Club member Brendan Lewis had collected the tractor from police by 9.30am the next morning. He said the youngsters were obviously familiar with tractors, as it would not have been easy to start without keys and they had managed to remove a heavy roller.
He said the tractor's left steering arm appeared to have suffered some minor damage, probably caused when it was driven through the ditch on the inside of the running rail.
He joked it would not have made for a fast getaway vehicle.
"It's probably got a top speed of 30km/h."
Track manager Tony Ebbett said it would not take long for the dry, hard track to be repaired but he was thankful the incident had not occurred before the club's major Christmas race meeting, which was held the day before. He said the youngsters were lucky not to be injured.
"It's bloody dangerous. The [metal] rail is sharp and could have sliced their throats. And if they'd fallen off [the tractor] it wouldn't have stopped. It would have run right over them."
He was also thankful the youths had not targeted the new tractor recently donated to the club by Stevenson and Taylor.
"They wouldn't have been able to get into it as it was locked, but now we'll have to build a shed to lock them both up in."
CHB Community Constable Glynn Sharp praised residents for their response and for providing a photo of the culprits.
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"A fine example of neighbourhood support in action," he said.
