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Attention: Speedway Sedans Victoria  

This letter is to outline the controversial actions of Peter Ahearn as a steward and crew member.    This is a united letter from several street stock competitors in Victoria; it will become very clear that there is strong support for the message this letter delivers as you all read on.    Countless incidents have occurred and there hasn’t been any formal penalty or notice applied to Peter Ahearn on his conduct at and during a race meeting, well at least nothing official that any of us competitors are aware of, hence why we’re reaching out here as a group.    Now, before you tell us, yes, we know that there MAY have been on track penalties applied at certain times against Morris Ahearn, Peter’s son, however we are not writing to talk about on track matters that HAVE been dealt with. Were here to talk about the events that no one seems to want to discuss.   These next dot points are true and non-exaggerated, true and significant events that legitimately took place.     

-            Southern 500 Portland - 11th of February 2023 at a MJS series round where Peter was present in the pit box and swayed a decision at the end of the feature race involving Sam Brumfield and Morris Ahearn, another incident involved Steven Gartner.  This race meeting had the class talking at the time. And it was believed that change was meant to happen way back then. Perhaps some can recall these events and kick back at the time.

-            Peter Ahearn’s involvement in the 2023/2024 Street Stock and Modified Sedan Victorian Title at Premier Speedway on February 23rd and 24th. While Peter was a steward for the Modified Sedans, it was confirmed by multiple drivers that Peter was able to advise and assist the Street Stock stewards for the entire weekend. From a class standpoint, this is not a good look. Drivers within the class witnessed firsthand Peter’s involvement in decision making, when they were up in the judge’s box challenging decisions themself.  

-            We move now to the June long weekend at Swan Hill of season 2024. Do we even need to discuss this one? I have a feeling everyone knows what we’re talking about here. Peter was the Steward once again but shifted the blame to two other stewards in a very questionable set of circumstances. Yet still to this day we all hear from SSV committee members and even stewards alike, that things have changed for the better since the events of that weekend. But here we are all over again.            

-            Early season 2024/2025 at the SSV series round at Wangaratta on the 19th of October 2024, there were several incidents involving Morris on track and once again, Peter was in an officiating position, weighing in on calls and impacting other racers evenings. Once again us as competitors discussed amongst ourselves that we might now maybe get somewhere. Not to be yet.  

-            Fast forward to the start of season 2025/2026 and we’re back at Portland on the 29th November this year. While no incidents occurred that we’re aware of, once again Peter was standing in the steward’s box, impacting race meetings. Being involved in the decisions made, perhaps to disadvantage drivers who aren’t his favourites. We will never know.  

-            The King of the Mountain at Redline on the 13th of December 2025 is the final piece to the puzzle to date and HOPEFULLY, finally the last straw. In front of racers and parents, Peter Ahearn asked if he was able to help officiate the meeting. I guess, no harm there, at that stage he was only trying to get up in the box, in which we have all constantly been told that he’s NOT allowed to do. However, the events that took place after Morris’ third heat is where things cross the line. Peter took it upon himself to call the chief steward on the night, to tell them to penalise another competitor. Not only did he try to get up to the judge’s box earlier in the evening, but he’s now phoning in his decisions to the steward.

Surely, we are now at a point where some action must take place. Perhaps Peter should choose which cap he wishes to wear when he attends a Speedway event.   The stewards cap or the Crewing for his son cap. Or leave the cap at home and take the night off.   Either way, it’s well overdue that we all see some action on this matter.

There’s a great group of racers in this state and the racing is hard to top anywhere in Australia. Redline on the 13th was particularly close and fantastic racing, all who were there agree. While it may not look like it, this is not a personal attack on Morris Ahearn. This is about integrity, decency and it’s about the whole sport of speedway. What is Peter’s due diligence as a steward? Is he crossing a line when he’s impacting race meetings for the benefit of his son. Well, we all think so and we’re so over it.

Before the argument back in this direction is “Well who’s going to steward if we turn Peter away?” let’s have a think about this. He’s never up there alone, he always seems to be assisting someone. Why is that even necessary? Using an excuse for “helping out” is only to get what he wants. 

It’s extremely biased, whether he says so or not, he’s a father first and a steward a distant second when he’s in that judge’s box. During any race, he’s not making decisions with the correct mind set, that’s been proven time and time again.   We ask as a competitor group in this class, can we get some form of written clarification as to where SSV stand on this matter. Do SSV plan to ever act on this matter officially?   It has been going on for so long, some competitors have even said that it has deterred them from even nominating to certain events where Morris is nominated. We are all in a tough economic environment right now, where in recent times the competitor numbers are dwindling.

There are competitors who have decided to hang up their helmet over this sort of nonsense and I’m sure there are more to add to that list. Is that what’s best for Street Stocks and Speedway Sedans in Victoria right now? Let’s see some clarity here - hopefully SSV can recognise there’s a huge issue here and there’s a very simple solution.

Make it known to Peter and the whole racing community that enough is enough. He’s not allowed to officiate, influence or even be in the judge’s box at ANY venue or event, with the one exception to be if Morris isn’t racing. We thank you for the time of reading this letter and we hope ever so much that we see some common sense prevail. Thanks for your time.  

Fed Up Street Stock Racers    Contact the author of the petition