Bob Whitehead - Inducted 2005

Pioneer - Karting

Early karting activity Westwood, 1960  (SCCBC Archives)

by Tom Johnston, 2005

Bob Whitehead was one of the founders of kart racing in the Vancouver area.

In the early 1960s, the Sports Car Club of British Columbia supported the new sport of kart racing and built a kart sprint circuit at the Westwood Racing Circuit. Karters raced on the sprint circuit and the big track.

The Westwood Karting Association (WKA) started out as a division of the SCCBC, although it soon became an independent club as it is today.

Bob Whitehead of Burnaby was the founding president of the WKA. He died in a tragic accident that took place during a kart race at Shreveport, Louisiana on July 2, 1965. Whitehead was 37 at the time.

The following comes from the Westwood Karting Association web site where they talk about retiring the late Greg Moore’s racing number.

“Greg’s retired number joined that of the only other retired number for our Club, (at the time of Greg’s crash) that of Bob Whitehead's number 1. Bob was running number 1 as the defending champion in his class. Bob was the

Bob Whitehead

founding President of our Club and was instrumental in getting the Club located at the - then new - Westwood Mountain High Racing. In the mid-1960s Bob was killed in a freak accident while racing in the States. A mechanical failure sent a piece of his motor through his helmet, something that would be most unlikely to happen with today's safety requirements.”

The October 3, 1965 Westwood Racing Circuit program had this brief statement and a ad for the benefit race

 

“On Oct. 17, a benefit race has been arranged for the children of the late BOB WHITEHEAD. Bob, a founder of the Westwood Karting group, was fatally injured in a race in Louisiana earlier this year . . . the money raised will be put into an education trust fund for his three children.”