Gold Logie winner Grant Denyer says turning down a chance to be a professional Supercars driver remains the "hardest and almost worst decision" of his life.
Most would know Denyer for his prolific television career spanning two decades, but before that he was a budding racing driver.
Denyer lived something of a double life, racing V8s across Australia while presenting some of television's most high-profile programs.
Stan Sport is the only place to watch the 2023 SpeedSeries. All the action streaming ad-free, live and on demand
In 2009, he was a regular race winner and podium finisher in Supercars' second-tier development series with Dick Johnson Racing.
At the end of the season, the eponymous team owner offered Denyer the opportunity of a lifetime to go full-time in Supercars.
"Dick was like 'Are you going to step up to the main game?' And I said, 'Oh, yeah! That'd be good'," Denyer told Wide World of Sports.
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"He goes, 'Well, you can, but you can't do both. You can't do TV and motorsport'. So I had to make the toughest call of my life, which was think about my long-term future and think about my future family – and I gave the sport away and put all my eggs in the television basket, which is emotionally a very difficult decision to do.
"It was the hardest and almost worst decision of my life, because the heart said motorsport and the head said television. And when the thing that you live for is no longer in your life, that's quite tough to navigate.
"What gets you out of bed every day? What makes your heart sing? If you're no longer able to do that, then everything else just suddenly becomes not as fun. But it's good. I went on to have an enormous career and win a Gold Logie and do wonderful things."
It was long-time supporter Tony Quinn, who is arguably one of Australian motorsport's most well-known and influential names, that gave Denyer the reality check he needed.
The former VIP Petfoods and Darrell Lea owner who operates multiple race tracks across Australia and New Zealand has seen many aspirant drivers come and go.
"I see so many people, young people, that have a dream of being a Supercar driver, a Formula 1 driver – you'd struggle to get a handful that are gonna make it," said Quinn.
"Somebody has to tell them or somebody has to say something just to put a bit of reality into it. There's nothing wrong with having a life, a career, whatever the hell it is."
While the Supercars dream was never properly realised, Denyer has enjoyed a successful career in motorsport.
He won the V8 Utes Series, won Australia's premier GT title, made three Bathurst 1000 starts, and remains a regular at Mount Panorama.
Such is his passion for the place that he lives only a few kilometres from the circuit on the other side of the hill.
Denyer said he's fine that people think of him as "the guy from TV" but motorsport will always be his first love.
"I wasn't from a wealthy family," said Denyer, who learned to drive at just seven years old.
"I was like, 'how do I become a racing car driver?' You get sponsors? 'How do I get sponsors?' Well, if I'm on television, that's probably a good way to get sponsors.
"That was it. TV was a way to try and fund my passion and my dream, which was motorsport and it managed to get me all to the Bathurst 1000.
"So it was a dream that ended up becoming a reality and I love it. I live for it, to be honest, I'm a far better person when it's in my life.
"It's such a beautiful piece of race track. If there was a wheelie bin race here, I'd be in it. You can't live three kilometres from the race track and you're not gonna be here on race day.
"It just lights the fire in your soul. I've always felt like it was my, it was my spiritual home and then it became my actual home."
Denyer will race on Easter weekend, April 7-9, as part of the Bathurst 6 Hour. He'll join Quinn and his grandson Ryder in a Ford Mustang.
Denyer, who first drove with Quinn in 2008 after suffering a broken back in a monster truck crash, said he's grateful for the opportunity.
"I wasn't in a great place," said Denyer.
"It was a long, slow, painful recovery and he said come and drive with us in the Bathurst 12 Hour. It was, then, the production car race. So we all drove together and we just laughed all weekend.
"He's supported so many people and champions over the years and he could have anyone. He could have Shane van Gisbergen because he owns the Triple Eight team, he could have Jamie Whincup, he could have Liam Lawson who he supports in Formula 2, but he asked me to come back so that's not lost on me. It's still very special."
https://twitter.com/StanSportAU/status/1644127890143936513The Bathurst 6 Hour headlines round two of the SpeedSeries calendar.
The field includes two-time Supercars champion Marcos Ambrose, two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Will Davison, TCR Australia Series winners Tony D'Alberto and Will Brown, and Supercars regulars Anton De Pasquale and Thomas Randle.
The Bathurst 6 Hour gets underway on Sunday at 11:45am with coverage live, ad-free, and exclusively on Stan Sport.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
Gold Logie winner Grant Denyer says turning down a chance to be a professional Supercars driver remains the "hardest and almost worst decision" of his life.
