Though there is some conjecture about when Late Models started due to individuals who were dabbling with Late Models, the official understanding is that Late Models officially hit Australia in the 1997/98 season.
Early on, a group of competitors from another division became disillusioned with the State of their controlling body, and when combined with the ease of being able to import complete Late Models from America, or the ability to locally build cars, Late Model Racing Western Australia was formed.
With racing in WA primarily focused around the now defunct Claremont Speedway, the newly formed division was told to race around WA, build and promote their product, and then come back to the bright lights. So they did.
The 17th of August, 1997 saw a demonstration run held at the Ellenbrook Speedway, while the first ever official Late Model race in Australia was held at Geraldton Speedway on the 25th of October, 1997.
That first heat race was won by Ben Ludlow, the first feature race by Alan ‘AJ’ Nylander and the first WA Title (of which the Geraldton show was the opening of eight round) was also won by Nylander.
The next year saw the Late Models make appearances at Claremont: the first feature won by Brad Ludlow on the 30th of October 1998.
Claremont would close in 2000, and Late Models would shift to a new home in Western Australia; the state of the art Perth Motorplex, which would also play host to the first ever Australian Late Model Championship.
Queensland Sedan veteran Allan Butcher would head West for this event, going on to be crowned the inaugural champion, defeating Brad Blake and Brad Ludlow.
Late Models in WA would continue to build from here, and eventually the division would make its way over to the East Coast of Australia, the New South Wales branch establishing itself in the 2002/03 season, and trickling out up and down the coast with events in Queensland and Victoria.
Each state would develop its own Title and local branch, the last of which to come on board being Tasmania in the 2017/18 season, meaning Late Models are now a truly national brand.
With their own exciting brand of racing developing, legends were created, none more so than West Aussie Brad Blake who is now a five time National Champion and ten time WA Champion amongst his other achievements. The division has also created many other household names and is sure to continue its meteoric rise to the top over the next few years!