Looking back at the track that helped jumpstart B.C. motorsports
There are boxes containing starter pistols and pieces of the track from the Westwood Motorsport Park, the old course the club built and opened in 1959.
'When the only thing that protected you was a piece of formed cork,' said club President Aaron Robins, pointing to an old helmet.
For 31 years, they raced in Coquitlam on the site that is now home to Westwood Plateau golf course and the surrounding residential community. It was a tight-knit group that stuck together during those rustic racing days.2
2:04
This is BC: Family roots distilled
'The original members basically forged it out of the wilderness,' said Ray Stec, who used to drive at Westwood.
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'Everyone worked together to keep the track going, to cut the grass, to build tire walls, and they worked together in the pits to help each other,' added Pamela Stec, who made her racing debut at Westwood in 1975.
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'If you needed power, you brought your own; it was pretty basic. But there was a great crew, great camaraderie,' said Tracey Pearson, who also raced at the old track.
The enduro race was always a highlight every season.
'The trick is to pull out and drive in front of all the cars so they can't pull out. The experienced drivers would do that, the courteous ones would go around,' said Ian Wood, who made his debut in 1972.
Westwood racing came to an end in 1990.
'I just burst into tears. It was the last hurrah,' said Pamela Stec.
2:28
This is BC: Fencing for a future
But the friendships continue, and the legacy lives on. The club that first launched in 1951 later built a course out in Mission through a partnership.
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'Thirty years later, we're still here racing thanks to the BC Custom Car Association,' said Ray Stec.
And that driver training program that introduced so many to a new sport all those years ago is still going strong to this day.
'Seeing how much the club has done for racing and the community, for motorsports in general, it's a real point of pride,' said Robins.
'Every time we get a new young racer involved, we think this is our next generation to carry on our legacy and tradition,' said Ray Stec.
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