- In the sporting world, there are many unsung heroes. These are the persons who toil diligently in the background and rarely receive the credit they truly deserve. One such person is Walter Wakelyn.
- Walter began his activities in the sport of Auto Racing in 1939 as the mechanic for Stu Pringle. He continued in this role in 1940, then joined the Royal Canadian Navy during the war years 1940 – 1945.
- He resumed his racing activities in 1946 at Victoria’s Langford Speedway, teaming up with good friend Jimmy Dempster. Walt and Jim ran the #1 Winfield Sprint Car and had such great drivers as Digger Caldwell and Jack Spaulding. The car was driven by Digger in 1946 and was virtually unbeatable. Out of the seventeen main events run that year, the car scored fourteen wins, two seconds and one third. It also held the track record and had seven clean sweeps (dash, heat and main event). This was quite an enviable record for this team.
- As well as the excellent preparation of the car and the flawless performance, this team also had the distinction of being the first to wear uniforms. They had red stripes down the pantlegs of their white pants and all team members wore matching shirts and jackets.
- When Langford Speedway closed down, racing shifted to Shearing’s Speedway, just South of Duncan. Walt travelled up the Island every weekend to act as the Pit Boss during the 1950 season.
- When Western Sp[eedway opened it’s doors in 1954, Walt and Jimmy Dempster were the Safety Committee at the track. Walter was also building many racing engines for some of the race teams. He built quite a few flathead Ford engines as well as other different types, such as the 302 GMC for Ken Dobey.
- Walt retired from active racing for a while, but the bug bit him again in the 1980’s when he became involved with Ron Douglas and the vintage race cars. Today, Walt is still a member of the Northwest Golden Wheels Fraternity as well as a member of the California-based Western Racing Association.
