Albert Banyard
From an early age, Albert already had the love of working on cars. It just so happened, at the end of his street was the corner garage, owned by “Wild” Bill Greathead…a friendship grew, and Bill decided to let Albert, share the wheel of his car the # 6 7/8 or # 82, together they raced at Ancaster Fairgrounds, Bridgeport, CNE and a few trips to Civic Stadium in Buffalo. It wasn’t till after a bad wreck at Ancaster, Albert decided stock cars were not for him.
Photo from Hamilton Vintage.
Fast forward a few years, the family left the city of Hamilton and built a place in Mount Hope…and it came with a bit of property. Albert and his buddies had been going to the Lacrosse Bowl in Hamilton to watch midget car races and their interest in the midget cars was growing. That is where they met Bill Crawford, who was already involved…So, with wide-open fields, they started to carve out a track in the backyard, little did he know at that time that his track would be an integral part of the formation of the Can-Am Midget Racing Club Inc. Officially formed in 1965.
Albert and Bill Crawford eventually met up with Harry Macy who was running Three Quarter Midgets on the U.S. side of the Border in the early 60’s …It didn’t take long for the two groups to get together and schedule a show at Johnny’s Park in Beamsville Ontario…but when the U.S. racers got to the border they were delayed, and by the time they got to Johnny’s Park, the Canadians had left, thinking they were not coming.
After that unfortunate day, it wasn’t long before they started book shows on both sides of the border. one at Lancaster NY, and one at Hide-A-Way Speedway in Ontario.
Albert raced competitively for over 30 years, travelling many miles with the Club. Whether it was weekly at Cayuga Speedway or other tracks from Checkered Flag in Windsor to Mont Laurier in Quebec, and all other tracks in between. He also ran on the dirt at Merrittville Speedway in Ontario . On the U.S. side of the bridge, from Lancaster Speedway to Painesville Ohio, Geneva Raceway, Memorial Stadium in Daytona Beach Florida, and Florida City Speedway and the inner oval at Cayuga Speedway!
In the late 80’s, Albert decided it was time to hang up the helmet and trade it for an Officials hat!
So, he retired, the familiar red, white and black # 8 and got himself a shiny red golf cart…and the only right thing to do was put an # 8 on it. Each week he could be seen in the infield on the back straightaway, sending the drivers off with the nod of his head that they were going green or working up and down the pits as the Pit Steward.
Over the years, he held positions in the Club from Vice President to Treasurer to Honorary Board of Director.
The “Albert Banyard” Sportsman of the Year Award is handed each year, to a member that goes over and above, and the Club honoured him with the “ Dedication to the Club” award.
His opinion, history of the Club and guidance is invaluable till this very day!
The Can-Am Midget Racing Club, will be celebrating its 57th year, and Albert will turn 89 years young in 2022. Although he doesn’t make it to all the shows, he still likes to get out to his local track of Flamboro Speedway…where he can still be found helping in the pits, so be sure to stop and say hello!!
Courtesy of Kim Banyard
