Lois Pollard-Grant
Canadian Western Speedway Stock Car Driver
 
At the tender age of five, Lois Pollard-Grant got her first taste
of one of the many aspects of auto racing. While she had been an
avid race fan since the age of two (in the stands with her mother
and sisters) she was now performing as a trophy girl. It was a heady
experience for one so young to be presenting trophies to the winning
drivers in the stock car class, where her father, Earl, and brother,
Larry, raced as a team in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
Although auto racing was a popular topic at the dinner table for
Lois growing up, it wasn’t until she was 21, that she climbed behind
the wheel of a race car for the first time.
When her brother moved to North Carolina to pursue a NASCAR
racing career, Lois’ dad, decided (albeit with some coaxing from
Lois) to come out of retirement and give auto racing a try with his
youngest daughter.
Come 1987, in a borrowed Datsun ministock owned by Dan McAmmond,
Lois strapped on her helmet and ran the last race of the season and
finished second.
The next two years saw Lois and her dad driving identical 1969
Datsuns. The racing duo became the first father/daughter combination
to compete at Western Speedway.
As if racing in one class wasn’t enough for Lois, she competed
full time in the Molson ministock division and in the Lower Island
Track Racing Association (LITRA) claimer class as well in 1988. She
competed in over 30 racing events that year and it was also the year
that Lois won her first main event. That same night she also won her
heat race, to top off her history making night. She went on to win
five more main events and four heat races as well that year.
Lois moved up to the stock car division in 1990, where she won
races along with many second place finishes.
Away from the track, she entered her car in parades, mall shows,
and in displays at Media Conferences and the Victoria Auto Racing
Hall of Fame ceremonies. She took her car to area high schools,
where her father spoke on mechanics and racing. She also started
writing for the speedway magazine this year.
In 1991, Lois and George Grant (an IMCA modified driver) were
married. The Pollard Racing team then became Pollard-Grant Racing.
The same year, Lois and her family, were honored when a perpetual
trophy (the Pollard Cup) was named for the family’s association and
continued support of auto racing.
By 1992, the new Mohawk Thunder Car Series was formed. Lois had
an impressive year in Thunder Cars, taking her season down to the
wire, with many wins, setting a new track record, and a third place
finish in championship point standings.
Lois took the next two years off from active racing - and for
good reason. A baby girl, Laura-Ashley was born to her and
George.
But when the 1995 racing season rolled around, Lois was back in
the saddle of her iron horse. She had come full circle and was once
again started racing, (under a new banner), the International
Ministocks.
1997 was made especially difficult by the death of her father who
had been her crew chief, mentor and dear friend. Shortly before her
dad passed away, she felt proud to have had the chance to compete in
a special race. It was a three generation event between her dad, her
nephew Tyson, and herself.
In 1998, Lois again had her share of wins as she chased the
checkered flag. Even though she had 13 top five finishes, she was
relegated once again to second place in championship point
standings.
Besides running a full race schedule, Lois undertook the enormous
task of writing a 20-page supplement on the 45-year history of
Western Speedway for a Victoria publication, the Goldstream News
Gazette. She also penned her own weekly column - The Checkered
Flag.
Apparently, racing means more to Lois, than just driving a race
car. While winning, the adrenaline rush, and the excitement of going
fast are paramount; she believes there are other aspects of auto
racing that contribute to the success of the sport. Whether it be
learning the mechanics of the car that she drives, promoting her
sponsors, organizing charitable fund raisers, or just helping out
around her home track.
In 1999, Lois ran her final year in the International Ministocks.
Half way through the season, and while running third in championship
point standings, she sold her ministock and purchased a Stockcar.
After only competing in two stockcar events, Lois took the remainder
of the 1999 season off and in March of 2000, gave birth to their
second child - a baby boy, Garret Tyler.
It’s obvoius that Lois has engine oil in her veins, and will pass
on the racing family tradition.... "Realistically", she says, "as
long as I have my family’s support and I’m still having fun, then
I’m there." We will see Lois competing in the CKXM / Glen Lake Inn
Stockcar Series until she makes her next step into Late Model
Stockcars. But in the meantime, her goal is to win a
championship."
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