someone's going to tell me what to do.
18:07
You want me to be the sports minister?
18:10
But this other guy's going to tell me.
18:13
He's really the sports minister in disguise.
18:16
Yeah, shove it up your arse.
18:17
LAUGHTER
18:19
I wouldn't take it.
18:20
I said, no, no, no.
18:23
I'm not going to be told what to do.
18:24
I'll do what I believe is right.
18:25
Right.
18:28
And then she got the job.
18:38
The Aussie have a go attitude is something that filters through Rusty's chats.
18:42
Like Jim Reid, Bruce Garland was all in when it came to taking on the world's toughest race, Dakar.
18:50
budget that was getting was tight just went way out the window like it was a hundred thousands of dollars so we had to reassess everything and anyway we we had to cut back our spare we had to do a real shuffle to get the numbers to work and then when we sent it we didn't have any money to pay for it to come back so we just hope we're going to do all right
19:12
Hang the expense.
19:13
We'll find a way.
19:15
Rusty tends to blow the podcast budget on hair and makeup.
19:18
Has anyone told him it's an audio experience?
19:21
Back to Jim Reid now.
19:25
So it took you just an exhausting six-plus years to get there.
19:32
What you end up with is not what you dreamed of, but the essence of it.
19:37
Jim is, you know... We were grateful.
19:40
Yes.
19:41
But we shouldn't have been.
19:42
Mm-hmm.
19:43
You know, we were blind to what was happening to us, really, because everybody else was getting their facilities.
19:51
Well, look at the football grounds they were getting built now.
19:53
Mm-hmm.
19:54
And last year, not last year, 2018, Alan organised a meeting with Stuart Ayres.
20:04
Mm-hmm.
20:06
So I go see Stuart, I said, Stuart, the Labor Party built us a pile of shit.
20:11
We've got to fix it.
20:13
Nobody seems to want to talk to us.
20:15
Alan, that's why we're here.
20:17
I said, we need $33 million to fix the place.
20:23
I said, we need $11 million a year for three years.
20:27
I don't want any more money given to us all at once, just $11 million.
20:33
We'll see out that $11 million, we'll come and get the rest.
20:35
I want the money audited by two totally independent people.
20:39
Mm-hmm.
20:40
The quotes and the payouts and everything.
20:42
I don't want nothing to do with handling the money.
20:44
I don't want any drag racer having anything to do with handling the money.
20:51
Right, he said.
20:52
So next thing you know, I'm doing a lot of deals with the chief of staff.
20:59
Megan Senior was the name.
21:02
And she rings me up and she said, oh, we're getting ready to make the big announcement.
21:08
But, Jim, Stuart's really stressed.
21:11
Is there anything you can do to lighten the blow?
21:14
I said, well, what do you mean?
21:17
She said, well, it's too much money.
21:19
All in one hit.
21:21
I said, but I was asking for it all in one hit.
21:26
Oh, I said, well, read the proposal.
21:28
It's 11 million a year.
21:30
Staggered.
21:31
For three years.
21:33
Oh, she said, oh, Stuart will be so happy.
21:37
So, right, we get our 11 million.
21:40
The balance of the 33 went to the mob over the road.
21:45
They got the other 22 million, right?
21:49
So this prick used us.
21:51
So then, so, all right, so we get 11 million, turns up.
21:57
No contracts, no confirmation letters, no nothing.
22:00
$11 million turns up.
22:03
So you start working away and working away, and all of a sudden the rain hits, all that bad rain, then COVID.
22:08
Well, we're two years in, and we hadn't drawn any more money yet.
22:13
So when we went to draw some more money, oh, no, no, there's no more money for you.
22:18
The grant's finished.
22:20
No, woo, woo, there's the proposal.
22:24
Oh, yeah, but... You didn't use it.
22:26
They said, no, you know, they said, oh, where's the letter of confirmation?
22:32
I said, yes, you're the wrong person here.
22:34
Anyway, I got some legal advice and they said, no, if you've not received any letter stating this is how it's going to be or no, we don't accept for $33 million, here's $11 million, fine.
22:48
But they've sent you $11 million, yeah.
