Barry Kettering was inducted into the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame in September 1982
by Jeff Caldwell
Barry Kettering would start his racing career match racing Tom Dow at the Murillo Fairgrounds behind the wheel of the Kings Special,a 1920-30's vintage speedster in 1951-52. Barry was one of the founding members of the Lakehead Stock Car Club in the fall of 1952 and the first stock car he built was a 1934 Plymouth numbered 00 called "The Snitch Special" as apparently that's how some of its parts were obtained, he would then move into Bud Heidrich's #47 "Bud's Thing" '40 Ford in 1953 and later a '32 Ford until 1957 when he drove the Provincial Stock Car Club #57. In 1958 Barry & brother Glen with whom he was partners in a local service station built a 1934 Ford coupe powered by a 312 C.I. Ford,this car would carry Barry to his long sought after track title.. Barry always the tough but fair competitor would again win its title in 1959 in the '34 Ford and a cut down version of the same car carried him to the title again in 1960. Though Barry was leading the points & defending his title in 1961 he sold his share in the service station and moved from Fort William to Rice Lake, Wisconsin so that he could race more often. Barry had first ventured stateside to "see how they raced" in 1958 and left a souvenir for the meeting room of the Indianhead Stock Car Racing Association ,a check in the amount of $15.00 for tow money which he refused to accept. Upon his return to Rice Lake WI in the spring of 1959 Barry "cleaned the boards" and started to leave his mark south of the border. Barry Kettering's gesture of refusing the tow money would was a precursor to several others gestures he would make through his racing career for the betterment of the sport. Barry continued racing in modifieds and the '34 Ford was retired with a new car being built,based on a '49 Ford frame with a Crosley body and a 390 C.I. Ford powering it. Upon its completion in the spring Barry was looking to give it a test run,finding Shakopee running Barry & crew headed for the track to discover that it was asphalt, undaunted and though the car was built for dirt and Barry having no previous pavement experience he threw the car sideways through the corners as if he was racing on dirt thrilling those in attendence. Barry returned to Shakopee for its opening day show won his heat and ran out of gas on the white flag lap of the feature while leading,soon the calls were going out "look out,here comes the Bear Cat!!" Through the years whenever Barry towed into the pits he would be regarded as one of the guys to beat. During the sixties Barry would blossom into one of the top open wheel racers in the Minnesota/Wisconsin area winning several big events,and would take "ownership" of the modifieds at Princeton ,MN where he would win the title seven times,with three others coming at North Star.
In the year 1973 Barry was again part of a racing club formation as he was one of the co-founders of the Midwest Sprint Association as he had been with the Lakehead Stock Car Club. Thoughout the next three years Barry served as the association's President as well as its goodwill ambasador,dominating driver and fan favorite. In the first year of the clubs existence it was dominated on the track by Kettering as he won 14 features and took the initial title,on the way to the title Barry won the unsanctioned Invitational Championships at Riverview Raceway in his hometown of Thunder Bay,ON. Barry again took the MSA title in 1974 and 1975. While Barry would rarely travel too far from home to race,when he did he was often rewarded with a win or a top finish,such as starting at the rear in a 22 car field in Minot,ND and crossing under the checkered flag first. In 1976 Barry co-drove with Ron Larson in the famed Little 500 in Anderson IN running second when an oil leak close to the finish requiring repairs relegated them to an eigth place finish. He was on his way to the 1976 title on Friday June 11 of 1976 when he lost his life as he was thrown from his red & white #57 in a roll over on lap 13 in corner two at Fairmont MN. Barry Kettering was always a highly respected racer both on & off the race track,popular with not only the fans but fellow competitors alike,always willing to help the rookies or lend a needed part to a fellow competitor. The Sunday night race at North Star Speedway in Blaine,MN following Barry's accident was green flagged with the pole position left open in memory of the great racer. Always one to give for the betterment of the sport being one who raced for the love of it not the glory or prize money Barry was a great goodwill ambassador for racing. Barry would gladly hand out schedules at winter car shows,let kids sit in the sprinter,tow to Austin MN to promote an upcoming MSA race for the small fee of gas money and in a dispute regarding a scoring decision at a MSA race at North Star Barry offered to pay the $100 difference out of his own pocket.. Always well spoken,clean cut Barry was very businesslike in his efforts to make the MSA a viable and sucessful club and would meet fair board representatives in an effort to book MSA race dates. On that June evening racing lost one of its greats, though not nationally known Barry Kettering took on all comers in his area often sending the visitors home empty handed. Both on & off the track Barry gave his all to make racing better, from the stock cars in Fort William to the sprint cars in Minnesota he was a true racer and he is missed by both those he raced and those who watched him. Having given so much to the sport it was perhaps best said by fellow Fort William sprint racer Lyn McIntosh, when Riverview track management decided not to hold the Barry Kettering Memorial in 1981 Lyn & his partners Murray Robinson and Pat Slivinski chose to host it themselves with Lyn saying " Barry gave too much to the sport for his memory to be forgotten".
A feature in National Speed Sport News on Barry Kettering
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