Don Oldenberg By Stan Kalwasinski               Part of Chicagoland stock car racing history, Don Oldenberg was a prominent figure on both the national and local racing scenes for some 20 years.             In 1955, Oldenberg became the United States’ first national convertible stock car champion, driving a 1955 Buick Century “rag top” to the Society of Auto Sports, Fellowship, and Education (SAFE) crown.  The SAFE group merged with NASCAR in December of 1955 with NASCAR naming Oldenberg its convertible champion for 1955.  NASCAR began to sanction its own convertible races in 1956 with Oldenberg finishing fifth in the standings that year with a victory at Toronto, Canada to his credit.             During his racing career, which started as a car owner at Raceway Park in Blue Island, Ill. in 1949, Oldenberg raced with about every major racing organization in the country including the United States Auto Club (USAC), the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) and the old Midwest Association for Race Cars, the forerunner of the current Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), in addition to other Midwestern stock car associations.             The 1955 SAFE Circuit of Champions “All Stars” convertible tour consisted of 32 events, conducted at numerous tracks throughout the country.  Oldenberg, along with fellow area speedsters—Bill Brown, Bob Pronger, Bill Cornwall, Dave Hirschfield and Red Duvall, concentrated their racing efforts on the circuit that staged its first race in May and ended the season in October.  Oldenberg captured seven main events along the way, including a 100-lap victory at Raceway Park on June 29 over Speedway City, Indiana’s Hershel White and Duvall.             From 1953 through the early part of 1957, Oldenberg raced with both SAFE and NASCAR, running throughout the Midwest and the South.  He was almost an annual visitor to the February “Speed Week” NASCAR competition on the old 4.1-mile beach-road course at Daytona Beach, Fla.  From 1951 through 1957, with the exception of 1955, Oldenberg tried his luck at Daytona with this best ever finish being 15th in a ’53 Lincoln in 1953.  1956 and 1957 saw Oldenberg have factory-sponsored rides for the convertible “Beach” events with bad luck causing Oldenberg to finish no better than 23rd in 1956.             NASCAR records show that Oldenberg made a total of 20 Grand National starts from 1951 through 1957.  His most active season in Grand National action was 1954 with a total of six appearances.  His best NASCAR Grand National finish came at Florida’s Palm Beach Speedway on February 1, 1953 with Oldenberg and his Lincoln finishing fifth behind winner Lee Petty.             Oldenberg was a casual grandstand observer in 1948 when stock car began to make its mark in the Chicago area.  The next season found his in the pits as an owner, and by the middle of 1950, Oldenberg was wheeling a 1949 Mercury in the Raceway Park battles.  On September 24, 1950, Oldenberg scored his first stock car feature race, winning a 25-lap main event at Raceway Park in his Ellen Jones Trailer Special Mercury, besting Bob Button and Bill Yancey.             Through the years, Oldenberg was a consistent frontrunner at Raceway in addition to other Chicagoland ovals.  Oldenberg won a total of 42 feature races at Raceway Park during his career, never winning more than eight in a single year.  He was the second-ranking driver in the final points, behind Ray Young, in 1962.  On September 22 of that year, Oldenberg and his ’57 Ford No. 86 set a new qualifying track record at Raceway, whistling around the short quarter-mile paved oval in 13.11 seconds.             He captured the late model stock car track championship at Soldier Field on Chicago’s lakefront in 1957 and 1958.  Calling Highland, Ind. home during a good part of his career, Oldenberg posted a number of strong years at Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Ind. in the mid-1960’s, finishing 2nd in the points in 1965, fifth in 1966 and fifth again in 1967.              Two of Oldenberg’s biggest Chicago area victories were a 100-lap “dead-heat” victory over Texan Pat Kirkwood in an all-late model SAFE “Circuit of Champions” event at Raceway Park in 1952 and the annual Gold Trophy Police Benevolent race at Soldier Field in 1958.              Oldenberg, who was born in Marshfield, Wis. on December 18, 1922, closed out his racing career in the early 1970’s at Raceway Park and at Illiana. Oldenberg's last checkered flag race victory came during a heat race at Illiana in 1972.  Oldenberg, at age 60, passed away on December 13, 1983.