Already an enthusiastic Shearing Speedway spectator from the track’s very 1st race midway through 1952, Victoria-born Ray Pottinger made the transition to active participant when he first wheeled his #90 1934 Ford coupe Stockcar onto the track’s paved oval in 1953. To his pleasant surprise, he clocked 3rd fast time on his very 1st outing as well as finishing 2nd in the main event. More good results followed and at season’s end, Ray had finished in 5th spot in the points standings.
Switching to running at newly-opened Western Speedway the following year, he finished in 6th spot for the season and made it to 4th in 1955 which he repeated for ’56, also winning that year’s Labour Day “Gold Cup” race. In addition to Western, he also competed at Skagit and Digney Speedways on the Mainland. In 1957, Ray again hit the top ten with a 6th place finish and another 6th in ’58 which was also the year Nanaimo’s “Grandview Bowl” paved track first opened on May 16th. In addition to driving Stockcar in 1959 in which he finished the year in 9th spot in points, Ray also sat behind the wheel of a Big Car (Sprintcar) and did very well, recording a clean sweep in the class at their final meet of the season. In 1960 he drove Nibb’s Anderson’s immaculately-prepared #9 blue and white ’34 Ford sedan.
Teaming up with Dick Midgley in 1961, Ray drove a Buick-bodied Stockcar powered by a Buick “Nailhead” V8 engine in which he won the Stockcar season championship. Removing the car’s body, Dick and Ray also ran this car as a “Modified Sportsman” at various races in the Pacific Northwest which included Western’s inaugural 150 lap “Daffodil Cup” where Ray placed 3rd behind winner Eldon Rasmussen and Bill Crow. From 1962 until 1965, Ray drove in the Super Modified class on the Island and throughout the Pacific Northwest.
In 1967, Ray was behind the wheel of a new roadster-style Modified built by Gerry and Arnold Stefanson in which he finished 3rd for the season in the 3 track “InterCity” circuit and also took over the Promoter’s position at Nanaimo’s “Grandview Bowl”. His family assisted Ray with his wife Vi selling tickets and his son Lance selling programs. In 1968, Ray caught a ride in Prince George car owner Barry White’s #23 Super Modified which they campaigned on the CAMRA (“Canadian American Modified Racing Association”) circuit. He then joined car fabricator Bob Vantreight and car owner Barry Bunyan in 1973 and they ran a new “Island Pacific Oil”-sponsored car throughout the Northwest until Ray retired from active competition in 1976.
But this was not the end of his driving days. In 1980, Ray’s 1959 #6 ’34 Ford Stockcar was discovered in a tangle of bramble bushes in Nanaimo and subsequently restored to the colour scheme it had sported back in 1956. Ray drove the car in several “OTRA” (Old Time Racers Association) events to the delight of many of his fans who had watched him during his career.
In his senior years, Ray has continued to regularly attend Hall of Fame induction ceremonies as well as other retired racer get-togethers.
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- 1953 – Ray Pottinger’s #90 Stockcar with fellow competitors at Shearing Speedway (photographer unknown).
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- 1955 – Ray (at far left) and crew with #6 ’34 Ford Stockcar at Western Speedway (Dave Orrick or Bud Glover photo).
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- 1955 – Ray’s #6 (in center foreground) during a heat race (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1956 – Ray and crew with #4 Stockcar at Western (Dave Orrick or Bud Glover photo).
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- 1956 – Ray’s #4 alongside #98 Lamont Brooks with #7 Bert Gilmour behind Lamont and #88 Digger O’Dell alongside Bert (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1958 – Loaning his car for a “Powderpuff” race, female driver Ruth Willoughby’s pre-race “makeup touchup” has Ray puzzled! (possible “Victoria Daily Colonist” photo).
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- May 1959 – Ray and his #6 car (right) share the cover of a Nanaimo program with Hank Neilson and his #8 (photographer unknown).
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- 1959 at Western – Smoke rolling out the back of Ray’s #6 indicates a definite problem! (Ted Mackenzie photo).
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- 1960 – (left to right) car owner Nibbs Anderson, Mickey Maguire, Ray Pottinger and Fred Bull with #9 ’34 Ford sedan Stockcar (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1960 at Western – Fast heat with (l to r) #10 Red Burke, #13 Jim Berry, #9 Ray Pottinger, #2 Gil Philardi, #5 Dave Cooper, #3 Al Smith and #9 Doug Bowell (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1961 at Western – #65 Buick Stockcar owned by Dick Midgley and driven by Ray (Stu Smith photo).
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- 1961 at Portland Speedway – Ray in Dick Midgley’s #65 “Modified Sportsman” (Ted Mackenzie photo).
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- 1961 – Ray leads Dick Pace during a “Big Car” race at Western (Ted Mackenzie photo).
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- 1962 – Ray and crew with #64 Modified Sportsman powered by a Desoto V8 engine (Ted Mackenzie photo).
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- 1962 – Ray leads fellow competitors during a heat race (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1963 at Nanaimo’s “Grandview Bowl” – Ray following a Modifed trophy dash win (Ted Mackenzie photo).
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- 1965 at Nanaimo – Ray during the inaugural “Tony Slogar Memorial” race in September (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1968 – Ray on top of Gerry Lundgren, an accident at Western’s “Daffodil Cup” (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1969 – Ray receives a Cowichan sweater from Geoff Vantreight at the Daffodil Cup race (Ted Mackenzie photo).
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- 1970 – Ray at Western’s “Billy Foster 100” (Ted Mackenzie photo).
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- 1973 – #36 “Island Pacific Oil” -sponsored Super Modified built by Bob Vantreight and owned by Barry Bunyan which Ray drove until his retirement (photographer unknown).
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- 1973 at Western – Ray on the inside of J. P. Standley (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1980 at Nanaimo – Ray with his restored #4 ’34 Ford Stockcar (photographer unknown).
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- 1983 at Western – Ray winning an OTRA main event (photographer unknown).
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- 1998 Inductee Ray Pottinger – artist’s portrait
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- 2019 at the Langford Sheraton Hotel – Ray (standing at extreme right) and fellow retired racers at the Canadian release of author Bob Kehoe’s book on Billy Foster (John Chase photo).