22:50
As far as we're concerned, they've accepted your contract, your proposal because they've sent you the first payment.
22:56
Yeah.
22:56
Anyway, so then I get letters from telling them how ungrateful I am and all the rest of that shit, but we're still fighting them for it.
23:06
Last year, I wrote to every minister, never got any replies except one from Ayers.
23:16
In the end, in October of last year, I wrote to the Premier.
23:23
Now they've got a new system where you're screened when you write to them.
23:28
It'll either go, don't want to talk to you in that bin, don't want to talk to you in this bin.
23:34
That's what happens now.
23:35
My wife can tell you.
23:36
So you're branded kind of thing, are you, mate?
23:38
Oh, yeah.
23:39
Yeah, there's a red light, reads writing, reads writing.
23:42
Anyway, so then I wrote to the sports minister, flatly denied...
23:53
Anything.
23:54
Didn't come back to us.
23:57
Well, now, you know, I just spent three hours with the new sports minister.
24:02
Mm-hmm.
24:03
And, um... Are you making progress?
24:06
We will be meeting with him again pretty soon.
24:09
Mm-hmm.
24:10
But I'll tell you what, Minza's got them all shitting themselves.
24:13
Really?
24:14
Yeah.
24:14
Oh, yes.
24:15
They can't agree to anything whatsoever.
24:19
None of them.
24:20
Or otherwise you're gone.
24:22
But...
24:24
Maybe he'll do the right thing.
24:25
Maybe he doesn't want them running out, causing.
24:29
For argument's sake, if we get money, people are going to know it.
24:33
Oh, why are they getting money?
24:35
So then it causes a ripple somewhere else.
24:37
Hopefully I'll get somewhere with a new guy.
24:42
A guy who used to be the right air man to Morris is a good friend of mine.
24:46
He's on extended leave from the Labor Party and government.
24:52
And he writes, helps me.
24:54
I write a letter, then he fixes it.
24:56
Okay.
24:58
My wife normally fixes after I write, then...
25:00
He fixes it again.
25:01
Bill gets stuck into it and makes it come good.
25:04
And it's...
25:06
We've got the new ladder ready to go.
25:09
What it is is a history on the sport, and it keeps emphasising the fact we're the only ones doing it for the kids off the street.
25:16
You know, we used to open on a Friday night, let all the kids in the gate for $10.
25:20
Come in Friday night, you can't raise, $10.
25:24
It's just because we're going to pay the security guards that are necessary, and that's where the money goes.
25:28
And you can all come here, you can pretend you have beef burgers, restaurant will be open, you can all, well, it was going fantastic.
25:35
Until the fucking highway patrol started turning up and locking the gates and defecting everyone.
25:39
So where do the kids go?
25:40
Back out on the road racing.
25:42
You know, just...
25:43
It's painful to see what they do.
25:46
I don't give a fuck if his nose is running.
25:48
Somebody get a tissue and wipe it and help him.
25:51
You know, that's... Half these kids come from a terrible life.
25:55
Half of them are... You're giving them an escape, something to aspire to, to...
25:59
It's not that.
26:00
And you're showing a bit of love to them.
26:02
You know what I'm getting at?
26:04
Here's these kids, growing up, they've probably come from a family and they've had eight stepfathers or four stepmothers or... You know what I'm getting at?
26:14
And they haven't got a hope in life unless somebody reaches out to them and gives them.
26:24
And we're trying to convince the government.
26:26
These kids, these kids didn't ask to be born.
26:30
You know?
26:31
And sure, some of them you'll never fix.
26:34
But Jesus Christ, if you get out there and you hold your hand out to them and you're showing a bit of love to them.
26:39
We'll get to some more racing to finish this, but let's finish the Sydney Dragway chapter.
26:45
Knowing all that you've put into it, knowing the incredible lobbying work you've had to do, the work to try and get it to the level of pride that you wanted for it,
26:58
How do you feel about it now, all these years later?
27:00
Where are you at with it?
27:02
Well, we're getting there.
27:04
Good.
27:06
I was asked to go back on the board.
27:08
I refused.
27:09
Mm-hmm.
