Still, he couldn’t wait to give it away.

The Wangaratta nine-year-old sent the money, along with a note, to V8 Supercars driver Jason Bright to help pay for “a new car” after his spectacular crash last Sunday.

Brodie was so concerned after watching the car roll and flip into a concrete wall at Adelaide’s Clipsal 500, he wanted to donate all his earnings so he could be sure he’d see his hero in Winton next month. 

A sick neighbour had given Brodie $5 a week for collecting a copy of The Border Mail each day from her lawn and placing it on her window sill. 

His parents suggested he sit down quietly to pen a letter, on which he carefully taped his earnings, plus 20 cents he’d found.

“This is my pocket money I’m giving you to fix your car so I can see you racing again at Winton in April,” he wrote.

“Hope you are feeling OK after your crash.” 

Brodie described watching the accident as “terrifying”.

“(I felt) a bit upset for him,” he said. 

“I thought he needed a bit of help, so I sent him a letter and put money on it.” 

Click here for photos of the crash, the empty frame and a day-by-day video update of the team building the new racecar from scratch.

Brodie had his generosity returned yesterday when Bright travelled from Melbourne to Albury to hand him a signed piece of the car wreckage at the Brad Jones Racing workshop.

“It’s pretty cute. You kind of forget the impact you have on people just doing what you do,” Bright said. 

“In percentage terms it’s kind of like someone giving up their house, so he obviously cares a lot.”

Bright said he wasn’t worried about getting behind the wheel at this weekend’s Melbourne Grand Prix after the crash.

“It looked a lot more spectacular than what it felt,” he said. 

Brodie got to see where his hard-earned money went with a new car being built at the workshop. 

The identical car is being built almost from scratch in time for the race. 

His name, along with those of other supporters, will be printed on the car he’ll get to see at his first time at a grand prix. 

Brodie described his hero as a “nice guy” and said he looked forward to telling his friends all about his souvenir. 

“I’m going to take it into my classroom so they can believe me,” he said.