By Charlene Macaulay
Allen and Dakota Luckett have a need – a need for speed.
The 62-year-old Tarneit Skies Retirement Village resident and his granddaughter are both die-hard speedway racers, with Allen competing until only three years ago.
Allen first got the taste for speedway racing watching his dad compete in the 1960s – but had to wait until he was 16 before he could get behind the wheel of a hot rod himself.
“It was 1972, just after I turned 16 … I had the car sitting there, ready to go and I couldn’t race it until I turned 16. It wasn’t my parents, it was the club [rules],” he said.
“I remember the first night I was there, they were lining up the cars at the pit gate and they said ‘first in, best dressed’. I was second or third out the gate!”
Allen, who has a room full of racing trophies, most recently won the 2014 state championship for his division, and also has two second-place and two third-place state titles to his name.
He stopped racing in 2015 after neck trouble, resulting in an operation.
Allen said while he misses being on the track, he loves watching 13-year-old Dakota race.
Dakota, who has been watching her grandfather race since she was little, already displays a natural talent for the sport and recently won a club championship.
The year 7 Hoppers Crossing Secondary College student races in the junior quarter midgets division and soon hopes to compete in the formula 500 division.
