by Reg Midgley & Lois Pollard-Grant

When: Andy Cottyn with two hands and a few relatives and friends carved out what is now Western Speedway.

When: There was no pavement, just loose rut filled dirt, shaped like an egg, they called Western Speedway.

When: Bob Simpson, Dave Cooper, Corky Thomas, Bill Heller, Al Couts and many others, fought wheel to wheel with our American friends, in cars with no roll bars and very little else in safety, in a carefree manner.

When: '34 Fords were King.

When: We raced twice every week, once at Western and once at Nanaimo.

When: Grant King showed 'em about the power of a jimmy.

When: Digger O'Dell won nine trophy dashes.

When: Our most famous racer, Billy Foster, made winning look easy.

When: Dick Willoughby rolled so often, his crew fastened roller skates to the top of his stocker.

When: All of a sudden there was VARA

When: Ross Surgenor drove his first stockcar - a '38 Buick.

When: We hadn't heard of pollution, emission control, the pill, wings, foils, hard rubber, soft rubber, dyno testing, electronic timers, cordless-mikes, and the $1 hamburger.

When: The few neighbors we had at Western Speedway, knew there would be noise on occasion from the track, and anyway, they didn't care. (It must have been yesterday because I'm a young guy! - R.M. VITRA yearbook 1973)

When: You could buy a Western Speedway program for 35 cents.

When: The "Golden Voice" of auto racing, Bing Foster, announced the races at Western.

When: The Daffodil Cup was won again and again by a guy called Roy Smith.

When: Terry Forsythe thrilled spectators when he parachuted from an airplane, to land in the speedway pits.

When: "Gentleman" Jim Steen was paid tribute for his 20th year of active competition, and was given a parade lap in the back of a Ranchero, seated in a lazy boy chair.

When: There were no traffic lights at Millstream Road and Island Highway, so our RCMP friends directed race night traffic from Western.

When: Rick O'Dell was the popular driver King.

When: The only time women were allowed to race at Western, was in powder puff derbies.

When: Gary Kershaw showed 'em how to win 13 main events in a row.

When: The trophy girls wore bikinis.

When: Vancouver Island Track Racing Association (VITRA) ran the shows at Western.

When: Roy Haslam just couldn't stop winning pro stock championships.

When: Don Smith (the Black Assassin) became the first Western Speedway driver to win three straight stockcar championships.

When: A driver had to hold a valid drivers license to race at Western.

When: The first hit-to-pass demo show was run at Western. Some said it wouldn't last!