Norris McDonald

I met Norris McDonald sometime around 1980. He drove a Supermodified at the Oswego Speedway. He eventually turned the driving chores over to drivers like Dave Morton. Of Dave, Norris said “it wasn’t a question of if he will crash, but where.” His last driver was Mike Stone, who ended the days of Norris as a car owner, and the life of the car, against the first turn steel one Saturday night.

But Norris and I had a budding friendship. When we had an opening for the infield reporting job, I asked Norris if he would like to do it. It took about 15 seconds to convince him.
Norris was the infield reporter for going on 15 years. He made the walk through the starting field for the International Classic something every fan looked forward to. 5 minutes, back to front. No stats, no wins mentioned, Just a pithy comment about every driver. “Dave McKnight is starting 19th after having to replace the engine last night. He’s hoping he won’t need another one before this race is over.” No other person who has done the walk through has come even close to what Norris did.

He has always been there for me. Norris came to Cape Cod when I got married. He was also there when the divorce came around. While there were some “friends” who elected to believe the lies, Norris told me “I know you. I know the truth.” There were many long phone calls to help me get through it.

Norris had a big 70th birthday party. I was there. He had an 80th birthday party, which I had to miss because of really bad weather. But a couple weeks ago we celebrated his 81st birthday with a fantastic dinner at Morton’s Steak House in Mississauga, where he and Susan live.

We started to make plans to get together for the Canadian Motor Sports Hall of Fame banquet, Norris is a member, in February. I guess that’s not going to happen.