Racing to a Win: Marion Resident Stan Fairfield

In 1955, Resthaven Marion resident Mr Stanley (Stan) Fairfield, now 92, was racing round the Claremont Speedway track, Western Australia, at 50 miles an hour. Coming around ‘fowlhouse’ bend, suddenly he found his way blocked by a fellow driver’s car that had cut across the track. The pair collided, and in spectacular fashion, Stan’s vehicle was catapulted into the air and crashed to the ground, landing on its side.

Known for his bright yellow and black helmet and his racing check shirt, Stan knew that his girlfriend, Jeanette (later to become his wife), was there in the crowd and would have locked eyes on his helmet as the events unfolded.

‘There was no roll cage, and just a single lap belt to hold you in,’ Stan says. ‘Luckily, I was all ok. I was more worried about letting Jeanette know that I was uninjured! She always brought a few friends with her, so I had my own cheer squad in the stand. I climbed out of the car and climbed up into the stand to show her I was ok!’

Stan started racing when he was 20 years old, but his interest in the sport started when he was much younger.

‘When I was about 13 there was a group of five drivers from interstate who brought midget speedcar racing to Western Australia,’ Stan says. ‘This group helped establish Claremont Speedway. I would go to as many meets as I could, collecting autographs and soaking up the noise and smells.’

Once he turned 14 Stan got a job at the track as a ‘trayboy’ selling pies, pasties and sweets. It meant he had free entry and could watch the entire season. In 1949 he turned 16 and started his apprenticeship as a motor mechanic.

In the early 1950s, the WA Speedcar Drivers Association built a small track at a local orphanage for the boys there to use for running and cycling races, as well as for novelty events. The track was also used by speedway members to test their cars for the upcoming racing season.

‘After a bit of discussion, I was convinced to join the pit crew of one of the teams,’ Stan says. ‘The next season I had the opportunity to buy that car, and myself and a friend went 50:50. It was £100. It was all the money I had in the bank.’

The plan was that Stan and his friend would take it in turns driving the race car each week, however, Stan got his driver’s licence first and it took his friend several weeks longer to get his.

‘It caused some friction, and in the end, I paid him out,’ Stan says. 

Stan had a couple of good seasons and won a reasonable amount of prize money. This was lucky as after the major accident, this money was needed to rebuild the car.

A race would usually include about half a dozen competitors and the bigger races were six laps of the 640-yard (585-metre) track. Around 1,000 – 3,000 fans would pack the stands.

‘The mud on the Claremont track was terrible,’ Stan says. ‘It would get kicked up from the tyres and cover all parts of your body. I got to the stage I was wearing three pairs of goggles – each on top of the other – so that when one pair was too muddy, I could take them off and then have a clear pair ready to go.’

In another move to reduce the mud getting onto his face, Stan added a peak to the front of his helmet – the first of the racers to do so.

In 1956 Stan sold the car and went to Singapore where he had taken a two-year contract.

‘I was going first, and then Jeanette, who was studying nursing, was going to meet me there,’ Stan says. ‘However, before she qualified, she decided that nursing was not for her, and without the qualification, she was unable to work in Singapore. Also, it was a time of political upheaval, so in the end I stayed only six months before moving back.’

While in Singapore, Stan met a man in the bar who recognised his surname.

‘When I was young, my father was in the Air Force in Darwin,’ Stan says. ‘After the war, he chose not to come back. My parents got divorced when I was 11 years old, so I didn’t know him at all. But, here I was in Singapore with a man who knew him, and through him I eventually got back in touch with my father.’

Returning to Australia, Stan joined the racers again, competing in the final events of the 1957-58 season, taking over from a team owner who was unable to drive due to ill health.

‘Driving the car in the 1958-59 season, I did very well, and won the Aggregate Points Trophy, as well as the Feature Race Trophy for the season,’ Stan says. ‘I was presented with a canteen of cutlery. It was very nice and worth a bit too!’

For the 1958-59 season, Stan‘s boss had purchased a rolling chassis, and Stan rebuilt the car using a Vauxhall Vagabond motor, which was new to speedway at the time.

‘It took a long time to iron out all the bugs,’ Stan says. ‘I was still driving with the large handicap I had earned from the season before, so I wasn’t finishing well at the start, but by the end we had the car running properly and I was winning prize money, so that made everyone happy.’

A holiday to Adelaide

At the end of the season, in March 1959, Stan and Jeanette took a holiday to Adelaide, meeting up with Stan’s father, who he had now been in contact with.

‘We drove from Western Australia – including the 1,200km trek across the Nullarbor,’ Stan says. ‘My father suggested I should go up to Woomera, where there was plenty of work, especially for a mechanic. Four drivers had been killed in the previous speedway season, and my wife was pregnant. It felt like it was time to give it up.’

Stan took a job as a foreman in a workshop and then in the same role at a new service station that had opened. While in the town, he was the President of the Go Kart Club at Woomera – staying connected to his racing passions.

In 1968 he took a job with International Harvester as a Field Service Representative. He worked for them for 11 years before moving to Ford for two years, and then back again. He then took a new job at Case Construction Equipment.

Stan and Jeanette were married for 31 years until sadly, she died of a brain tumour. The couple had three children together.

Stan married his second wife Elizabeth in 1989, and they lived across the road from Resthaven Marion for 34 years.

‘We didn’t have to move far,’ Stan laughs.

The couple moved into Resthaven Marion towards the end of 2022. Sadly, Elizabeth died in 2023.

‘These days, motor racing, especially in the super modifieds, is only for the triple millionaires,’ Stan laughs. ‘I enjoyed it all – they were nice people to mix with. I was at an impressionable age, and I was a bit of a show off – it suited me well!’

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