Larry Sproule still hasn’t officially retired from racing. He doesn’t need to get behind the wheel again because over the years he has won championships and races at Langley Speedway and other tracks in British Columbia and other northwest tracks.

He got his first chance in a stock car at Digney Speedway before that track closed down. It was a one-shot deal as he was underage and only supposed to be helping as part of the pit crew.

Larry was the proper age to race a few years later when he began racing at Haney Speedway. With the move by the B.C. Track Racing Association to Langley Speedway Larry got his B modified running strong. It all came together in 1966 when he won the points title for B modifieds in the Inter-City series of races that involved cars and drivers from the Victoria, Nanaimo and Langley tracks. He even placed high in a popularity poll conducted at Nanaimo’s Grandview Bowl, only falling behind the local Island drivers.

In 1967 car owner and builder Jim Marchant needed a driver to replace Ralph Monhay, who had headed to the U.S. to campaign fulltime on the Canadian American Modified Racing

LARRY SPROULE - Inducted 2006

Pioneer - Oval Racing

Larry Sproule with his A modified at Langley, 1969  (Jim Greenwood collection)

By Brian Pratt, 2006

Larry Sproule, 1974

Association circuit. The result was that Larry won the A modified points title at Langley Speedway. He also won high points at one of the CAMRA races at Langley that season.

That, along with seven feature wins including the 75-lap championship race at Langley, garnered enough attention in the sports world for Larry to be nominated for 1967 Athlete of the Year in New Westminster. While he did not win it was an indication that race drivers should be considered as athletes and that Larry Sproule was an outstanding example of a race driver.

Running his own A modified in 1969 Larry picked up two features at Langley. He eventually returned to drive Jim Marchant’s rear-engined supermodified and got them a Washington Racing Association feature win at Langley in 1972.

By the early 1970s super stocks had become the premiere class that raced weekly at Langley and most other tracks in the Pacific northwest. Larry moved to that class and was winning by 1973. He relocated to the Interior and while he occasionally made the tow to Langley he was racing, and winning again, at Penticton Speedway.

In the 1980s Larry won another class championship at Langley Speedway before the track closed – the open comp super stock class.

While he has also been successful in business and on the track he has yet to retire. He sometimes gets behind the wheel of a car, most often to help his son with a driving school that operates at Penticton Speedway in the Okanagan. With championships and wins that span three decades his experience is invaluable which is why he has to be considered a Greater Vancouver Motorsport Pioneer.