Boyce enters Motorsports Hall of Fame

By Lethbridge Herald on October 27, 2022.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

Local oval track sprint car racer Bill Boyce was finally inducted in the Western Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame earlier this month at a ceremony in Edmonton.

He found about his induction in 2019 for 2020, but due the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was delayed two years.

Boyce was inducted for his performance for the last 45 years of racing sprint cars in the northwest United States and Canada.

Boyce  accumulated over 115  main-event wins  in his racing career this far, and some of those events were prestigious events including the Gold Cup in Edmonton — which is Canada’s oldest motorsports event — a three-time winner of the Dan Laber Memorial Race in Billings, Mont., and winning the Platinum Grover Series in Calgary in 1995 to name a few.

“There’s a lot of history in western Canada and western United States, so it was quite the honour to be inducted on my performance in the past,” said Boyce.

Boyce has raced locally, nationally, internationally and has drove for Penzoil, Boston Pizza and John Deere.

“(In) all of these corporations, you have to perform,” said Boyce.

“Not once did we go after people. They actually came to us to get the advertising and they know that you’re going to be in the spotlight and you can be a good spokesperson for their brand and their product.”

Now in his 60s, Boyce is still racing and attributes his longevity in the sport to the people.

“We enjoy going to the motorsports,” he said.

“We don’t do as much as we used to. A lot of times, we used to race up to 50 times a year. We’ve cut that back .Last year, we were probably out only 15 times. But some other events happened and we weren’t able to fulfill all those obligations.”

Boyce mostly races in Great Falls in the Sport Sprints and ASCS 360 Sprint Series.

“The tracks around southern Alberta have diminished,” said Boyce.

“It’s kind of like the horse racing program—  those facilities have diminished. The motorsports facilities have also diminished.”

He plans to continue racing in Great Falls in 2023.

Boyce has always been an independent racer, whether that is falling under his own banner or his father, Ron’s.

Ron was inducted into the Lethbridge Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 under the Builder’s Category for motor sports.

*Editor’s Note* The initial story in Friday’s paper said Western Canada Motorsports Hall of Fame. The official title should say Western Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame