Skip to content

Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame hoping to preserve artifacts before fall closure

The museum is looking for storage space until a new permanent home is found

The Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame is facing a tough task as it counts down the months before it has to vacate its home at Westshore Motorsports Park come September, but still needs to find somewhere to store decades worth of artifacts.

The museum has occupied donated space at the track for decades, but with this season set to be the last at the speedway in its current incarnation, that too is coming to an end and president Dave Ferguson is on a mission to ensure not one photograph, trophy or piece of racing memorabilia will be abandoned in the hopes it will all be displayed once again in a new home.

”Everything we have, our intention is to store it for sure. Now whether we will actually have enough space to store it all is another matter,” he said.

READ MORE: Speedway legends establish Victoria Auto Racers Hall of Fame

The museum has local racing artifacts dating back to the 1930s. The large hall is filled to the rafters with thousands of photos, trophies, medals, race suits, helmets, model cars, and even a few actual race cars.

Ferguson said there are even more artifacts stored just out of sight, making it no small task finding storage space once the hall closes.

Many of the surviving racers and families of past racers have already said they will take and store their artifacts, but the museum is now putting out a call for other responsible caretakers.

“We don’t just want anybody and everybody to just take stuff. Unless we know them personally, then that’s fine,” said Ferguson. “We just don’t want to be scammed, lots of this stuff has value.”

He said the ideal solution would be for someone to offer to donate a storage and display space the museum can use as either a permanent home or a temporary one until plans for a potential new motorsports park are more developed.

The second-best option would be for someone to donate a large shipping container to store the remaining artifacts.

“I think its important to recognize these people, the history of the speedway, and of racing in Victoria in general. There are a lot of big names in here that have gone on and done better. We have had top drivers here over the years.”

Anyone who wishes to make arrangements to collect their items from the museum come the fall, or who has suggestions or offers for storage or display space, is encouraged to contact Ferguson through the museum’s website, victoriaautoracinghalloffameandmuseum.com



Justin Samanski-Langille

About the Author: Justin Samanski-Langille

I moved coast-to-coast to discover and share the stories of the West Shore, joining Black Press in 2021 after four years as a reporter in New Brunswick.
Read more