The new circuit was a quarter-mile long with the first stock car race meeting held on 1 May 1978 which was infamously ruined by a heavy downpour.

The track originally had a post and wire fence, which caused some colossal crashes and wrecks in the banger formula, and caught a few of the hot rods out too.

In the late 80's the track swapped the post and wire for an Armco barrier and catch-fencing was installed to further protect spectators.

The oldest car raced at Arena Essex Raceway was a 1928 Dodge Standard Six which started at the back in Firecracker XIII 2004.

13 of the first 15 PRI world finals were won by a BMC vehicle, most often in the form of an Austin Cambridge or Morris Oxford.

However, as the sport progressed it was the Ford manufacturer which became extremely dominant, indeed the following 33 world finals have been won by either a Cortina (1984), Granada (1985-2008) or Mondeo (2009-2018.)

The landmark ruling made it 'THE' meeting of the year where drivers could race their rare classics and bigger vehicles that were not suited to normal Banger events.

The Hammers raced at the Arena Essex Raceway on most Friday evenings between March and October and competed in the SGB Championship, the second tier of Britain's speedway leagues.