A family affair Owen Park Wallan, Victoria
Ray Owen was among the country’s motorcycling royalty, having competed successfully in virtually every form of motorcycle sport; road racing, scrambles, speedway, hill climbs, grass track and short circuit. Aboard a spindly home-built device powered by an ancient 350cc Blackburne engine, he entered his first race, a scramble at Baxter in 1947, aged 17, and won. With his best mate Bert Flood, Ray joined the newly-formed Nunawading Motorcycle Club and spent every penny he could get on his passion. The new club was a hotbed of talent with names like Harold Tapscott, Neil Street and his brother Leon, Ivan Tighe, John Board and of course, Bert. And although he had been racing for 22 years when he embarked on the construction of his new track, Ray was far from finished. He continued competing at the top level for another decade.
As well as racing, Ray and his wife Patricia led a somewhat peripatetic life as they built a fleet of five trucks, carting logs, fruit, besser blocks and finally driving for Kraft out of Narre Warren.
