Dave H
Well-Known Member
Having watched my first Jalopy races in 1955 at the old Quesnel Ball Park track, followed next year by my Dad pitting at Digney Speedway in South Burnaby, I long carried the desire to try car racing some day.
In the 60’s, during the period I served in the navy, I watched many races at Western Speedway on weekends plus helped out some friends at Campbell River when they raced a “Stock car” on the old dirt track off MacAulay Rd, mostly in 1966.
Circumstances arrived that allowed me the chance to fulfill my desire and so I started looking for a car, either built or suitable to be built, in 1970.
Someone suggested I contact Digger O’Dell in Victoria, as they thought he and Rick might have one they didn’t want anymore, having built it for one specific race.
I did contact Digger and indeed, they had the car for sale.
I traveled down to Victoria the next weekend, which happened to coincide with the Stock Car championship weekend for the local Victoria racers, and watched the car run.
It ran great and so a deal was made.
I gave them a down-payment and they promised to bring the car up to Campbell River in the Spring of 1971, which they did.
Getting prepared to go racing meant getting a trailer, organizing a crew and changing the car from Victoria rules to our rules, which were much more liberal.
We ran locked rear-ends, any two barrel carb you could make work, headers, fewer body parts and bigger tires. We had a standard size bumper rule and the late great George Bellavance Sr. made those for me after hours at the Gold River Logging Division, where we both worked.
We fumbled around a bit and hadn't changed the carb up to a Holley racing carb yet, nor had the tire sizes and staggers figured out when we ran our first race at Oyster River, on the pavement.
In fact, the car hadn't been re-painted yet and was still that pale blue color the O'Dells favored, and had #2 on it. We used tape to change the number to 72 for that night, I hot-lapped with the others and then we timed in.
In the 60’s, during the period I served in the navy, I watched many races at Western Speedway on weekends plus helped out some friends at Campbell River when they raced a “Stock car” on the old dirt track off MacAulay Rd, mostly in 1966.
Circumstances arrived that allowed me the chance to fulfill my desire and so I started looking for a car, either built or suitable to be built, in 1970.
Someone suggested I contact Digger O’Dell in Victoria, as they thought he and Rick might have one they didn’t want anymore, having built it for one specific race.
I did contact Digger and indeed, they had the car for sale.
I traveled down to Victoria the next weekend, which happened to coincide with the Stock Car championship weekend for the local Victoria racers, and watched the car run.
It ran great and so a deal was made.
I gave them a down-payment and they promised to bring the car up to Campbell River in the Spring of 1971, which they did.
Getting prepared to go racing meant getting a trailer, organizing a crew and changing the car from Victoria rules to our rules, which were much more liberal.
We ran locked rear-ends, any two barrel carb you could make work, headers, fewer body parts and bigger tires. We had a standard size bumper rule and the late great George Bellavance Sr. made those for me after hours at the Gold River Logging Division, where we both worked.
We fumbled around a bit and hadn't changed the carb up to a Holley racing carb yet, nor had the tire sizes and staggers figured out when we ran our first race at Oyster River, on the pavement.
In fact, the car hadn't been re-painted yet and was still that pale blue color the O'Dells favored, and had #2 on it. We used tape to change the number to 72 for that night, I hot-lapped with the others and then we timed in.
I knew I was slower than the other A Class cars because we didn't have the updates they all did plus I'd been hand-timed at around 20 seconds and most of them were timing in the 19 second range, so I was dismayed when I pulled into the pits just as I heard the announcer call out what sounded like 23.8 as my time.
23.8??
What the heck, I thought, I can't be that slow.
Turns out it was actually 20.38, which was about what we expected.
What I hadn't expected was that I would be called out to line-up for the B Trophy Dash and I was the fast car so started second row outside. There were only three B Class cars out that night and I was the slowest A, so filled out the field.
Imagine a rookie driver in his first ever race and in a Trophy Dash to boot, with what was a faster car than any of the three B cars I would race.
I sometimes wish I didn't have such a clear memory of the events that transpired just after we took the green flag from starter Keith Temple a bit later, but I do, and this is it.
