People say fifty years is a long time – and they are right.To be doing something for that time is a feat in itself and this past June Dennis Newlyn celebrated 50years of journalism for the sport of Speedway.

Speedway NSW felt it fitting to celebrate Dennis’s contribution to the sport over five decades.

He attended his first speedway meeting aged three weeks old. His parents were heavily into

speedway and his dad, Rex, tried his hand at speedway bike racing in the late 'forties at the Sydney

Showground and Sports Ground. His parents met through speedway so it was inevitable Newlyn

would one day find a place for himself in the sport after being track side at such an early age.

He says the most personally satisfying aspect of his time in the sport was the great era of American Speedcar legend Bob Tattersall. Newlyn witnessed every race Tattersall ever contested at the Sydney Showground during his 13 years visiting Australia.

In a sport where Media rivalries can occur, Newlyn is very pleased to report that he enjoys great camaraderie over many years with fellow long time journalist Peter White. “Peter is a very good friend of mine and I acknowledge what he has done in the sport. We talk and see each other every week and that is what I like in this sport because long time friendships are more important than anything else.

“Peter was honoured in June for his wonderful years in speedway at a presentation dinner and I was at his table to see him accept the award. I also want to acknowledge commentator Steve Raymond for his long time close friendship and kindness – particularly at the time of the passing of my parents which was an extremely tough time for me.”

It all started for Newlyn in June 1966 when he became the speedway correspondent for the local area “Bankstown Torch” newspaper in Sydney's western suburbs. That followed for a couple of years
before he became writer for the Bankstown Observer. At the same time he got some articles in Bill Beecham's very popular fortnightly National Speed Sport newspaper.

That then took him to the KG Murray Publishing Company in Sydney and he wrote speedway for their Australian Hot Rodding Review magazine (after great journalist Dave Booth held the post for some years) and also KG Murray's “Two Wheels” magazine as well as KG's Speedway Yearbooks.

Then came a full time opportunity with John Storm's Australian Speedway News tabloid before his long time involvement with Speedway Racing News commenced with the first release in February
1972. He provided articles for the very first SRN edition that year and was in print in SRN's last-ever edition in August 2015 in what rates one of the longest running connections with any speedway
publication.

In 1979, Dennis entered the publishing game with his own publication following the release of his highly successful “Speedway Classics” magazine which paved the way for the emergence of the National Speedway Illustrated (NSI) magazine which ran from 1980 to 1994. It returned again in 2003 and was running strongly until March, 2006.

As Dennis explains, the end of NSI came under sad circumstances.

“The only reason I stopped NSI was the passing of my father and then the subsequent offer which followed soon after to work as Media Manager at Sydney's Parramatta City Raceway,” he said.

This is, however, just the tip of the iceberg in regards to Dennis’s involvement in the sport. Newlyn was speedway “on air” correspondent for Sydney's 2WS (in the station's AM days) from 1979 to 1982 before taking up the same role reporting speedway with 2GB (1982-86) and 2UE (1986-96).

In 2007 he hosted a half hour speedway show Saturday afternoons on Sydney AM radio station 2SM. “Right from my very early days writing and covering Australian speedway I always wanted to gain entry for myself and more importantly the sport into the mainstream media rather than just concentrating on the inner circle of speedway.

“After 50 years I am particularly pleased after so much hard work I have reached these objectives, having been a speedway correspondent over the years for sports shows on several mainstream AM Sydney radio stations. This also included not only the sports shows but reporting speedway in the sports segment of hourly news bulletins which I consider great exposure for speedway.

“I have reported “live” on a world speedway bike championship when I was correspondent for Sydney's 2GB and provided reports and results back to the Sydney studio of the 1982 World Final at the Los Angeles Coliseum won by American Bruce Penhall.

“Also in the days when I was speedway correspondent for Peter Bosley's high rating and long running “Sports Today” programme on 2UE (from 1986 to 1996) I regularly conducted competitor interviews
from in the studio during the show. During my time as Media Manager at Sydney's Parramatta City Raceway and the speedway show on Sydney radio station 2SM, the highlight was on one particular
programme when I had Sprintcar King Steve Kinser as studio guest.

“The talk back line went into melt down and the show ran half an hour over time. The station management never complained either which pleased me no end but that will go down as one of the standout highlights of my journalistic career.

“Another highlight came last year (2015) with my full page feature story in the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper that served as a tribute to Australian Speedcar legend Jeff Freeman. The article was published exactly 50 years to the day of his tragic death in a crash at Sydney's Westmead Speedway.

That was a very special, and emotional moment in my career.”

Newlyn has also appeared as co-commentator on Fox Sports speedway shows and on one occasion was co-commentator for the delayed coverage of the 1993 Australian Solo Championship presented by the “Castrol Speed Machine” programme on the free-to- air Nine Network.

Speaking of Channel Nine, Newlyn was responsible for a special feature on the final night and closure of the historic Sydney Showground which was screened on Channel Nine's Saturday afternoon Wide

World of Sport programme. That resulted after Newlyn contacted friend and Nine sports presenter Andrew Voss who was formerly employed as a member of the 2UE sports department in the days Newlyn was their speedway correspondent.

That also rates right up there as one of Newlyn's most significant speedway achievements in Sydney main stream media sports coverage.

Apart from the media side of things, Dennis has also co-authored two books: “Tatterall the Legend” – the life story of American Speedcar legend Bob Tattersall and “Ghosts in the Bull Pens” where Newlyn
provided nine chapters of historically accurate and factual information in the 500-plus page book comprehensively detailing the 70 year history of the world famous Sydney Showground.

Dennis certainly has a great affinity with newspapers in the harbor city. He was speedway writer for the Sydney Sun Herald newspaper from 1984 to 1992 and is currently the speedway correspondent for the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper after his association with the News Limited newspaper started in 1993.

It was in 2005 that Newlyn wrote a three page Daily Telegraph supplement on the first appearance in Sydney of Outlaws Down Under at Parramatta City Raceway.

In 1990, while still writing speedway in the Sun Herald, he penned a similar three page special on the return of the historic Australian Speedcar Grand Prix to the Sydney Showground after an absence of
the great race for over two decades.

This last season he became the first speedway writer in Sydney for decades to write a weekly speedway column in a Sydney daily newspaper when the Daily Telegraph gave him approval for a weekly speedway news coverage which appeared every Monday. The column will resume next season.

He is widely recognized as the “walking encyclopedia of speedway” with his uncanny knowledge and ability to relate times, dates, places, events, race results without the aid of reference material. He is recognized as one of the leading historians of the sport.

Newlyn admits that his only remaining objective is to write a book on his 50 years of speedway reporting.

“The book is not about me, but will feature some fascinating stories from within the inner circle of the sport that have never been published relating to promoters, personalities, competitors and moments that found a place in speedway folklore,” he said.

He has a vault full of memories and actualities even going back longer than 50 years. He certainly isn't turning off the computer just yet and will continue churning out words, these days in Peter White's Speedway World newspaper.

Speedway NSW wishes to acknowledge and thank Dennis for his writing contribution to the sport of Speedway for fifty years. The sport, particularly in NSW, has certainly been the benefactor for that time.