Based on previous attendance, organizers of a Canada Day car show at the former Langley Speedway track are expecting about 1,000 cars and 1,200 people will show up for the Jellybean AutoCrafters Canada d’Eh Celebration and Car Show founded by brothers Ewald and Kurt Penner
This July 1 will mark the 18th year of the event, which began as a show-and-shine at Jellybean AutoCrafters, the custom car building business the Penners operate near the Surrey-Langley border.
It used to include a cruise to the historic Langley Speedway where much of the car community used to spend many evenings racing.
After a few years, however, the show grew to the point where it was moved to the speedway and no longer has a cruise attached to it.
“Each year we get comments from participants of the show, as they reminisce about the good old days of racing at the track, and how wonderful it was to have a safe place for the entire family to be together with friends,” Kurt told the Langley Advance Times.
Kurt and Ewald are the youngest of 13 kids in a family of car fans.
“[Our] older brothers fell in love with cars, so us younger ones would hang out and hold the light and pass the tools to them,” Ewald recalled.
“I’m sure it was the wrong tool many times but we enjoyed it anyway.”
One day, a 1957 Chevrolet blew its clutch right in front of the family home in Vancouver, an incident that cemented Ewald’s passion for cars – as he put it, “what little boy doesn’t like the sound of a loud noise with parts scattering everywhere?”
He said the brothers host the show every year as their way of giving thanks “to the people of Canada for accepting our family into this great country, and for the car community for accepting us and supporting our business for the past 19 years.”
“Our family history had many tough times in it, including becoming refugees during the Communist revolution in Russia, [as well as] starvation and famine in Brazil and Paraguay,” Ewald explained.
Located at the south end of 208th Street off 16th Ave., Langley Speedway is a quarter-mile paved oval track for stock car racing that operated between 1965 and 1984, including several visits from the NASCAR Winston West series in the 1970s.
Before it was closed, it drew drivers from as far away as Alberta, Vancouver Island and the Pacific Northwest and filled the stands with fans.
“I remember there being standing room only on many occasions in the early 80’s when my brother Otto raced his 1967 Impala SS,” Ewald remembered.
“This was the norm for many years, especially when NASCAR Winston Cup came up to compete,” he said.
“The local hotels, restaurants, auto parts stores, shops, etc, all benefited from the excitement on the weekends. The race nights were good, clean fun so they were very much of a family affair. Parents brought their kids and made friends with other fans and racers family’s. Teens and others would come in car loads, so many relationships were formed at the track that still hold strong today.”
READ ALSO: Starter keeps Langley Speedway memories alive
On one occasion, older brother Otto got “tagged” during a race and hit the wall near the grandstands, Ewald remembers.
“A few guys from the top of the stands instantly jumped up and ran towards the track and around to the side to where there was an opening to help fix the car and get it back on the track for the next race. They made it happen, and car #6 set its best time to date right after that.”
“When you go to the track now, you can almost hear the fans cheering and the sound of the cars as they go by,” Ewald added.
On July 1, gates open at 9 a.m. and the event runs from 10 a.m. to “3’ish” and includes singing the national anthem at 11 a.m. There will be food trucks and live entertainment.
Display cars will be on and around the old speedway and spectator parking will be in the upper lot.
There is no entry fee.
READ ALSO: Jellybean builds cool cars
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