All in a day’s work for Bill Barrows

Fierce competitor. Innovative visionary. Respected administrator.Tireless volunteer. All titles that sit comfortably in the life of Mount Gambier-based motorsport stalwart Bill Barrows and another accolade has been added to his rap sheet – an Order of Australia Medal as part of the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours.

The OAM is the crowning glory in a career that includes being inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1995; securing an Outstanding Contribution to the Sport Award in Knoxville in the United States, being named the 2018 Official/Volunteer of the Year at the Australian Speedway Awards and inducted into the Australian Speedway Hall of Fame the following year.

Long-time colleague and friend, current Borderline Speedway president Cary Jennings, said the King’s Birthday honor had been well and hard-earned.

“Bill has been an integral part of the Borderline Speedway since the late 1960s,” Cary said. “Bill has been such a great volunteer for the Borderline Speedway and he has so many contacts in the business world and throughout speedway and has led the way for making the Borderline track in the top five in Australia. He has made the track and facilities in the top five in the country. We would not have the complex we have if it wasn’t for Bill and his band of retired helpers.”

In season, Bill is chief in charge of track preparation and spends arguably more time at the Glenburnie track than anywhere over those few months.

“I am grateful I have been part of Bill’s journey through the club and I really appreciate what he does for the Borderline Speedway,” Cary said.

And that Borderline Speedway career started behind the wheel of a hot rod in 1968, before moving into super modifieds in 1973, the precursor to the current-day sprint cars.

He won four State titles in his career, finished runner-up in the national titles, and secured the 1985 President’s Cup.

It was when Bill was still driving that he first stepped into the administration, taking on the Borderline Speedway presidency in 1973, a position he has held numerous times over his 50-year association with the club and he spearheaded the track’s redevelopments in the late 1980s, 1994 and most recently in 2017.

Along with John Hughes, Bill created the hugely popular World Series Sprintcars, and in good news, the series, which became a victim of COVID, looks set to return for the upcoming speedway season, as some of the best of the US drivers along with the best of Australia’s sprint car talent go head to head in a series that takes in the length and breadth of Australia’s speedway tracks.

Bill was also at the forefront of creating Speedway Australia, a respected member of the Australasian Speedway Promoters Association and President of the Sprintcar Control Council of Australia.

“He has always been an ideas man and tried to come up with ways to make the speedway better and more accessible but he is also prepared to do the work and that has been so invaluable for the Borderline Speedway and speedway in general,” Cary said.

As with most hard-working volunteers, accolades such as this OAM, are never expected but Bill has humbly embraced this latest accolade.

“It means a lot to me because this has been a passion of mine and to see my efforts to be appreciated at this level is very fulfilling,” he said. “I was never in the sport for accolades, but this is certainly a great honor.”

And no one could be prouder that Bill has been recognized than his wife Sue, who has been by his side every step of the way.

“I know a lot of women who wouldn’t allow their husbands to do what Bill does, and I’ve seen him sacrifice a lot of his own time and money for Speedway, but he’s never let it negatively affect the family, so I’m very proud of him and the award,” Sue said.

Bill also has a Bravery Medal for rescuing a driver from a burning car in Mount Gambier in 1991.