JOHN EDGETT 2005 INDUCTEE

The degree of success that comes to auto racers, be they drivers, car owners or pit crew members, is oftentimes made possible by those individuals behind the scenes whose financial sponsorship greatly contributes to making that degree of success possible. One such Island individual back in the day who exemplified this fact was John “J.R.” Edgett.

John began his involvement in the sport in 1968 when he became a mechanic and pit crew member on the 1956 Chevy Stockcar which was driven by Harvey Brown at the Oyster River Raceway north of Courtenay, B.C.. In 1973, he was Harvey’s crew chief on the “Connie Mangles Special” which they entered in the first International Drivers Challenge (IDC) for Super Stocks.

The 1976 season saw John join forces with Phil Bickle and driver George Stuart to form the “Island Racemasters” team. He then worked with Harvey Chipper and David Smith of “Chipper-Smith Racing” to field a car for George to compete on the NASCAR Winston West circuit where they became the first Canadians to win a Winston West event.

John then sponsored an Open Competition Camaro Late Model Stockcar which was wheeled by both Rick O’Dell and Roy Smith which appeared at major events such as Westwood BC’s road course and also at Riverside, California. In 1980, he became a car owner and hired Gary Kershaw and Roy Smith to pilot his car which resulted in many Winston West race wins and championships along with victories in Open Competition races.

In 1982, he was the sponsor and crew chief for Roy Smith’s third entry in the Daytona 500 at the wheel of the Pride of Victoria car where they finished in tenth spot, the highest finishing Pontiac in the race. In the early 1990’s, John acted as crew chief and provided financial assistance for Lance Wade, first in Late Model Sportsman cars followed by the Winston West series. Some of the highlights of this period included Lance finishing third in the Coors Lite 500 Winston West race at Monroe Washington and a pole position start with a fourth place finish in a Tri-Cities Washington event in 1993 plus an attempt to qualify for the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994. In addition to his support of Lance, John also sponsored Gary Smith in various events in the 1990’s.