The former King returned to reclaim his throne at Kingaroy’s Speedway.
Lilydale’s Dylan Barrow, winner of the 2024 Kings Royal, returned to the track to compete in the 2026 Kings Royal meet over the weekend of 23 to 25 January.
Introduced to the world of Speedway through a friend’s father, it went from there.
“I raced juniors and climbed the ranks from there,” Dylan said.
So far, Dylan’s standout race achievements include: winning the Kings Royal, winning the VMPA series championship, and being the youngest VMPA pole shuffle winner.
This year saw Dylan attend his fourth Kings Royal meet, with winning the Kings Royal taking centre place as his favourite meet memory.
As returning King, he said before the race, “I feel confident in our program and the pace in the car that we can have a strong result.”
“The first thing is having luck on our side. Everything has to go your way and not make any mistakes throughout the event.”
The Ian Boettcher Race Parts Modified Sedan Kings Royal fight began on Friday night.
Dylan and defending champ Brad Wicks ended the night tied on top after a massive showing with a pair of heat wins and a second-place finish between them.
Heading into night two, it was anyone’s game and the intensity was only going up from there.
The Kings Royal finale delivered the kind of drama, chaos and brilliance that cements a race meeting into local folklore.
What began as a night of crisp, clean, high-intensity dashes quickly transformed into one of the wildest finales the event has ever seen.
Early on, the racing was immaculate, fast, and fiercely competitive, before a passing shower flipped the script. Once officials reworked the surface, the track returned lightning fast, demanding absolute commitment.
Few rose to that challenge better than Max Clarke, who stormed through the B Dash and then the A Dash from sixth, coming within a whisker of the lap record.
His charge set the tone for what promised to be a blockbuster 50-lap feature.
When the main event roared to life, the pace was intense. Lap traffic arrived early, and with it came the first major turning point.
On lap 21, Dylan Barrow’s sudden loss of power triggered a chain reaction crash that wiped out a host of contenders.
Just three laps later, another heavy incident, sparked by contact between Matt Nelson and Chris Pagel eliminated even more front running talent.
It was the kind of loss that reshapes a race in an instant.
Through the carnage, Aidan Raymont somehow kept his wounded machine in the fight, even briefly taking control before a cruel flat tyre ended his hopes.
That handed the lead to Darran Lester, who then found himself locked in a gritty, high line duel as the field dwindled to just five running cars with only two of them on the lead lap.
As if the night needed more theatre, a light drizzle arrived with 10 laps remaining, sharpening the stakes even further.
And then came the moment that will echo through Kings Royal history.
With a perfectly timed slide job through Turns 1 and 2, Darcy Wilson swept past Lester in the closing laps, executing the kind of move that defines champions.
From there, he held his nerve, hugged the cushion, and claimed the crown.
Behind the new King, Glenn Truin’s measured drive earned him third, while Tim Atkin produced one of the standout performances of the night, climbing from deep in the pack to finish fourth.
Jarrod Peacock rounded out the top five with a determined run.
Dylan finished 17th out of the 24 competitors.
The winner of the Kings Royal receives a substantial amount of prize money, with $15,000 up for grabs.
Dylan’s home Speedway is Alexandra Speedway, which is his closest track, and is registered with Ballarat.
“We decided to travel because it’s a prestigious event with such high prize money, you can’t not go,” he said.
