Delta Raceways/Boundary Bay International Raceways

When Canadian Forces Station Ladner, a military airfield three miles east of Ladner in Delta, closed in 1971, the community used it for picnics, fairs and auto racing. In late November 1971, Rick James asked anyone interested in drag racing at a private strip to get in touch. The group became the Thirteen Twenty Club and started racing at the old Boundary Bay airfield as Delta Raceways. The first race, on September 9, 1972, drew a remarkable 400 competitors and 1,700 spectators. A month later the name became Boundary Bay International Raceways.

After the 1972 season about twenty local residents petitioned the Delta municipal council to stop the racing, but most of the community backed it as a safe alternative to street racing. Council ordered noise tests, and the results favored the racers. In early 1973 James became president of the Canadian Hot Rod Association. The raceway made every car run mufflers to cut noise, but attendance fell sharply and it went $2,400 into debt, so it relaxed the rule and the noise came back. In mid-summer 1973 Delta stopped racing at the airport because it was too loud. The racers held a police-escorted parade of 150 cars from downtown Vancouver to the airfield. When their appeal to the Ministry of Transport went nowhere, they protested again, blocking traffic to Vancouver International Airport for 45 minutes.

Diplomacy followed. The association raised its insurance to $500,000, and Vancouver police reported fewer street racing accidents while the airport races were running. The association arranged more patrols against speeding on the access road, drinking and drug abuse. In May 1974 it went back to the Delta council, with the Vancouver police speaking in support, and promised a noise barrier: an 8-foot plywood fence with baffles. In mid-September 1974 council allowed four test races to judge the $40,000 in improvements. After two of them there were no complaints, and while it wasn’t a perfect fix, the neighbors decided to live and let live.

The raceway booked big names to draw crowds, matching Bill Jenkins against Dick Landy in pro stock on June 22, 1975, and Jerry Ruth against Mike Miller’s “Green Elephant” in top fuel on Canada Day, July 1. Both races were shown regionally on cable television. Night racing began on August 2 in hopes of digging out of a big debt. It brought more fans, and the track spent $5,000 on new guardrails and more spectator seating. In mid-September 1975 the transport ministry canceled the racing contract because the track had started racing on Saturday nights, which the contract didn’t specifically allow. The association threatened to sue. When the ministry chained the airport gate to block the final night race on September 27, 1975, James broke the chain and the race went ahead anyway. It was the last race at Boundary Bay.