History of Autoduelling in Australia

• 2023: Australian demolition derby driver Mal Chaney is a spectator at that famous Fresno Demo Derby where "Crazy Joe" Harshman invents autoduelling.
• 2024: Chaney organizes a Charity Autoduelling Derby at Surfer's Paradise in Queensland, the state which has hosted such spectacles as Dwarf Throwing and Beautiful Belly contests. Proceeds from the derby go to the Wheelchair & Disabled Association of Australia. Two drivers are killed and 3 others are critically injured. This results in national TV coverage for the sport, and jail sentences for Chaney and his backers.
• 2025: Despite other arrests, autoduelling gains an immediate following as a spectator sport. Events proliferate. The Queensland government declares Autoduels to be "illegal demonstrations," an gives the police extraordinary powers (including the use of deadly force) to combat autoduellists.
• 2027:Film producer Cameron Prost buys the rights to the long-defunct Mad Max movie series.
• 2028: After years of intense public pressure, autoduelling is declared legal on country roads in three states; Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. It is also tolerated in the other states, though property damage and bystander casualties are treated as deliberate criminal offences. Television coverage multiplies, and autoduelling becomes the #1 TV sport in every state except Victoria, where Australian Rules Football still reigns supreme.
• 2029: Mal Chaney is released from prison, and hired as a consultant and stunt coordinator for Cameron Prost's Mad Max: Return of the Road Warrior. Real Autoduellists and Bikers are given roles in the film, and there are 12 fatalities during the shooting of the climactic battle scene. Resulting bad publicity leads to the surprise defeat of a national referendum that would have legalized autoduelling throughout Australia.
• 2030: In search of a compromise that would restore public confidence in Autoduelling, the Autoduelling League of New South Wales proposes strict new duelling guidelines. With only minor modifications, they are adopted by autoduelling clubs throughout the "autobanned" states.
• 2032 : After receiving special permission from the state of South Australia, Adelaide hosts a "Duelprix" event in conjunction with the Adelaide Grand Prix to boost the latter's sagging popularity. Both events are televised worldwide, but it is the autoduelling contest that generates the most interest and coverage. This is the death knell of traditional Grand Prix racing; it soon develops into a high-speed/low armor version of autoduelling.
• 2033: Autoduelling legalized throughout the Commonwealth of Australia. The various state-based leagues combine, forming the Royal Autoduelling Association of Australia. The first Australian Test Tour takes place in the United States, and Americans get their first taste of eleven-a-side autoduelling.
• 2035: the RADAA becomes the first official overseas chapter. The National Championships are held at the Macquarie Unitrak in Sydney, and Andrew Buttery of Road Warriors Melbourne takes first place.

50 Years Ago Today

Meeting Life Head-on

First, you become drug-crazed, then you drive into oncoming traffic at 110 mph. It's called "Highway Russian Roulette."

Police are investigating reports that the participants make highway death bets involving thousands of dollars, then head out into traffic in the early-morning hours. Speeding players who get scared and change lanes when they encounter oncoming traffic have to pay 10 times the death-bet stakes.

- Philadelphia Enquirer, Aug. 28, 1987