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Having a Good Time…

Matt Goodlad has been one of the staples of the Late Model division for over twenty years. Debuting on the 22nd of September 2002 in what was the very first ever Pro Dirt Series round (as far as records tell), Matt has played a part in nearly every season since, sometimes on a fulltime scale, and sometimes on a scaled back schedule. Despite this, he has always maintained how much he loves the sport and plans to continue as long as he can.

Matt’s father was the beginning of the love affair with racing, having raced a number of divisions in the 1970’s and 1980’s, anything from Stockies to Super Saloons and even Speedcars. In the early 80’s, he bought one of Ray Geneve’s Sprintcars and used to run a limited program at Claremont, as well as Esperance and Albany.

“Growing up, Dad had a dyno centre so there were always racecars around, and he would help and sponsor a few of the local racers,” says Matt. “He also used to build motors and prepared a Sigma Modified for local racer Errol Davies, while I had already started racing motorcross from the age of 5, so racing was already in the blood!”

Errol’s father Berwin was a car dealer in Esperance and he, along with his good friend and sponsor Dick Thorpe (of Dick Thorpe Realty) agreed to get a Junior car on the track. Next thing they had the first G100 Charade in the State with Matt behind the wheel!

Growing up in Esperance, the Super Sedans were a strong class back in the day, and in the mid 1990’s a new name hit the track, with Derrol Crane debuting a well presented Iroc Camaro. Derrol would be accompanied by his wife Sue, two boys Jaron and Oliver, and a daughter Amy. It was a typical racing family, and when Matt began High School he became best mates with Oliver, and in turn became close to the whole family, spending plenty of time together at and outside of speedway.

This relationship would eventually evolve into Matt driving for the family-based team.

“Derrol had made the switch to Late Models and like the other pioneers in the division, had a brand new car built by Chris Cardy for the first season here in Australia,” says Matt. “The #18 car I still remember sitting brand new in their garage in Esperance as it had just been sign written. It was the first brand new big bodied sedan I had ever seen and it was awesome! Derrol raced that car for a couple of seasons until he bought a USA car that was built and raced here from USA stalwart Ron Miller.”

Oliver at this point was just starting his own first season racing Late Models aboard the #27 machine, and Matt was his pit crew, Oliver recording some good results quickly including a fourth-place feature finish on the 18th of November, 2000 at Kalgoorlie behind Late Model Champions Ben Ludlow, Ryan Halliday and Bruce Trenaman.

Unfortunately, before his career really got underway, Oliver was diagnosed with cancer and would sadly pass away. With some time passing, his brother Jaron was going to give Late Model racing a go, stepping into the ex-Miller car as Derrol imported an ex-John Mason Rocket for himself. This left the car that Oliver was going to drive free, and Derrol spoke to Matt’s Dad, offering the car as a roller with a heap of spares.

Matt would race alongside Derrol and Jaron at that first Pro Dirt Series show at Ellenbrook in September 2002, and for the record, Matt came out best, finishing sixth in the feature while Jaron failed to finish the main event and Derrol was unable to start it!

“That was my introduction into Late Models,” smiles Matt. “It was an opportunity I will forever be grateful for, and along with my family, we built the engines and contested a limited program those early years. Over the last twenty years the Crane family has remained a huge influence on my racing and it never would’ve begun if it hadn’t been for their cars, premises to house the cars and everything in between. It was a massive ask travelling from Esperance every week and sometimes I wonder how we used to do it! With motorcross, we used to do over 40,000km a season!”

In 2006 Matt made the decision to leave the family business and move to Perth where he started working for Derrol, building boats. Over the next 18 years this working relationship continued to evolve, with a number of different roles in transport, marine, agriculture, and more!

“I am so proud of that relationship, and what is really cool now is that one of my newest pit crew members is Jaron’s son Declan!” exclaims Matt.

Over the years, Matt has had plenty of success, with four Pro Dirt Series feature race wins, a second and a third in the WA Late Model Championship, contesting ten Australian Championships with a best finish of eighth and scoring points in at least eighteen seasons of the Pro Dirt Series with a best finish of second (plus two thirds) and an average overall finish of twelfth in the standings.

“The John Day Classic wins are special,” reminisces Matt, referring to his two wins in the event, some nine years apart, “As are the State Title podiums. In Juniors, well, there wasn’t too many races we didn’t win in the Southeast back in the day, so that’s something I’m also proud of.”

So where to from here?

Well in recent years racing has been on the backburner as Matt deals with some personal issues, but he is first to admit that racing is actually what keeps him sane, even if he has only been able to get on track a few times! This coming season, as he did in the latter part of the 2023/24 season, Goodlad will team up to race the Mazzini owned Rocket with the loan of Derrol’s SQP engine in selected shows. Despite this limited seat time, other teams in the pits know that whenever he is there, he is certainly a threat to win.

And why Late Models?

“You will not race a better sedan car on dirt than a Late Model,” he says. “Between the attitude of the cars, to the look of them, to the great USA rule book and having a proactive group of people working behind the scenes to promote the class here in WA, you cannot be involved with a better division and group of competitors than Late Models!”

Release by DTN Media.

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