By Jonathan Guignard
ADVOCATE STAFF
A Red Deer drag racer was inducted into the Canadian Drag Racing Hall of Fame in Montreal last week.
Geoff Goodwin, 79, who has been involved in drag racing since he was a teenager, was inducted in the builders category for his work assisting in the design of the Edmonton International Speedway in 1967 and helping to raise funds to build Castrol Raceway in 1990.
“I’m pretty pleased,” said Goodwin. “I’ve been at it for a long time and there are a lot of other racers out there who have done a lot for the sport so I’m pretty proud of it.”
Goodwin began racing with the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) in 1956, the largest promoter of professional drag racing in the world. He’s competed both in the United States and Canada.
“(The ceremony) was great, said Goodwin. “The banquet was nice along with the presentations. I got to see some friends I haven’t seen in a while from down east, shook a few hands and told a lot of lies.”
Goodwin’s passion for the sport started early in his life. He worked on street rods in high school and soon began racing street cars. Like the cars he raced, his love of racing never slowed down.
“That morphed into racing actual race cars opposed to racing our street cars on a race track. I decided to start racing race cars and never looked back,” said Goodwin.
Goodwin never won a national title with NHRA, but has competed with the some of the best drag racers in the world.
“When you get to the top of your class, you race with the top guys in the world,” he said.
Goodwin will be competing at the 16th annual NHRA Toyota Nationals in Las Vegas, Nevada from Oct. 27-30 where he hopes to qualify for the 52nd annual Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, California from Nov. 10-13.
Originally from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Goodwin spent his early years in Edmonton before moving to Red Deer in 1972 to open NAPA Auto Parts. He has since retired and is focusing solely on his drag racing career.
Goodwin was also inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of fame in 2007.
jonathan.guignard@www.reddeeradvocate.com