Forty-six-year-old Mike Noyce “was one of the wildest, kindest, most genuine souls to ever turn a wheel at Western Speedway and beyond,” a Facebook post said.
Tributes are pouring in from friends and a fundraising page has been set up in honour of a man who died in a fire in the Shawnigan-Mill Bay Road area last week.
Forty-six-year-old Mike Noyce, nicknamed Psycho, “was one of the wildest, kindest, most genuine souls to ever turn a wheel at Western Speedway and beyond,” a Facebook post from a friend said.
“He was full throttle, with burnout smoke in the air and chaos in his wake,” the post said. “You never had to ask if Mike was at the track — you could hear it, feel it and damn well see it.”
It called Noyce “a true original” with “a heart as big as his throttle foot.”
Long-time friend Alex Gwilliam said Noyce lived above the workshop, where he and a few buddies had been working on his race car just hours before the fire.
“Everything was fine, he was happy, he was in a good mood, everything was going well.”
Shawnigan Lake Fire Chief Keith Shields said a fire crew responded to a call about 3:50 a.m. on July 4 and found the building on a rural property in the 1300-block of Deloume Road engulfed in flames.
The B.C. RCMP said a body was found inside after the fire was put out.
An investigation is in its early stages, but criminality is not believed to be a factor, police said.
Noyce’s dog Bowser also died in the fire.
A GoFundMe page created to cover funeral costs and other expenses for Noyce’s loved ones described his death as “sudden and heartbreaking.”
It said he was a devoted father to his son, Riley, and loved his community.
Gwilliam said Noyce, who was raised in Esquimalt, was a “stand-up guy.”
He said that he and Noyce had been involved in racing together for more than 20 years. “We loved the racing, we loved the mechanical end of it.”
Noyce’s specialty was the hit-to-pass event, which requires contact between vehicles when one of the drivers is trying to pass. “It’s the class that brings all the fans out, rain or shine,” Gwilliam said.
When Noyce, driving #44, was competing, “he put on the show,” he said.
“He touched a lot of people’s lives,” Gwilliam said. “He had that smile and that energy.”
Noyce made a living as a tow-truck driver, which prompted one Facebook poster to write: “He has never turned down a tow, never given an excuse. Always had a smile on his face and a ton of hilarious stories.”
The Remembering Western Speedway Facebook page now includes a call for people to share pictures and stories of adventures they shared with Noyce.
The fundraising page for Noyce is atgofundme.com/f/mike-noyce.
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