Most would know Denyer for his prolific television career spanning two decades, but before that he was a budding racing driver.
Denyer lived something of a double life, racing V8s across Australia while presenting some of television's most high-profile programs.
Stan Sport is the only place to watch the 2023 SpeedSeries. All the action streaming ad-free, live and on demand
In 2009, he was a regular race winner and podium finisher in Supercars' second-tier development series with Dick Johnson Racing.
At the end of the season, the eponymous team owner offered Denyer the opportunity of a lifetime to go full-time in Supercars.
"Dick was like 'Are you going to step up to the main game?' And I said, 'Oh, yeah! That'd be good'," Denyer told Wide World of Sports.
READ MORE: 'Silly' Radley 'mistake' costs Chooks in big loss
READ MORE: Aussies surge into contention at Masters
READ MORE: Bathurst's win on Sunday, sell on Monday era returns
"He goes, 'Well, you can, but you can't do both. You can't do TV and motorsport'. So I had to make the toughest call of my life, which was think about my long-term future and think about my future family – and I gave the sport away and put all my eggs in the television basket, which is emotionally a very difficult decision to do.
"It was the hardest and almost worst decision of my life, because the heart said motorsport and the head said television. And when the thing that you live for is no longer in your life, that's quite tough to navigate.
"What gets you out of bed every day? What makes your heart sing? If you're no longer able to do that, then everything else just suddenly becomes not as fun. But it's good. I went on to have an enormous career and win a Gold Logie and do wonderful things."
It was long-time supporter Tony Quinn, who is arguably one of Australian motorsport's most well-known and influential names, that gave Denyer the reality check he needed.
The former VIP Petfoods and Darrell Lea owner who operates multiple race tracks across Australia and New Zealand has seen many aspirant drivers come and go.
"I see so many people, young people, that have a dream of being a Supercar driver, a Formula 1 driver – you'd struggle to get a handful that are gonna make it," said Quinn.
"Somebody has to tell them or somebody has to say something just to put a bit of reality into it. There's nothing wrong with having a life, a career, whatever the hell it is."
While the Supercars dream was never properly realised, Denyer has enjoyed a successful career in motorsport.
He won the V8 Utes Series, won Australia's premier GT title, made three Bathurst 1000 starts, and remains a regular at Mount Panorama.
Such is his passion for the place that he lives only a few kilometres from the circuit on the other side of the hill.
Denyer said he's fine that people think of him as "the guy from TV" but motorsport will always be his first love.
"I wasn't from a wealthy family," said Denyer, who learned to drive at just seven years old.
"I was like, 'how do I become a racing car driver?' You get sponsors? 'How do I get sponsors?' Well, if I'm on television, that's probably a good way to get sponsors.
"That was it. TV was a way to try and fund my passion and my dream, which was motorsport and it managed to get me all to the Bathurst 1000.
"So it was a dream that ended up becoming a reality and I love it. I live for it, to be honest, I'm a far better person when it's in my life.
"It's such a beautiful piece of race track. If there was a wheelie bin race here, I'd be in it. You can't live three kilometres from the race track and you're not gonna be here on race day.
"It just lights the fire in your soul. I've always felt like it was my, it was my spiritual home and then it became my actual home."
Denyer will race on Easter weekend, April 7-9, as part of the Bathurst 6 Hour. He'll join Quinn and his grandson Ryder in a Ford Mustang.
Denyer, who first drove with Quinn in 2008 after suffering a broken back in a monster truck crash, said he's grateful for the opportunity.
"I wasn't in a great place," said Denyer.
"It was a long, slow, painful recovery and he said come and drive with us in the Bathurst 12 Hour. It was, then, the production car race. So we all drove together and we just laughed all weekend.
"He's supported so many people and champions over the years and he could have anyone. He could have Shane van Gisbergen because he owns the Triple Eight team, he could have Jamie Whincup, he could have Liam Lawson who he supports in Formula 2, but he asked me to come back so that's not lost on me. It's still very special."
https://twitter.com/StanSportAU/status/1644127890143936513The Bathurst 6 Hour headlines round two of the SpeedSeries calendar.
The field includes two-time Supercars champion Marcos Ambrose, two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Will Davison, TCR Australia Series winners Tony D'Alberto and Will Brown, and Supercars regulars Anton De Pasquale and Thomas Randle.
The Bathurst 6 Hour gets underway on Sunday at 11:45am with coverage live, ad-free, and exclusively on Stan Sport.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
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