Rick Sharlpes
Owner/Operator
Historian/Writer
I came by my passion for stock car racing honestly from my father, Fred Sharples. Dad twisted wrenches for Norm Morton on Norm’s Supermodifieds and then Bernie Reddick on the #99 Late Models that Howie Scannell raced before leaving Canada to become a traveling NASCAR official. I have been going to races since I was in diapers and was quite involved, as a Club official, for the Can-Am Midget Racing Club.
I launched my book ‘Remember When: The Early Days Of Stock Car Racing In Southern Ontario’ at the Pinecrest/CNE reunion on May 19th, 2012. It was not until I launched the book that I realized how much interest there was in our Ontario oval track racing history’
This is what spearheaded the idea and the name ‘Yesterday’s Speedways‘. I started doing a couple of track displays in 2012 myself but it was only a couple of displays before I realized, I needed some help. I contacted a friend Ron Moulds and he and I have been doing the Yesterday’s Speedways displays and shows ever since.
Bill Samuel
Technical Support
Contributing Editor
I met Rick Sharples at Motorama in 2012. My website, quintecar.ca was still in its infancy. Rick’s passion for the history of motorsports in Ontario is genuine, drawing from his personal involvement with it since early childhood.
At our first meeting Rick had yet to start his website, and I offered to give him a hand. Like most of us, when he did start it, he went gung-ho and did it himself. Though many companies will tell you that you can create a website in five minutes, the reality is that there is a fairly steep learning curve involved.
Nothing Rick had done previously (carpenter and writer) had prepared him for website design. Finally in 2018, I convinced Rick that with a little coaching from me and my technical assistance, Yesterday’s Speedways could have a website that would be easy to use and visually appealing.
I believe that we have achieved that, but we are always looking to improve.
