1976 winners, Western Speedway, Victoria

 From the December 11, 1976 Victoria Daily Times.

 

1973 Western Speedway yearbook

 From the archive.

1980 Western Speedway

 From the October 19 and 27, 1980 Victoria Times-Colonist.

 

Vancouver Island Track Roadster Association, 1949/50

From the planning/beginning stage to a year later. September 22, 1949 and December 9, 1950 Victoria Daily Times.

1973 Oval Trackin' from Western Speedway

Was given a lovely yearbook from the early 1970s on Western Speedway.

Saturday, May 9, 1959, Western Speedway

The Nanaimo Free Press tried to keep it's readers informed about the locals heading down to Victoria's Western Speedway. Here's a report for the May 9th race at Western.

1977 season ending awards banquet, VITRA

The 1977 Vancouver Island Track Racing Association banquet. Photos by Barrie Goodwin.

Saturday, July 13, 1968, Langley Speedway

New super stock track record set by Gordie Hemrich.

Four nice photos of BCTRA hot shots.

Saturday, July 13, 1968

BCTRA/VITRA/MIRA

Intercity

Super stock NTR -- Gordie Hemrich, 1957 Pontiac, 16.42

Early-late dash

1 -- Brian Thompson

Super stock dash

1 -- Gordie Hemrich

B modified dash

1 -- Cal Hough

A modified dash

1 -- Glen Parsons

First early-late heat

1 -- Gerald McHale
2 -- Brian Thompson
3 -- Harold Harks

Second early-late heat
1 -- Ron Morrison
2 -- Larry Olson
3 -- Mark Moore

First super stock heat
1 -- Bill Hunt
2 -- Roy Haslam, Victoria
3 -- Jim McMillan

Second super stock heat
1 -- George Cook
2 -- Jim Steen, Victoria
3 -- Alex Praisley, Aldergrove

B modified heat
1 -- Cal Hough, Vancouver
2 -- John Wassell, Nanaimo
3 -- Doug Bowell, Nanaimo

First A modified heat
1 -- Glen Parsons, Surrey
2 -- Dennis Goldstraw, Vancouver
3 -- Roy Smith, Victoria

Second A modified heat
1 -- Len Jones, Surrey
2 -- Alvin Haggith, Nanaimo
3 -- Dave Ferris, Victoria

Super stock main
1 -- Gordie Hemrich, 1957 Pontiac 350
2 -- Roy Haslam, 1955 Chev 250
3 -- Gary Greenaway, 1955 Chev 283

B modified main (15 laps)
1 -- Cal Hough, 260 Chev
2 -- John Wassell, 250 Chev
3 -- Doug Bowell, 266 Chev

A modified main (25 laps)
1 -- Glen Parsons, 301 Chev
2 -- Roy Smith, 301 Chev
3 -- Dennis Wooden, 283 Chev

Early-late main (20 laps)
1 -- John Bettles, 1951 Chev 235
2 -- Harold Harks, 1951 Chev
3 -- Barry Regan, 1953 Chev 235

grandview bowl, part ten

And the final points for the 1966 Inter-City series that ran ten feature events at Grandview Bowl in Nanaimo. For 1967 the series would run all three tracks -- Langley, Western and Grandview -- as the differences between the clubs and owners at Langley and Western had been resolved.

So I guess that means we're going to be doing 1967 Langley next. 100 years of confederation, everybody sing together!

grandview bowl, part nine

The 100-lap championship race for the Inter-City series at Grandview Bowl was postponed for a couple weeks due to rain. Scheduled for September 17th it ran October 2nd, 1966.

grandview bowl, part eight

Second to last race of the Inter-City series at Grandview Bowl, Nanaimo, BC. The Tony Slogar Memorial was in honour of Tony Slogar, who lost his life in a CAMRA racing accident at Eugene, OR, in 1964.

grandview bowl, part seven

A third race during the month of August, 1966, at Grandview Bowl. I owe a great debt of gratitude to newspapers like the Nanaimo Free Press for covering the racing as well as they did.

grandview bowl, part six

Every couple weeks during the summer of 1966 the modifieds of VITRA, MIARA and the BCTRA gathered in Nanaimo. Having the Vancouver based drivers seemed to be a novelty for the Nanaimo crowd as is indicated by the most popular driver voting having the Vancouver drivers in the top 12.

inter-city modifieds, part five

Another A and B modified event at Grandview Bowl during the summer of 1966. While Ray Pottinger of Nanaimo won the feature (and his wife, Vi, the powder puff trophy dash) Al Smith of Victoria set a new track record.

inter-city modifieds, part four

A July 1966 Inter-City modified meet at Nanaimo's Grandview Bowl. The Cal Arnold bio comes from a Grandview Bowl program of that year out of the Don Bennett collection.

inter-city modifieds, part three

Another Inter-City modified meet at Nanaimo's Grandview Bowl in 1966.

inter-city modifieds, part two

The third race (two races were held on the May long weekend), and Al Smith gets his third main in a row. Langley drivers throughout the standings and finishes.

inter-city modifieds, 1966, part one

In 1966 the BCTRA at Langley Speedway, and VITRA at Western Speedway, had problems. Some of that has been chronicled at the start of the 1966 Langley series on this blog. So where did the BCTRA and VITRA modifieds go? Nanaimo's Grandview Bowl, that's where.

To sort out that year of the Inter-city modified series I managed to get over to Nanaimo and look at the 1966 newspaper.

Langley Speedway, 1966

So with 1965 finished we move onto 1966. And controversy. I almost feel like I should include the Grandview Bowl results of the Inter-City season held there, and quite possibly will.

But better just get started with some of the problems facing the BCTRA and Langley before everything got going.

(And I'll be glad when this work schedule ends in a couple days. Wearing me out: work, eat, sleep, not much blog in between.)

And just for good measure some of the issues from The Island and VITRA. That's why Nanaimo and Grandview Bowl becomes important in 1966.

(Both clippings from Racing Wheels, thanks to Jim Thurman.)