A dream of working behind the scenes at the Supercars Championship has come true for Narrogin Tyrepower owners Darren and Annette Atkinson after they answered a last-minute call for help.
The Atkinsons have owned and operated the Narrogin tire shop, previously known as Kels Tyres, for the past five years.
Mr Atksinon received a call on Friday April 29 asking if his team could make the 11th-hour trip to Perth to fit race car tires at the 2022 Repco Supercars Championship at the Wanneroo Raceway that weekend.
The organizers were left scrambling after their usual tire fitters, who are based in the Eastern States, contracted COVID-19 and could not travel for the event.
The Atkinsons and their team of Geoff Macray, Bryan Stephens and Harley Miners answered the call for help and fitted almost 800 racing tires over the weekend.
Mr Atkinson said it was a dream come true.
“I’ve followed V8 supercars all my life and I’ve never had any opportunity to do anything like this until they rang me on Friday,” he said.
“People dream to do something like this — especially if you are a motor sport fan — people would dream to help in some way.”
Drivers and their teams traveled to Perth for round four of the championships, which was the only round scheduled to take place in WA.
The drivers will battle it out across 13 rounds at racetracks across Australia and New Zealand for the title of Australian touring car champion.
Mr Atkinson said the team was particularly excited to mingle with drivers such as Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander.
They fitted 250 tires in three hours on Saturday, and 500 tires on Sunday.
“Being behind the scenes, you’re actually part of it,” he said.
“They come in and they are talking to you while you’re there — they are superstars.”
