Bayview’s Brian Grimm has an old photo he likes to show folks.

It’s a picture of a 1950 Packard, reinforced to the max with oversized truck frames and bumpers, and the number 53 painted on the door.

Sitting in the driver’s seat with a slightly uncertain look is 10-year-old Grimm, hands gripped tightly on the steering wheel in the classic 10-and-3 position.

“I knew then that I wanted to race cars,” Grimm recalled.

“My first ride was a 1967 Ford Galaxy 500 that I entered in a Kingdome demolition derby when

I was 21. It cost 50 bucks, and I managed to come in second in the first heat, but a short in the wiring took me out before the finals.”

Racing in all its forms on Whidbey — or rather the building of cars to race on the mainland — has a rich history. Many drivers end up at the Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, where they pit their talents against the best of the Northwest.

One favorite race is the figure-eight, an event that combines elements of oval racing and demolition derby.

It goes something like this: The goal is to compete at the fastest speed around a track shaped like the figure eight instead of a traditional oval. If a driver gets too far ahead, or conversely falls behind, he or she must get back in the pack by speeding up or slowing down.

Either way, drivers are forced to cross or crash at the intersection, or “crossover” point, in the middle of the track as the horrified — and fascinated — crowd in the stands holds its collective breath; hence the need for truck-reinforced bumpers and crash helmets.

“Winning the race without getting smashed is the challenge. It’s a lot of fun,” Grimm noted.

The sport attracts drivers of all backgrounds. Women, too.

In 2000, Linda Owensby of Langley was the sole female on the circuit out of 51 drivers.

“At first, they didn’t want me out there, but in the end we became friends, especially after I was voted Rookie of the Year,” she said.

Her car was a 1965 Chevy Nova, radically altered by her mechanic husband with lots of roll bars.

“In the figure-eight, you want to see who’s coming up and toward you. I’ve been hit more than once, and done the same to others,” she said. “I had to learn not to be afraid and hold my ground.”

Her car — now engineless and a tad bedraggled — still sits in the yard, but Owensby had to give up the life when the cost factor, which can run to a $1,000 per weekend, got to be too much.

“It was scary sometimes, but I loved it and have good memories,” she added.

Grimm’s photos and a display of five decades of South Whidbey race cars and their drivers will be featured from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 10 at Bayview Community Hall, part of the annual Cool Bayview Nights car show.

“There will be a Ferrari, a 1970 big-block Chevy and a figure-eight car on hand,” Grimm said.

For more information, visit www.goosefoot.org or call 321-4145.