9/20/2024
Late Model Racing Western Australia
Unfinished Business
On paper, Jamie Oldfield has achieved almost all there is to achieve in speedway.
But when you talk to Jamie himself, it is easy to see that while the passion may sometimes wane, the will to win is always there, and there is still plenty of fire left in the tank.
Starting in Junior Sedans, Jamie comes from a long line of successful racers, from all branches of his family tree. Mum, Dad, Grandad, Aunties, Uncles; they all raced. To this day, the Oldfield name is one of the most recognisable in the sport, and the bond that the three brothers shares as they go racing even now is still unbreakable.
“Obviously with myself and Warren sharing a business together we've pretty much been doing everything together since 2003, so it's only natural that it's a team,” says Jamie. “We've done our different things at times but generally we've all been fairly united.”
“For the most part it works,” he continues. “Most of the time we're great mates and have a hell of a time. Occasionally we'll have a clash but what family doesn't, it never lasts long. Some nights at the track we can be short with each other generally because one of us is having a bad evening, but normally that's over and done with by the end of the night.”
After a successful Junior Sedan career, Jamie moved into the senior ranks, where has had the opportunity to race just about every division in speedway, and done so with success. Eleven wins in the prestigious Brian Rose Memorial for Street Stocks and a five time WA Title winner in the class, big wins in the Speedcar including the Laurie Matthews Memorial, a former WA Production Sedan Champion, and even Australia #3 in Super Sedans are just some of his highlights. Recent stats have him with at least 109 feature race wins (and 182 podium finishes) across multiple divisions, with the research still continuing to firm up these numbers.
Despite this success, it was Late Models that saw him really show the world what he was capable of.
“Warren had put a lot of time into helping me the previous years in Speedcars and I was finishing up there” recalls Jamie. “Our business was going well, and we both decided it was time for Warren to do what he wanted for a bit and that was racing a Late Model. So, if you’re going to do it you do it right!”
“We bought Brad Blake's car on the last night I raced a Speedcar. I helped him for a year or two before AJ Nylander asked me if I would race one of his cars. I did that for a year, and decided I needed to buy my own! So, I bought a car from my good friend Warren Bishop. And the rest is history.”
Jamie’s first Late Model meeting was the 19th of January 2008 which was the WA Title at Northam Speedway. He didn’t finish his first race, finished just behind American Ron Miller in the second, then finished fourth in the B Main before vacating his seat for his brother to race in the final after issues with their car.
He won his first Late Model race just over a week later, the B Main at the National Championship at the Motorplex, and then got his first Late Model feature podium on the 17th of October 2009 where he finished second to Brad Blake in the Ray Tulk Memorial at Ellenbrook Speedway.
Jamie finally broke through to record his first Late Model feature win on the 12th of December 2009 at the Motorplex, and since then has gone on to record at least another thirty-four wins (and 64 podiums), with a total of twenty-eight of those being Pro Dirt feature wins, third on the all-time list.
These victories also include two WA Late Model Titles, two second-place finishes in the Late Model National Title and two Pro Dirt Series wins (plus two seconds and a third): nine top ten series finishes from the last fifteen years, a huge commitment.
So why does he keep coming back?
“Late Models are hard! They make you think. You need to use your brain so much not only while racing them, but in the shed during the week and on race night with setups, tyres and everything else. There's so much involved. They're also a beast of a car to race. One race the track will be fast, and you have to be aggressive and manhandle the car, and the next race the track slows down and you have to use both feet and your head together and be so gentle with the car.”
Jamie has always put his heart and soul into the racing, and that shows with the success he has had. Of course, there are nights that stand out above others, including the grand final show of last season where Jamie famously warned the rest of the field that he would be winning the event prior to it even starting, then went on to dominate with a steely focus.
“Sometimes you just have those nights where you know everything is going to work” he reminisces. “I was so focussed on that night, and anyone who tried to talk to me in the pits through the meeting probably thought I was a bit of a dick, but I was just that intent on what I was doing, and there was just no doubt in my mind that we would take that win. There was a championship on the line, but I could only control my own results and the rest would take care of itself.”
Even with that feature race win, Jamie would fall one agonising point short of the series win, with brother Warren doing just enough to hold the lead and leaving Jamie hungry for even more success.
Despite the success that he has had, and despite winning National Titles in other categories, the Late Model Australian Title is also still unfinished business, and the two second place finishes still hurt, something he will be hoping to rectify this season.
“That Title is definitely unfinished business!” exclaims Jamie. “In my opinion I should have two possibly three wins! In the Manjimup title, I was a mile in front and had an electrical failure with a handful of laps to go.”
“In Sydney I felt I had a car to beat Steve Francis and got to second three times, but every time there was a restart. With the Delaware double file restarts they were doing I had to start on the bottom every time and the top was way better. I’d worked hard getting to second, and close in on Steve and the yellow would come out again. I crossed the line on his bumper.”
“Then in Kingaroy I was leading with two laps to go, hit a hole and ran wide and Darren Kane passed me. I just simply messed that one up bad!”
Now Jamie has one of the best opportunities of his career to claim the National Title, with the event to be held at the Perth Motorplex on March 7th and 8th, a venue he has raced his way to victory at thirty times in five different classes.
The Late Model will again be the focus and although signs were pointing to maybe a reduction in seat time coming, the off-season appears to have bought some clarity for Jamie.
“I used to love the time in the shed working on cars but I don't anymore! I still love the socialising side of racing though. This season I'll see what the start of the series brings, but after coming so close to winning one last Pro Dirt Series in 2023/24, I feel like I should have one last solid crack at it…”
Release by DTN Media.
Article Credit: DTN Media
Article Media