27:10
Because, you know, I've had some illnesses and I can do more outside.
27:14
But I think with some of the big announcements that you referred to before that are coming today is going to help immensely.
27:23
Mm-hmm.
27:24
But there's still a fair bit of work to happen in fixing the place, making it more user-friendly.
27:33
And...
27:36
Let these, like we went through before with the kids, it needs, those kids have the confidence that we're not going to persecute them when they come there.
27:45
And you're not going to get that unless you initiate it.
27:48
And that's what I want to see happen now.
27:50
Bring these kids in.
27:51
Like Bathurst.
27:52
Bathurst is an outstanding race.
27:54
I can remember when you could fire a gun up there.
27:56
Yep.
27:56
And they build it and build it and build it, right?
28:00
Now, you take all of those guys off the hill that go up on the hill.
28:03
They turn up.
28:04
It's tradition.
28:06
Can you imagine if the cops go up there and start raiding them and going on what's going to happen?
28:09
You're going to lose those guys off the hill.
28:12
Why should you?
28:13
They're enclosed.
28:13
What are they doing wrong?
28:15
If they go out on the road, that's not our business.
28:18
Start being clowns.
28:19
And that's what's going to happen out here.
28:22
If you try to go and do anything over the road, they charge a fortune.
28:26
We don't want to charge these kids anything.
28:29
I think it should be government subsidised, but it probably won't.
28:32
But we'll subsidise it if they give us the opportunity and let us fix the place.
28:37
Kids need more opportunity.
28:39
That'll finish the place.
28:40
Them kids are going to grow up to be drag racers.
28:43
That's what you want.
28:44
You want to fence them in.
28:44
You want to keep them with you as a part of that.
28:48
You want to be able to tell them your story.
28:50
Mate, I had the arse out of my pants when I was 19.
28:53
Hmm.
28:54
I had a wife and a son and a beat-up FJ Holden Ute.
28:58
Hmm.
29:00
I didn't lie down and cry.
29:01
Mm.
29:01
I didn't go to anyone and say, Jesus, you know, you've got a better car than me.
29:06
Mm.
29:07
Poor me.
29:07
Mm.
29:09
You know, you've got to have a goal in life.
29:13
Mm.
29:14
That you want to work to.
29:15
And it's not hard.
29:17
Mm.
29:18
It's a matter of instilling the confidence in these young fellas.
29:22
Yeah.
29:22
That come out there to race and stop.
29:24
And if, like, you've got no idea the number of people walk by our pit area.
29:28
Mm.
29:28
And whether I know them or not, if they want to talk, I'll stop and talk to them.
29:34
You've noticed that I talk too much.
29:36
No, it's good.
29:36
It's good.
29:38
And they deserve the same opportunity I got.
29:41
Yeah.
29:42
And you're not going to get it by running away from them.
29:44
No.
29:44
And that's what the government's doing with the motor.
29:47
Could you imagine if they spent $350 million on that whole area?
29:54
I said to them one time,
29:56
This should have a dual lane road come around the back, instead of where the big island is at their front gate, turn left, go up, and then a big road goes around, comes down, dumps out for the dragway, dumps out for the...
30:13
The circuit.
30:14
The circuit.
30:15
And no, the gate through traffic's not affected.
30:20
That's what they were going to do once, not anymore.
30:22
Oh, no, we'll build another $550 million.
30:24
We'll knock down the $350 million stadium.
30:28
We want our $22 million.
30:29
What we were going to do with that $22 million is now $30 million.
30:32
I'm not going to ask them for $30 million.
30:34
We'll make do.
30:35
We'll get it done.
30:37
But we need people to come there and go away and tell other people, God, it's a great place to go.
30:41
A place to go, exactly.
30:42
But the Speedway guys are poor bastards.
30:45
I feel so sorry for them.
30:47
They deserve better.
30:50
You know, they have one problem.
30:53
No one to get off their arse.
30:55
You know, I know Max and all of them.
30:56
I'd ring them up.
30:58
Listen, this is what you've got to do.
30:59
Oh, yeah, but they don't want to do it.
31:03
Speedway was supposed to be independent.
