That first meeting reflected the nature of the sport in those days; only six races run and all were stockcars. Yet today, we tend to see five to six classes, with at least 20 races at a normal meeting. The stockcars were not the sophisticated, professionally built monsters of today, more akin to the Kiwi ingenuity of the time.
It was appropriate that the first stockcar race at the venue was won by the legendary "Big Bad" Charlie Berntsen in his 22P. Berntsen was still contracted to Palmerston North in that season as part of the mighty Palmerston North Panthers team in their imposing black-bodied cars.
He is now the club patron and has been a loyal Wanganui supporter over the preceding years. Berntsen and fellow Panthers Peter Hetterley, Warwick Sisson, Bruce Robertson and Jack Noaro were to dominate the winner's circle in that first season on the fledgling track.
Of the locals, Dave Hooper had emerged out of retirement to fly the Wanganui flag. Others like Mick Murray, Ian Davidson, Phil Ridland and John Burford proudly fronted for that first meeting with the letter "V" on the door. Wanganui could not use "W" as that had been taken by Wellington so the "V" became the track identification, reflecting the View in the real oval by the ocean.
That first meeting attracted about 30 cars, with long-time campaigner and multiple national champion Kevin Free making the trip from Hamilton. Apart from the Stratford and Palmerston North visitors, Des St Clair came from Wellington. The prize for winning the feature race at that first meeting - $30.
Two meetings later, the Wanganui Warriors stockcar team emerged, with Hooper, Murray and Davidson joined by Allan Pryce and Dick Brady. They came up against an experienced Stratford Scrappers team that included Arthur Roper, Albie Gordge, Alan Jago and Harold Kells - names that have become larger than life over the years.
Kells piloted his car using bulldozer levers rather than a steering wheel. The Scrappers easily accounted for the locals but the Warriors' legacy had begun.
Over the next few meetings, other names emerged, as Ian Easton arrived from Palmerston North - the long-time campaigner only hanging up the helmet last season.
Others to test the track were Wellington's Wilbur Chiles, one of the characters of that era in his Jesters team car, while his clubmate, Gil Mallia, was always prominent in the immaculate Ian Taylor-built cars.
Figure-eight events played a role in that first season, with Berntsen a dab hand in a style of racing long since outlawed.
So the long journey had begun for the track. As early as the second season, solos had started to appear and it was only another year or two before the non-contact saloon class emerged. This class produced Wanganui icons in Peter Sloman and Ray Purdy. Each went on to win NZ titles, but with a "P" on the door rather than a "V".
Another class to arrive in the late 70s was the sidecars, a staple strength of Wanganui since. Don Cosford and Bob Smith introduced the class here.
In the 1980s, TQ Midgets also gained a foothold and, until the early 2000s, the Oceanview stable of cars was a force around the country.
Perhaps the biggest impact on the sport germinated in Wanganui when, in the late 1990s, Darryl Taylor introduced the ministock. The smaller version of the standard stockcar, running 1200cc motors, has now become the nursery for speedway and providing the stepping stones for 12-16 year olds to test the waters. The result has seen scores of drivers graduate to all speedway classes to ensure the future is secure.
Over the years many heroes, characters and champions emerged - far too many to name all of them. The first Wanganui-registered driver to feature in a national event was stockcar driver Adrian Flett, who won the North Island title in 1975/76 on his home track, the first time the club had hosted a national event.
That success on home soil was to repeat itself throughout the years as visitors struggled to come to terms with the tight, tricky southern bend. The first national title was claimed in 1978/79 when Keith Turner won the NZ stockcar title in Palmerston North in a run-off against Hamilton's Barry Featherstone.
Berntsen repeated the effort three seasons later on his home track in taking the NZ title in 1981/82. The 432V car Berntsen drove still turns laps at Wanganui in the hands of latest owner Mark Cromarty.
A NZ title in a class apart from stockcars was not to arrive until 1985/86, when Tony Cave & Graeme Uren won the NZ sidecar title in Rotorua. Nigel Belsham and Stephen Anderson repeated that effort in 1990/91 at Wanganui, which was duplicated in the same fashion by Murray Hackett and Steve Heibner in 1996/97.
It wasn't until 2000/01 that another NZ title arrived when Peter Huijs swept all before him in claiming a TQ Midget title at Stratford. John Hannan and Jason Wallis collected a NZ Sidecar title in 2003/04 in Wellington.
The last NZ title was secured in 2006/07 in underdog fashion when Gerry Linklater came from nowhere to take the NZ Stockcar title at Auckland's Waikaraka Park.
The original class of stockcars has produced household names over the years that often sprout into generations of the same family competing.
Evan Mooney was an entertainer bar none during the 1970s/80s and that mantle passed to son Dion later. Murray Hackett and Steve Heibner were the most prolific of combinations during the 90s, with Steve's son, Kyle, is now an emerging star for the local track. It would be a long list if one sat down and traced the lineage of today's drivers back to yesteryear.
More than anything else, this weekend will be a chance to remember those who laid the foundations for the sport to thrive in the River City - names that have become folklore in the sport nationally.
The likes of Bob Smith, Evan Mooney, Charlie Berntsen and Keith Turner in stockcars. Don Cosford and Phil Robinson, Tony Cave (TC) and Graeme Uren (Hobo) and Murray Hackett (Boss Hogg) and Steve Heibner (Goatbag) in sidecars. Peter Huijs, Chris Bagrie and Angus McLeod in TQ Midgets. Peter Sloman, Dennis Hay and Ray Purdy in saloons.
That list does not include the names of the administrators, track and ancillary staff who have toiled for the club over the years.
Those early beginnings have meant that generations of fans now have their own memories of a track that continues to punch above its weight and make us proud. Long may the "V" fly.
NATIONAL TITLES
Adrian Flett - NZ Stockcar champ 1975/76
Keith Turner - NZ Stockcar champ 1978/79
Charlie Berntsen- NZ Stockcar champ 1981/82
Tony Cave/Graeme Uren - NZ Sidecar champs 1985/86
Nigel Belsham/Steve Anderson - NZ Sidecar champs 1990/91
Murray Hackett/Steve Heibner - NZ Sidecar champs 1996/97
Peter Huijs - NZ TQ Midget champ 2000/01
Gerry Linklater - NZ Stockcar champ 2006/07
