Motor Racing
6 March, 2026
Is it fourth time lucky for Ahearn?
There's a saying "If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all". It's one that applies to speedway driver Morris Ahearn, who has, at times, led each of the last three Victorian Street Stock Titles but hasn't yet been able to claim the crown.
Will it be the fourth time lucky?
Attendees at the Blue Ribbon Raceway Victorian Street Stock Title on March 15 and 16 will be able to see firsthand if Ahearn is able to shake the tradition.
Ahearn has been racing for 31 years ... "straight", he adds proudly.
He hasn't always been in street stocks, having spent the majority of his seat time in three-litre sedans, production sedans, open sedans and standard saloons.
Ahearn is currently driving the car of Ben Tuttle Racing from Adelaide after experiencing a mishap on the track recently.
"I got put in the fence a few months ago and junked my VF so Ben rang me up and told me to come and pick his up," he said, adding that it was also a VF Commodore with a MRE race engine in it.
"I painted it in my colours and went to the Australian title."
From Bendigo, Ahearn is a member of Wangaratta but the car is registered in South Australia.
Ahearn enjoys how close the competition is in the class and also that all cars are restricted so a lot of weight falls on the driver to perform well.
"We also have good car numbers everywhere we go and street stock racing takes us all over the country," the driver said.
Ahearn often finishes on the podium in feature races and has finished fourth in an Australian title, along with snagging top-three finishes in straight street stock state titles.
"It would mean so much to win this Victorian title," Ahearn said.
"I’ve led the last three but luck has let me down.
"I led 28 laps of 35 last year but I lost brakes early in the race so I couldn’t hold on.
“This time I will be giving it my all."
Blue Ribbon has been kind to Ahearn in the past – he's even managed to claim a couple of feature wins there and the driver said he'd done circuit after circuit at the track since he was a kid.
He said he performed best on a track that was "juiced up and rough" so drivers could throw their cars around.
But if you ask most drivers in speedway, they'll say winning a big race isn't just about talent.
You have to have a bit of luck too, and Ahearn is cautious of this.
"You've got to have a lot of luck, as I said: I’ve led so many of them but something always goes wrong," he said.
And even with a bit of luck, winning a street stock title is not an easy achievement.
"There’s always 10 or more who could win the title on their night so it’s really hard to pick," Ahearn said.