31:05
Yeah.
31:07
Same as, same as, it's not.
31:09
It's nothing like it.
31:11
The poor bastards sitting in the grandstand because they went, did you ever go to Grandville?
31:17
Oh, all the time.
31:18
Right?
31:18
All the time.
31:18
Well, there was the trotting track, the circuit trotting track, and the grandstand, right?
31:25
Out here, minus the trotting track, people are so close, they need mudguards.
31:30
Yeah, you're getting, yeah, it's not like for like.
31:34
Motorsport,
31:36
to me, is V8 Supercars is very, very lucky that Cochrane came along.
31:42
Mm-hm.
31:43
And he left them in good shape.
31:45
Mm-hm.
31:46
He knew when to bail out.
31:47
Mm-hm.
31:49
I'm hoping the Mustang and the... Yep, Camaro.
31:52
Mm-hm.
31:52
But the Camaro isn't built anymore.
31:54
Mm-hm.
31:54
You're aware of that?
31:54
Mm-hm.
31:55
They don't build it in America.
31:57
Yep.
31:58
But somebody's building fiberglass shells.
32:00
Yeah.
32:01
You know, it's...
32:02
We all deserve what we can get.
32:04
And I'd love to get $500,000 a year, like a footballer does, even if he's second rate, to be able to go out and continue in my sport.
32:14
But I can't.
32:16
Never ever will.
32:18
But at least I can go out with my family and enjoy.
32:21
And if it costs the money to do it, fine.
32:23
But the opportunity's got to be there for others.
32:25
One drag strip in New South Wales.
32:28
One.
32:29
We've got...
32:31
Four magnificent stadiums in Sydney.
32:36
What do we do?
32:36
I don't know.
32:37
I...
32:41
Draw on the line after I get the $22 million that's owed to the place.
32:44
Yeah.
32:46
That's it for you?
32:47
Will that be it for you, Willett, in terms of... No, I only have the track.
32:50
I'll still keep my eye on it, which I do.
32:53
I just keep my eye on it.
32:55
You feel good when the people that count come up and ask you about things, you know what I'm saying?
33:01
And I don't mind sitting down and talking to anyone if they're genuine about what I think's right and what I think's wrong.
33:06
Like out there the other day, you've got this section in the middle where it's filling up with too many people
33:12
and I said one of these days somebody's going to blow a backfire and wipe someone's head off and then work cover will get in here and then we'll fuck no one.
33:26
Yeah correct.
33:27
I said it'll shut the place but that's another approach we've got to try and keep the people safe they all congregate down the middle it's so unsafe
33:39
Let's do a couple of things to finish.
33:41
When I walked through the workshop before, which is amazing, there's some cool cars in there and there's a special one of yours hanging up on the wall.
33:48
I want you to tell people about the car from your time as a driver, the one that you have maybe a special attachment to, a fondness for, and the result, the race, the, you know, achievement.
34:05
Which...
34:05
The red car.
34:06
Yeah.
34:07
The wind fill car, yes.
34:08
Is that the one that I saw up on the wall?
34:10
Yeah, that was a great car.
34:14
We won a lot of races with that.
34:18
Probably the most magnificent achievement out of...
34:26
There's a lot of races that were great to win, but I think I used to have a bad, not a bad habit, I used to have a habit of winning last races.
34:39
I've never been to a race where it's going to, like Castle Ray, I won the last ever race, right?
34:44
So then it, going back many years, Willowbank Raceway got itself into trouble financially.
34:53
So I rang up Uncle Ian and I said, mate, we've got a problem.
34:57
He said, good, which is Brisbane.
35:01
So we jump in the plane, we fly up there.
35:04
Somebody dutted, we knew it was.
35:08
They were building a tower.
35:11
So Uncle Ian comes in, he looks around and he says, the tower, you've got no money to finish it.
35:19
He said, no, we'll pay for that.
35:22
And you paint it red and white.
35:24
Mm.
35:24
Yep.
35:26
Winfield, everywhere, yep.
35:32
And they were loyal to Uncle Ian.
35:34
Even after tobacco finished, it's still today, part of it's still red and white.
35:39
Wow, wow.