We dove into the first corner and a nice space appeared between the pole-sitter and the outside front car so I drove up in it and came out in second place heading down the back straight. I remember thinking how neat it was going to be winning a trophy in my first ever race, specially considering I was much faster than the car I was hounding coming out of corner #3.
I might have even grinned a little as I pulled outside and sailed by the pole-sitter, clearing him easily under full acceleration.
And right then was when I realized I was now way too fast entering the corner, had completely missed my braking point and was totally estranged from any hope of finding the apex.
Naturally, as any inexperienced rookie might do, I hit the brakes too hard, and I can still picture the right front tire locked up solid as I slid off the track in a cloud of dust, not the glorious finish I had imagined.
And thus began my not-so-illustrious career as a short track stock car racer in 1971.
Also the first time the car was ever worse than second in a race.
Several weeks later we completed all the modifications to the car and Rick O’Dell came up to help us set-up the handling a bit.
Sadly, none of his driving skills rubbed off on me so for the rest of my time driving I was easy prey for the likes of George Stuart, Harvey Brown, Doug Birchall, Larry Christie and a few others before I got smart enough to hand over the driving to Ray Walsh, one of my crew guys.
He was much more successful driving the car so stayed in the drivers seat while I came to grips with the fact I was not going to be another A.J. Foyt, or any of the other big name drivers I had admired for so long.
It was my first self-realization that I was forever doomed to be an “also-ran”, at least when it came to being a racing driver.
I had such high hopes too.
Here's me, age 26 with old #73, 50 years ago. That's Ray on the right edge of the photo.
We actually finished 10th. overall that year, despite some problems with the car and two rookie drivers.
But it was fun and I got it out of my system.
And then I discovered surfing.
Take care.
23.8??
What the heck, I thought, I can't be that slow.
Turns out it was actually 20.38, which was about what we expected.
What I hadn't expected was that I would be called out to line-up for the B Trophy Dash and I was the fast car so started second row outside. There were only three B Class cars out that night and I was the slowest A, so filled out the field.
Imagine a rookie driver in his first ever race and in a Trophy Dash to boot, with what was a faster car than any of the three B cars I would race.
I sometimes wish I didn't have such a clear memory of the events that transpired just after we took the green flag from starter Keith Temple a bit later, but I do, and this is it.
We dove into the first corner and a nice space appeared between the pole-sitter and the outside front car so I drove up in it and came out in second place heading down the back straight. I remember thinking how neat it was going to be winning a trophy in my first ever race, specially considering I was much faster than the car I was hounding coming out of corner #3.
I might have even grinned a little as I pulled outside and sailed by the pole-sitter, clearing him easily under full acceleration.
And right then was when I realized I was now way too fast entering the corner, had completely missed my braking point and was totally estranged from any hope of finding the apex.
Naturally, as any inexperienced rookie might do, I hit the brakes too hard, and I can still picture the right front tire locked up solid as I slid off the track in a cloud of dust, not the glorious finish I had imagined.
And thus began my not-so-illustrious career as a short track stock car racer in 1971.
Also the first time the car was ever worse than second in a race.
Several weeks later we completed all the modifications to the car and Rick O’Dell came up to help us set-up the handling a bit.
Sadly, none of his driving skills rubbed off on me so for the rest of my time driving I was easy prey for the likes of George Stuart, Harvey Brown, Doug Birchall, Larry Christie and a few others before I got smart enough to hand over the driving to Ray Walsh, one of my crew guys.
He was much more successful driving the car so stayed in the drivers seat while I came to grips with the fact I was not going to be another A.J. Foyt, or any of the other big name drivers I had admired for so long.
It was my first self-realization that I was forever doomed to be an “also-ran”, at least when it came to being a racing driver.
I had such high hopes too.
Here's me, age 26 with old #73, 50 years ago. That's Ray on the right edge of the photo.
We actually finished 10th. overall that year, despite some problems with the car and two rookie drivers.
But it was fun and I got it out of my system.
And then I discovered surfing.
Take care.
