Rick Bye competed in a variety of racing disciplines for nearly three decades before holding a leadership role with Porsche Canada. Bye started out building, selling and racing Formula Vees through Olympus Racing, which he founded with Bill Vallis, from 1972 to 1982. He was a two-time runner-up in the National Championship and won races at Watkins Glen, Mont-Tremblant, Nelson Ledges and Mosport.

Bye raced competitively in Big Block DIRT modifieds in the U.S. and Canada from 1982 to 1986, while getting involved with Porsche Canada as a technical advisor in the structuring of the Rothmans Porsche series. He returned to road racing to field cars for himself and others in that series from 1986 to 1990, finishing fourth in points in the second year. He regularly placed in the top-five each year and won a series event at Mont-Tremblant. He also raced for Canada in an International Porsche 944 race in South Africa.

Bye went endurance racing in the 1990s, winning the 1991 and 1992 Canadian Firehawk endurance championships. He worked with Raymond David to create the Canadian Endurance Road Racing Championship, where he won the title in 1993. He competed at Daytona numerous times and prepared a Porsche Cup 911 for the 1996 24 Hours of Daytona, where he coached a team of amateur drivers to a fifth-place class finish.

Bye went on to work with Porsche Canada as a press and community liaison from 1996 to 2014. He managed the company’s press fleet, training journalists to drive at speed safely and to properly assess the cars when track testing. He’s also been a part of various driving experiences over the years, participating in events for the Children’s Wish foundation for three decades and creating a track driving experience for people with sight, mobility and cognitive disabilities.