35:40
Because he dug them out of a big hole.
35:42
Mm-hmm.
35:44
But the last ever drag race for tobacco was held at Willow Bank.
35:53
I'm trying to think of the date.
35:57
Prohibition came in, I believe it was on the 30th of December in 1995.
36:06
Or the 31st.
36:07
That sounds about right.
36:10
And we went out.
36:11
The place was crammed.
36:14
We give away a red and white little car.
36:20
We had...
36:22
Thousands upon thousands of Winfield hats last race made, which I've still got some.
36:28
And we subsidised the shit out of it, put up the prize money.
36:34
You couldn't move in the place and we won the last race.
36:36
It was incredible.
36:38
The crowd came over the wall.
36:41
You know, they just, we're coming, towing back up the racetrack.
36:45
And the crowd just over the wall and just stood there.
36:49
It was just an incredible good feeling for me and Ian that I won the last race.
36:56
How did it feel that, you know, that long-term sponsorship, that great partnership was coming to an end?
37:06
Winfield was family.
37:07
Hmm.
37:09
It must have been difficult.
37:10
One big family, I'll tell you.
37:13
It was devastating, I'll tell you.
37:17
I remember I waking up the next day, well, when we got back from Queensland and looking at the race car,
37:26
And at the time, I said, I'll never, ever, ever change that car.
37:30
I'll just leave it as it is.
37:31
But as it turned out, they said to me, no, look, get all the signs off it.
37:37
Take them all off and go race it.
37:40
But they weren't even allowed to give me money, even if I didn't have signs.
37:45
If I had no uniforms, no nothing, they weren't allowed to give me money.
37:50
And that's why I swear it would always stay red.
37:54
But that...
37:56
It was an incredible feeling winning that race.
37:59
It was just like top qualifying to Pomona.
38:02
And when I won the three titles in a row in Adelaide for three years, and almost three titles with the other car as well at the same time, it was just an incredible feeling.
38:21
And it was funny,
38:24
We all went back to the hotel for dinner, because it was a daytime race, and we got into the grog, see.
38:36
Anyway, the... You know, you do the... You let out the steam.
38:43
It's done, yeah.
38:45
Anyway, the waiter comes up and I said, another round of drinks.
38:49
The waiter says, who for?
38:50
I said, everybody.
38:51
I said, what do you mean everybody?
38:54
I said, what do you mean, what do I mean, everybody?
38:58
Everyone in the room, buy him a drink.
39:02
So on the Tuesday after we get back to Sydney, I come in and says... Bill.
39:07
Jim, what happened?
39:10
How big was it?
39:12
Six and a half thousand dollars.
39:14
Oh, fair.
39:15
Fantastic.
39:17
And did Uncle Ian look after it?
39:18
Did he look after it?
39:20
No, he says, I'll try and figure this out.
39:24
He fixed it.
39:25
But anyway.
39:26
Was it hard to stop racing for you?
39:28
How difficult was that decision?
39:30
It wasn't?
39:33
When Louis was killed, I used to think, how could I ever put my son in a car?
39:41
I didn't want to do it.
39:44
But now they're immersed in it, mate.
39:46
They're, you know, it's... Well...
39:52
I probably should have stopped five years before I did.
39:57
And I'd get in the car and wouldn't want to race.
40:01
Really?
40:01
But I'd still drive.
40:02
I'd still, yeah.
40:03
Because I didn't want Philip getting in the car.
40:06
Anyway.
40:07
So you were literally pushing that back by staying behind the wheel longer.
40:11
Yeah.
40:11
Really?
40:12
Yeah.
40:13
Shouldn't have done it because I didn't want to do it.
40:16
I didn't want to race then.
40:18
But it gave you such a buzz as a young man.
40:20
Yeah, there were still times where it did.
40:22
But, no, I'd won over 275 events from 1966 through to...
40:32
The Rothman era.
40:33
Yeah.
40:34
You know, I had this fear after seeing Louis get killed.
40:37
It knocked me around real bad.
40:39
And so in the end, I said to...
40:45
Bruce and Phil, I said, Phil, do you want to drive this car?
