TERRY FORSYTH 2009 INDUCTEE

Terry Forsyth first ventured onto a racetrack at the age of thirteen when he began turning laps behind the wheel of a GoKart at Nick’s Island View Beach oval. This had come after considerable coaxing by Terry to his uncle who finally relented and began taking him and his kart to the track every available Saturday for the next two years.

Turning sixteen in 1966, Terry decided it was time to move up and try auto racing which came in the form of a 1952 Hudson owned by “Crash” Cadwell in Western’s Jalopy class. Despite experiencing a rollover during the season opener’s main event on May 7^th, Terry carried on and completed his first season behind the wheel. The following year he teamed up with Glen Hewitt and they ran a 1954 Ford in the Stockcar division. A ’49 Ford Stockcar owned by Paul Deluca came next in ’68 which was followed by a similar car in 1969 in which Terry placed eighth in the season end points standings.

He made the step up to the Late Model Stock class with a 1955 Chevy the next year and garnered another eighth spot finish in points and followed this up with the same car for 1971 which he drove to his highest points placing so far, a second. For 1972 he purchased a former Chipper/Smith-built and Gary Kershaw-driven 1965 Chevelle which he ran both locally and in on and off-island Open Competition events. Terry also served in ’71 and ’72 as one of the Speedway’s Assistant Starters.

Western’s season of 1973 proved to be Terry’s best which included his winning five out of the first seven Super Stock feature races, two being the Billy Foster 100 and the Sponsor’s Trophy. These and other wins and good finishes enabled him to secure the 1973 Super Stock Season Championship as well as a second place in the Popular Driver poll. He also continued to run in Open Competition meets and his wins there included Western’s Carling’s Victoria Challenge race.

Now competing full time in Open Competition races, Terry’s first places and top finishes included a first at Portland Speedway in 1974, second overall in the Export A Western Canada series, fifth place in Bakersville California behind Neil Bonnett, Bobby Allison, Roy Smith and Bill Schmidt with Donnie Allison behind him in sixth and a ninth at Phoenix where he followed Richard Petty for the majority of the race. During his career, he attended twenty-six different tracks.

In 1978 he joined with Reg Midgley and Bob and John Beadle to form “International Productions Inc.”, an auto racing promotional firm, and they won a contract from the Snohomish County in Washington State to oversee the operations at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe. Terry was also involved with Reg on the IDC (International Drivers Challenge) series for several years working as a Pit Boss and also assisted Ted Pollock at both Yakima and Portland Speedways. In addition he participated in fund-raising in VITRA for crippled children. He also kept up his on-track involvement as a crew member for Dick Midgley and his drivers who included Dave Cooper, Roy Smith, Herschel McGriff and Dave Marcus.