Having a father who had not only had a successful race-driving career but was also an accomplished racecar fabricator, engine builder and mechanic definitely started seventeen year old Rick O’Dell off in the right direction when he first got behind the wheel of a 1953 Ford in Western’s “Jalopy” class in 1966.
In his inaugural appearance at the track with eighteen other cars on May 7th in front of 2,200 fans, Rick showed he had definitely inherited his Dad’s racing genes by posting a fast enough time to put him in the trophy dash which he went on to win. And when the final checkered flag of that season had been waved, Rick emerged in second place in the points standings and was awarded the “Victoria Auto Racing Association” (VARA) Rookie of the Year award.
The following season saw a total of sixty-five registered cars in the now-Stockcar class with Rick winning the Sponsors Trophy and finishing fourth in the standings. In 1968 he won the “Roy White Memorial” race and completed the year in second spot. In addition to moving up to the “Super Stock” class in ’69, Rick also served as VARA’s Vice-President and tried out Western’s new “Figure 8” division in which he set the season track record of 21.15. In 1970’s Late Model Stock class, he finished fourth in points and also won the “Most Popular Driver” award.
Wheeling a new ’63 Plymouth in 1971, Rick had his best season to date, winning the “Corby Cup” (most main event wins), the Sponsors Trophy, the Championship Race, repeated as the Most Popular Driver and was the Super Stock Points Champion. With the exception of the Sponsors Trophy, the following year was a carbon copy with Rick also setting the Super Stock season track record of 18.08 on August 26th. In 1973 he once more was the Popular Driver and ended the season sitting in third position which he raised to second place the following year as well as capturing the Popular Driver award for the fourth straight year.
He ran in Open Competition Super Stock classes with some success in the 1980’s, travelling to various tracks throughout the Pacific Northwest and as well as competing at Western.
Rick passed in 2006.
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- 1966 at Western – Rick O’Dell in his 1st racecar, the #18 “Jalopy”, a 1953 Ford (Rick Saunders photo).
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- 1967 at Western – #18 “Stockcar” with Rick (at lower right), his Dad “Digger” (upper right), and unidentified crew members (Barrie Goodwin photo)
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- 1967 at Western – Digger and Rick O’Dell (Barrie Goodwin photo)
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- 1970 at Western – #18 ’57 Dodge “Super Stock” with (standing l to r) Rick and Digger and (below l to r) Don White and Frank Lafford (Barrie Goodwin photo)
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- 1971 at Western – Rick in the #18 ’63 Plymouth Super Stock (Barrie Goodwin photo)
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- 1972 at Western – Super Stock trophy dash lineup with Rick behind #22 Roy Haslam (Barrie Goodwin photo)
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- 1972 at Western – #18 Super Stock with (standing left to right) Bob Nasadyk and Peter Barteaux and (below l to r) unknown crew member and Rick O’Dell (Barrie Goodwin photo)
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- 1973 at Skagit Speedway – Rick in the #18 “Open Competition” Plymouth Super Stock (Barrie Goodwin photo).
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- 1974 at Western – Rick in #18 Open Comp Chevelle outside of #66 Dave Dalby during a main event (Barrie Goodwin photo)
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- 1975 International Drivers Challenge at Western – Rick with trophy presenter Terry Matthews following a trophy dash win (Barrie Goodwin photo)
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- 1977 International Drivers Challenge at Western – Rick in the #18 “Sudden Valley” Pontiac Super Stock (George Wade photo).
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- 1994 at Western – Rick competing in the “Canadian American Late Model Series” (Robert G. “Bob” Hunter photo)
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- 1997 Inductee Rick O’Dell – artist’s portrait