40:48
He said, yeah.
40:48
I said, go to Frank Hawley's.
40:49
I'm not teaching you.
40:51
Go to Frank Hawley's in America.
40:52
If he tells me you can drive, then come back here and you can drive.
40:56
Okay.
40:57
Well, he went to Frank Hawley's and got flying colours.
41:01
And I always knew he would.
41:02
Mm.
41:02
But I didn't want to have to make that decision.
41:05
Be one out, one removed from it, Connelly.
41:07
I wanted... Frank Hawley is considered the best.
41:10
Mm.
41:11
And he was a good racer himself.
41:14
And he ran a driving school.
41:17
Now, that other car that's in the shed...
41:20
is the type of car that Philip was taught on by Frank Hawley.
41:24
And he passed everything with flying colours.
41:26
Is that Black Mamba?
41:27
Is that the one we're talking about?
41:28
No, no.
41:29
There's two cars on the floor.
41:31
On the floor, sorry.
41:32
One's an alcohol car.
41:33
That's what Frank teaches everyone to drive on, alcohol cars, because they've got to change it.
41:38
They've got to be busy.
41:39
Yep.
41:40
And he said, mate, he's ready for it.
41:42
So that's what happened.
41:43
We put him in the car and...
41:46
He won three championships.
41:48
But when it became real and you weren't doing it anymore, were you okay with that?
41:52
Yes.
41:52
Yes, I was.
41:53
I was perfectly okay.
41:54
I was calm as can be.
41:57
I just had every ounce of faith in him.
41:59
I knew he could do it.
42:00
And you've never had a run somewhere again?
42:05
Does the buzz?
42:05
No.
42:06
I've never sat in a fuel car.
42:08
Really?
42:09
Never since.
42:10
Have no desires whatsoever.
42:13
But you don't miss the racing as in you love spectating it.
42:17
You won't miss an event is what I'm trying to say.
42:19
No, I won't miss an event.
42:21
Whenever my car runs, I'll be there.
42:23
And I'm enjoying it just as much.
42:26
I work here nearly every day doing something that shortcuts a few things for everyone else.
42:31
You know, like today the crankshaft guy turned up.
42:35
I organised all of that.
42:36
If something's got to be welded, I run it away.
42:39
I grind all the floater plates and clutch plates and everything and...
42:42
Do you enjoy all the...
42:44
I enjoy it all, yeah.
42:45
I just enjoy it all.
42:47
And the boys, we've got a fabulous group of guys.
42:51
Bruce spoils them.
42:52
Does he?
42:52
Yeah.
42:53
In what way?
42:54
In what way?
42:55
Oh, he just spoils them.
42:56
He appreciates them.
42:58
When they come to work, they all have dinner at Bruce's.
43:00
And last night, two of them stayed here because they lived too far away to get to work in the morning.
43:06
This morning.
43:06
Yeah.
43:07
So, you know, they stayed here at Bruce's house.
43:11
But it's...
43:14
Bruce is very calm.
43:16
I've spoken with him on the phone for this, so I know.
43:19
Very calm, and he... Let me tell you.
43:26
He would have made a hell of a politician.
43:28
Would he?
43:29
Oh, yeah.
43:31
He probably would have got run off through being too straight up and down, but he was a good politician.
43:38
He would have made a good politician.
43:40
He's very, very...
43:46
He comes over pretty strong.
43:49
But deep down, he's very soft-hearted.
43:51
Is he?
43:52
And he is with the crew as well.
43:54
Treats them like they're his own, which is good.
43:57
I just amble.
43:58
I don't tell them what to do.
44:00
I don't know.
44:00
What do I do?
44:01
You know lots.
44:02
And I think that your love for it is still immense, which is awesome.
44:10
I am grateful, mate, that we've been able to finally sit down and do this chat.
44:14
So thank you.
44:15
Well done on all the statistics.
44:17
You're going to have to.
44:18
Oh, that's okay.
44:19
We'll happily sit down.
44:19
You're going to have to end at the rubbish.
44:21
That's fine.
44:21
That's fine.
44:22
There's not a...
44:23
You know, that's a joyful job to be able to sit and, you know, help tell your story.
