Victoria's own Roy Smith was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto March 8.

The tenth annual "black-tie" event was attended by 350 who paid $220 per plate to honor the best in Canadian motorsport for 2002.

Roy was selected as the best in the stockcar competitor category.

Each of the 12 inductees had been selected, based on their outstanding contributions, and accomplishments in motorsport. They were voted on by a national panel of racing and automotive journalists.

Roy began racing in 1965 at the age of 20, with a 1950 Ford stockcar, then graduated to driving the powerful supermodifieds.

Behind the wheel of Geoff Vantreight's "Daffodil Special" Roy won a host of victories and championships with the Canadian American Modified Racing Association (CAMRA), the Washington Racing Association and the International Drivers Challenge Series, for the next decade.

When Roy moved to the NASCAR Winston West circuit, he was crowned champion four times.

Roy's proudest accomplishment came in 1982 when he drove the "Pride of Victoria" to a very commendable tenth place finish in the Daytona 500. Competing against such racing legends as Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, and Ricky Rudd.

In a show of pride and respect, the Victoria community raised $35,000 to send their local hero to Daytona.

While Roy can look back on his successful career with satisfaction - there was a time when he had the opportunity to race with a Winston Cup team. "But because of the commitment I had with the P.O.V. (Pride of Victoria) I turned it down," he said. "Mark Martin ended up with the ride - To this day I wonder what would have been."

Stepping up to the dais to receive Hall of Fame accolades has become a regular occurrence for Roy in recent months for Roy.

Besides his most recent acclaim, Roy was inducted into the West coast California Hall of Fame in July, 2002.

"I felt really honored here because there were over 200 nominees from all around America, and they narrowed it down to (around) 30."

"I felt honored," he continued, "to be included with some pretty great racers - Hershel McGriff, and Pernelli Jones, to mention a few."

And if that's not enough - Roy was also inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame this past November.

He was named Male Athlete of the Year by the Greater Victoria Sports Council in 1980, and was inducted into the Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1992.

Roy commented (jokingly) that he has been getting more publicity these days, than when he was racing. If that were the case, then it couldn't be happening to a nicer guy.