a thrill show video

Joie Chitwood and his thrill show came to Digney Speedway for a number of years. This is an ad for Chevrolet but many of the thrill shows had company sponsors.

an earlier version of the Olympics, part three

Ken Hurtley, hurt in the thrill show Olympics at Digney Speedway a year earlier, comes back for more. And the side story, provided to the press by Andy Digney, is great. Unfortunately the marriage didn't last.

I spoke with Ken Hurtley a few years ago. He had a friend in the lower mainland that he visited when he came up from Blaine, WA. Very nice man. I'm not sure if he's still with us.

One thing I would have like to have asked him about was a proposed speedway to be built in Blaine in 1968. Ken was the name behind the track.

an earlier version of the Olympics, part two

The stuntman that was injured was Ken Hurtley, of the UK, who came to Canada via Australia, for this show. His story doesn't end here.

an earlier version of the Olympics

Vancouver had some Olympics way back in 1956. Thrill show Olympics. International drivers representing their countries for fun and profit, just like these days.

Bob Gregg in Reno

I've mentioned, and featured, Bob Gregg in a few posts. Here's another clipping from the early 1950s where he travelled to Reno and won a sprint car race. It had to be hot there. And, apparently, the week before he'd rolled the car. Those guys were tough.

hardtops in Seattle

Grabbing some stuff from an old newspaper that was available online a few years back. Here's Jack Connor winning a hardtop race in Seattle. He came up to Digney Speedway in 1951 to race as did Victoria's Bud Green and Seattle's Linna Rose. Logan Harter raced midgets up at Digney in the first years of the track.

Motorama film

Something pretty rare. An upload of film footage from an early Motorama. Some seem to think it's from around 1962.