Before Western Speedway
by Lois Pollard-Grant

Long before Western Speedway was on the map, and before the days of Shearing Speedway, Langford Speedway and the Colwood Race Track - there was another auto racing track in the Victoria area.

Willows Speedway at the old Willows Fairground (between Four Bay Road and Cadboro Bay Road) is believed to have started around 1912.

But it wasn't until 1919 that "The Willows" became a full fledged auto racing facility, commanding much recognition locally and internationally.

The first "big race" took place on Aug. 14, 1919.

Much hoopla surrounded the event that was promoted by the Victoria Automobile Dealers Association, as the greatest automobile meet ever to be held in the Pacific Northwest - "It was time", organizers said, "that Victoria showed the West that she is alive to the latest sporting feature."

The track was a half-mile dirt oval; and "Speed Fiends" from all over the Pacific Northwest (many from the States, on the steamer, Sol Duc) came with such racing machines as the Kewpie, Maxwell and the Stutz.

At that first big race, 2,500 fans paid $2.50 for box seats and $1.25 for grandstand seating. General admission was $1.10 and children 14 and under could attend for free.

The next year, 1920, the Big Race attracted over 4,000 fans.

During that era, drivers, as soon as they arrived in Victoria for a race, were under the care of a nerve specialist - "for a rigorous course of nerve treatment, which is to steel them for the soul-murdering trials they will have to undergo."

"Each driver is on the edge all the time and the least little thing alarms him and sets him off in a rage.

"This is a result of the nervous strain that each man is under when he enters racing, where he has to cope with speeds upwards of two miles a minute, which scientists say is faster than man was really made to go on earth." (Colonist - May, 1920).

Auto racing continued over the years, although not regularly, at the Willows Speedway, until the late 1940's when it finally closed down. Tin Lizzies - stripped down street cars - and stock cars were popular classes at the time.

The little-known Colwood Race Track was a one-mile dirt oval located near the site which is now the Juan de Fuca Recreation Center.

The first race in July 1934, attracted 3,000 fans who watched racing cars - Buick and Nash Specials and Super Wasps, stock cars and motorcycles.

Even though the Colwood track was in operation for only a short time, it remains a part of this area's auto racing history.