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Naughty, naughty

August 4, 2010 by Leighton Irwin 2 Comments

The recent picture of the late John Gunn enjoying a drink, obviously after trouble at some race, brought back a memory.

The Burlington Autosport Club had a race at Harewood Acres in 67 and were paying some prize money. Not much but better than nothing which was the norm in those days. Even the Canadian Championship Series races did not pay any money and to run the series you raced from BC to Quebec. Normally the only money races were the Can Am races and maybe one or two others with US and European drivers.

Things were different then and advertising on cars had only been very recently permitted. Sponsorship was almost non existant and usually was somebody’s own company. There were a few paid drivers but nobody in Canada was making a living racing sports cars. John Cordts tells in his book ‘Blood, Sweat and Turnips’ how he survived the winter on turnips and soup bones. John Cannon was reputed to never stay in the same motel twice!

My sponsorship consisted of free oil (Valvoline) and Redex products. I had a 9 to 5 job and was lucky that my boss let me take my holidays on Fridays so I could go to practice. No Sunday racing back then. The BAC race was to me important as I was really broke and living from pay to pay. I owed a bundle.

For some reason the entry was not all that strong and I figured I could probably get a little money as they were paying down to tenth, which I think was $10. First was $250. That was about 3 weeks salary! As I usually finished in the top ten even at a well supported Canadian Championship race I hoped for a reasonable chunk.
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December 18, 2009 by Allan De La Plante 11 Comments

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In the spring of 1968 my wife and son and I moved to the real world away from the mountains and skiing. We chose Toronto. Jobs as now are often found through family and friends. This again proved to be true. Through the same man who got me the Dunlop job I applied for a job as a recreation councilor at the Ontario Crippled Children Center. I really had little qualifications other than I was a man, which was difficult for them to find one interested in working with kids, and I had a sports background. The kids turned out to be a wonderful addition to my life. Many had challenges they would never overcome. Many were results of serious accidents or in the case of the Thalidomide children, the result of a drug that had not been properly tested and prescribed by doctors to suppress morning sickness in pregnant Mothers. I was excited and wanted to involve them in experiences they would never have if left to their own devices or families. I contacted the Don Valley Ski Center in Don Mills and got them to donate rental equipment and facilities to introduce the kids to skiing. We took them to events in a beat up shit-box Chevy van that should not have been on the road, but without it we would not be going anywhere. One of the things I introduced them to was auto racing. [Read more…]

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