In 1959 the first kart meeting was held in the Ballarat area on a gravel track at Scotchman's Lead.
Back then the race was mainly contested by home made karts powered by Villiers 7F and Pope lawn mower engines.
Later race meetings were then held on a football oval at Mt Clear before the present Haddon Circuit was established in 1961.

The original gravel circuit was around 2/3 of a mile in length.
After many years and changes, today the Haddon circuit is bitumen and 675 metres in length, with the majority of the track 8 metres wide.