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Lee O'Keefe may have just made himself a marked man at the national stockcar championships in Wanganui next Friday.

The former Brit will make the long haul from Invercargill next Wednesday to battle it out with the country's finest  drivers.

 He will fly the British flag - "just a little one" - on the side of his machine at Oceanview.

Red flag to a bull you might say. But O'Keefe doesn't care. Once a Brit, always a Brit, even if he and family of six love New Zealand.

 "Two of the kids are Kiwis. It's been a good move," says the 36-year-old Lincolnshire native, who manages a freighting company.

Invercargill to Wanganui is a long way to come just to get bumped out of contention on day one of the two-day meet, but O'Keefe is so passionate about the sport, he doesn't care.

Besides, he reckons it's time he visited Wanganui for the first time. "I've been to Bulls, but not Wanganui," he said.

He's been a stockie since he was 16 and was a natural, winning a few races on what was the European NASCAR circuit in the Midlands.

One rival was Darren Manning, who now tests his nerve and skill against Scott Dixon on the Indy circuit.

"Darren is very good. I think his parents mortgaged their house something like three times to keep him racing. I'd like to think he's repaid them by now."

Other adversaries have test driven Formula One cars.

In 20 years of racing, O'Keefe has had a few spills. The time he crashed into a wall at 224km/h was a bit scary, but he walked away unscathed.

O'Keefe might not have been to Wanganui, but he's done his homework on the track.

"It looks egg-shaped. It should be fun. I'm looking forward to it."