44:29
And the fact that you've been internationally in the Hall of Fame, domestically in the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame, that should have happened year one, but that's another story.
44:39
And I know you're very proud of the Advanced Australia thing too, mate, which you should be.
44:44
Thank you for batting so hard for drag racing, mate, and for the better.
44:48
You know we got an award off the Queen quite a few years ago.
44:51
Tell me about that.
44:52
It's hanging on the wall of my office.
44:53
It's one of those sports awards, John Howard, Tymon.
44:57
Yep.
44:57
We were the first drag racer to ever get a photograph of the car and myself in the Guinness Book of Records.
45:09
Tell me about that to finish.
45:11
Well, it's hanging on the wall in there.
45:13
So James Hardy and I were the first ever Advanced Australia Ambassadors.
45:18
Congratulations.
45:19
And, you know, everywhere I used to go to the races in America with the biggest bag of Australian badges.
45:27
Mm-hmm.
45:28
And people would queue up for an Aussie badge.
45:31
Badge.
45:31
You know, I've still got a couple of them somewhere, but it's still got some of the Advanced Australia stickers.
45:37
Mm-hmm.
45:37
But then all of a sudden it just stopped.
45:39
Mm-hmm.
45:39
We'd go to meetings in the city and Sir James would say, it's a good restaurant up the road, you can't get out of here.
45:49
Yeah, we were, I forget his name.
45:52
He was a radio announcer here, big fella, with war glasses, deep voice, and in 1982, he flew in in a helicopter into Castle Row on a Tuesday, I think it was, and gave me this,
46:12
this award, this Advanced Australia Award, and the badges and everything.
46:16
Somewhere I got a badge of an Advanced Australia ambassador and all of that.
46:21
I carried the Olympic flame.
46:24
Not the flame.
46:25
Yeah, the torch.
46:26
The torch.
46:27
The torch when it did its tour.
46:30
This was down at where the Olympics was held.
46:34
Yeah, down at Homebush.
46:35
Yeah.
46:36
Yeah, there's photos of griffs up there.
46:37
I got the gloves, the white gloves, you know, and you wore the white suit and all of that shit.
46:42
The Westpac Bank, I was their guest in that.
46:47
That's excellent.
46:48
They all, yeah, it was good, but the medal from the Queen was good.
46:54
Oh shit, stuff hangs on the wall.
46:56
I sound like a smart-ass.
46:57
No, you don't.
46:58
No, you don't.
46:59
No, you don't.
46:59
What do you reckon, this is my final question, you're going to be 80 in January, if I've got my math right.
47:06
So what are we talking there?
47:08
Six, seven months away.
47:10
What do you reckon 80-year-old Jim Reid would say to the 14-year-old kid who was nearly put in a home kind of thing?
47:18
Or what do you reckon you'd tell him now about life and what to do?
47:22
Well, I'd just tell him about my life.
47:25
And I'd just tell him... Have a go.
47:29
If someone calls you a failure...
47:32
You're not a failure if you don't have a go.
47:35
If you have a go and you don't succeed, get up off the ground and have another go.
47:41
But if you have a go, you're not a failure.
47:43
I'll never let anyone call you a failure because everyone can't succeed.
47:48
But Jesus Christ, you might learn a bit or go off down another avenue in life that suits you.
47:56
It might be the same as I did, but you might
48:00
go down this way, you could end up a rocket scientist for all I know.
48:05
But you've got to try.
48:06
Only you can do it.
48:07
No one can do it for you.
48:09
I can tell you what I did, you know, and I only told you half the story.
48:14
I know.
48:16
Thank you very, very much.
48:17
It's been a joy to sit here and talk with you.
48:19
The book is something people should go and read.
48:21
No, you haven't bored me one bit.
48:23
It's been a joy.
48:24
Thank you so much.
48:30
Rusty's Garage is written and presented by me, Greg Rust.
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Series editor and producer is Thomas Dullard.
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Audio production by Link Kelly.
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If you've got a guest suggestion, get in touch with me via social media.
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The Garage, that's where a journey begins with a tank full of passion-fueled stories.