Carl H. “Bing” Foster first raised a track announcer’s microphone to his lips in 1948 when the regular official couldn’t make one of the Saturday night racing meets at Langford Speedway. He continued to fill in when required until the track closed in 1950.
Moving to Vancouver in 1952, Bing took up announcing duties at Digney Speedway (located just outside of the city) for that year before moving back to Victoria and becoming Shearing Speedway’s announcer for the start of it’s 1953 season.
The opening of Western Speedway in 1954 gave Bing his next announcer’s job where, with his crystal clear speaking voice, professional voice inflections and very knowledgeable attention to detail, he became known as “The Golden Voice of Auto Racing”. Arriving early at the track for each race meet, he would cruise the pits looking for any new local or visiting cars to add their full information to his notes. Throughout the evening, he provided details on the particular part of the program being run at the time which greatly enhanced the fan’s enjoyment. New fans could come to the Speedway knowing absolutely nothing about oval track auto racing and leave with a wealth of knowledge and information.
In addition to his track announcing in the 1950’s, Bing sponsored Western Speedway’s Rollover Club through his downtown Victoria men’s clothing store, “Bing Foster’s Slack Shop” which awarded drivers who were unlucky enough to get upside-down with a colourfully-embroidered jacket patch.
With the opening of Nanaimo’s Grandview Bowl in 1958, Bing also took to the mike for their Friday night shows for a number of years.
His good-natured ribbing of starter Phil Hendry was a regular occurrence at Western which contributed to the two of them engaging in many on-track “skits” for the fan’s enjoyment. Bing was known to bring some special “throat lubricant” to the Control Tower with him which included Pepsi-Cola as the main ingredient.
Bing Foster retired from his long career of track announcer in 1979 and was one of the first inductees into the Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1984.
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- 1955 “Rollover Crest” sponsored by “Bing Foster’s Slack Shop”
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- Approx. 1960 – Speedway promotional photo of Bing Foster (photographer unknown).
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- 1963 – Bing doing some “homework”, polishing his announcing skills (Ted Mackenzie photo)
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- 1967 – Bing in Western’s Control Booth doing what he did best! (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- Approx. 1970 at Western – Bing (at right) along with Eric Foster (at left) making a special presentation to Andy Cottyn (center) (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1976 At Western – Bing (at right) making a presentation to Grant King at an “Old Timer’s Nite” in August (Barrie Goodwin or Ted Mackenzie photo).
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- 1984 induction ceremony – “Hall of Fame” executive member Mike Currier (left) and Bing (Barrie Goodwin photo).
