Canadian Motorsport Legend Harvey Lennox Dies - September 29, 2014

October 21, 1929 - September 29, 2014

Harvey Lennox

Born in Lanigan, Saskatchewan.

 Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame and London Sports Hall of Fame member and one of Canada's greatest race car drivers, passed away on September 29, 2014, at Chelsey Park Nursing Home, London, Ontario, Canada, in his 85th year.

The London motorsport legend, famous for driving his signature super modified vehicle 'Tammy 10', won 182 times in feature races at tracks in Ontario and Michigan from the 1950s through the '70s.

Lennox won five international stock car championships and three national titles and was the top driver at numerous tracks. Early in his career Harvey was the scourge of the dirt tracks that dotted Southwestern Ontario. He was big news at ovals such as Delaware, Nilestown, Ridge Raceway, Checker Flag in Windsor, Tilbury, Warwick, Tillsonburg, Sarnia Glendale to name some of them. It seemed every town had a track. Much of the time races were held on tracks at the fairgrounds.

Along came paved asphalt tracks, corners were widened and safety features installed as conditions improved. The dirt tracks eventually closed up with operations at Delaware, Flamboro, Bridgeport, CNE Toronto, Cayuga and Oswego, N.Y. taking over. Cars improved and were made to go faster and there was Harvey among the leaders again. Harvey took on all comers and cultivated some great rivalries. Who can forget the duels between him and Jack Sharpe in Lobo 1 or with some other leadfoots like Bill Rouse, Jimmy Howard, Trip Trepanier, Ron Pearn, Ted Hogan or Don Biederman?

In 1961, he won a five-mile feature at Harewood Acres, the first time super modifieds were contested on a Canadian road course.

Lennox was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport hall of fame in 1995 and the London Sports hall of fame in 2011. He is also a member of the Flamboro Speedway's hall of fame.

(Photo; londonsportshalloffame.com)