Queanbeyan speedway racer Liam Heaton is on track for an all expenses paid trip to compete in America as his dream to race in NASCAR takes another step forward.
Heaton has been on fire in the 'Race to the US' legend cars series since returning from racing in the United States last year and has finished on the podium in all six starts this season.
The 22-year-old leads the competition with four races remaining and the winner will be sent to the US to race in six meetings and the world championships in Pennsylvania in October.
"I've been racing in motorsport since I was seven, started in go-karts and have been in speedway since I was 14," Heaton said.
"Last year I went over to the US and raced in Pennsylvania in the central PA legend series and went really well with two top-five and two top-10 finishes, with more than 40 cars in every meeting.
"Getting to race internationally was ticking something off the bucket list and it was definitely an eye-opener of an experience, they're on another level over there.
"They're racing three times a week, whereas here it's three out of four weekends. Their knowledge and experience is so much greater than ours, which is probably why I'm going so well this year."
Speedway is raced on clay oval tracks ranging from 450 metres to 900m and Heaton described legend cars as a "fun and affordable" way to get into motorsport.
"The legend class isn't too bad, you can get a good second-hand car for $12,000 and then it's $300-$500 per meeting for spares.
"To race professionally year-round, I'd have to move to the US, speedway in Australia isn't at that level, you have to go down the asphalt road and that is quite expensive.
"The goal is NASCAR which is basically a religion in America, best case scenario would be getting involved in the world truck series over there, that would be a big stepping stone.
"I hope to go over again this year and make a name for myself, so I can get picked up on the truck series and then make my way to NASCAR from there."
Heaton is gunning for another podium finish when he races in Victoria on Saturday but said it wasn't necessarily about winning.
"Basically I just need consistency from here, it's a very competitive series and I just need finish every race more than anything," Heaton said.
"Staying out of trouble on the track is the plan, a win would be awesome, but it's more about consistency with this sort of championship."
Heaton is the son of former speedway champion Russell Heaton and grew up around racing as the youngest of six kids. He's never crashed which Heaton put down to the vastly improved safety measures since his dad's racing days.
"There's always that risk and we know what we're in for when we put on the helmet, but the safety precautions have come on in leaps and bounds in the past decade," Heaton said.
"If you do end up rolling and the cages are so strong, yes things can go wrong, but I've never rolled or had a major incident in speedway and I plan to keep it that way."
