Viewing Object

Racer at Langley Speedway. Raymond Marvin Elder (August 19, 1942 – November 24, 2011) was a NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. He participated primarily in west coast races at Riverside International Raceway and Ontario Motor Speedway from 1967 to 1978. He won races at Riverside in 1971 and 1972 driving for Fred Elder. Elder won 47 races on the NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Series, which is the second most all time. He won six NASCAR Western series championships: 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1975. Elder was inducted in the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in its first class in 2002.

Source: Wikipedia

Langley Speedway opened on June 13th, 1965, under original owner Craig Frazer. In 1969 the Vancouver-Fraser Park District (now the Greater Vancouver Regional District) bought the track and surrounding area with the intent to create a park. Frazer obtained a 10-year lease and continued to run the track until Gordon Hemrich took over in 1977. After the 10-year lease expired in 1979 the track came under increasing pressure from local governments. The lease periods became shorter and shorter with each renewal and there were more restrictions on numbers of dates, hours of operation, etc. The Lower Mainland Oval Racing Association took over operation of the track in 1980 and changed the name to Action Raceway. Finally, at the end of the 1984 season (September 15th), the racers were refused a new lease and the track closed.


A wide variety of cars ran at Langley over the years. In the 1960's there were Early Late Models, "A" Modifeds, "B" Modifieds and "C" Modifieds. During the 1970's there were Limited Super Stocks, Claimers, Open Competition and Modified Sportsman. In the final years there were Late Models, Super Stocks, Street Stocks and Bombers.

Numerous touring series also stopped at Langley. The NASCAR Winston West Series appeared a number of times. Hershel McGriff won the 150 lap races in 1971 and 1972, Ron Eaton won the 100 lapper in 1978 and there was another race on July 18, 1981. The NASCAR Late Model Sportsman series appeared regularly in the mid-1970's. There were also Canadian American Modified Racing Association (CAMRA) events and the International Drivers' Challenge (IDC),