It was perhaps one of the finest short track stock car racing facilities in the country during its heyday, Chicagoland’s Raceway Park operated between 1938 and 2000. Actually located in Calumet Park, the short quarter mile paved speed plant, located on the southeast corner of 130th Street and Ashland Avenue, fell to the wrecking ball in 2001.
Longtime speedway owner Pete Jenin sold the 23-acre property to a Chicago-based developer, Raceway Central LLC, for the purpose of building an Ultra Foods—warehouse-style grocery store.
The speedway was part of the great midget racing boom prior to World War II with it opening its gates for the first time on September 24, 1938. Harry McQuinn, who would go on to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and later acted as the Chief Steward for the “500”, was the feature winner that opening day at the small, four cornered, dirt speedway. Ed Rippe and Harry Malone were the driving forces behind the new operation with some saying that the original idea for the track was greyhound racing, which many thought would be legalized in the State of Illinois. The dogs finally made it to the track in 1953 when they were part of exhibition racing events. . Future movie star, Kim Novak was one of the young ladies that paraded the dogs before the races.
The War put a halt to all racing in the United States in 1942 with no racing held in either 1943 or 1944, the only years that the track would ever sit idle throughout its history. Promoter Art Folz reopened the track after the War with it reportedly holding the first racing competition in the U.S. on August 25, 1945, only 11 days after VJ Day and racing until late October.
After a rather unsuccessful season in 1946, the Jenin Brothers, Nick and Pete, took over ownership of the property which was not too far from being condemned. Numerous improvements, including new grandstands and a new track layout, were made to the premises with Pete Jenin doing a great deal of the work himself. Midget racing, with the likes of Tony Bettenhausen, Ray Richards, Mike O’Halloran, Johnny Roberts and Doc Shanebrook among others in competition, provided thrills to thousands of fans each weekend during the 1947 season.
Two stock car events, including the track’s first 300 Lap Classic, were presented late in the year of 1948 with the stockers quickly gaining popular acceptance by race fans. Open-wheel ace Danny Kladis drove a four-wheel drive military Jeep to victory in 300 lapper with Bill Van Allen winning a season-finale 100-lap battle. Stock cars joined the midgets for their own weekly night of racing the following season with Bud Koehler, claiming both the stock car and midget track championships in 1949. A mainstay at the track year after year, Koehler would go on to win 11 stock car championship crowns and 490 stock car feature wins at the speedway during a career that would come to a close in 1978.
Weekly midget and stock car racing on a sometimes four-night-a-week basis made it hard to maintain the track’s dirt racing surface with the track being paved right after the 1951 season began. The ’51 campaign would see the Jenin Brothers present a total of 80 racing events at their track with the Chicagoland oval claiming the title of the “World’s Busiest Track.”
Koehler, along with the likes of Bob Pronger, Bill Van Allen, Hal Ruyle, Don Odell, Bryant Tucker, Bob Meyers, Tom Cox, Bob Button and Bob Williams were stars of 1950’s stock car action. With the popularity of midget racing waning, weekly midget action as dropped from the track’s schedule after the 1952 campaign. Nick Jenin sold his part of the track in 1952 to Jimmy Dericco, who would partner with Pete Jenin to build the reputation of the track to even
greater stature. WBKB-TV, Channel 7, televised the Raceway action on Sunday nights in 1954.
Rolling into the 1960’s, Harry Simonsen, Ray Young, Bill Cornwall, Ted Janecyk and Jerry Kemperman joined the track’s championship honor roll. These speedsters joined the likes of Koehler, Pronger, Van Allen and Williams in the slam and bang action at the “World Famous Motordrome,” another title track management labeled the oval. Many a night, especially during special summer holiday events, crowds in the neighborhood of 10,000 would jam the track’s grandstands on the front and back straightaways.
Late model Fords, Chevrolets, Buicks and Oldsmobiles, beefed up with plenty of boiler plate and bracing, were the cars of choice with Studebaker Hawk and Lark models also campaigned successfully over the years in the “give no quarter, take no quarter,” push and shove competition. The 1970’s would see George Hill, Ray Freeman, Larry Middleton and Dave Weltmeyer add their names to the track champions roster. Bobby Weltmeyer, Pat Echlin, Wayne Para, Mike Pockrus, Jim Johnson, Mike White and Joe Witkowski would do the same thing in the 80’s. John Brolick, Kevin Reidy and Gary Raven would become first-time late model champs in the1990’s. Reidy would win the final late model crown in 2000.
The track was leased to racing insurance businessman N. Perry Luster in 1968 and 1969 with Pete Jenin taking over control again for the start of the 1970 season. Calumet Raceway Associates, headed by Ron Malec, would enter into a lease/purchase agreement with Jenin in 1980 with Jenin again coming back as owner/promoter in 1982.
Down through the year, the track presented almost every type of motorsports competition in addition stock cars and midgets. Super modifieds, mini-sprints, go-karts, motorcycles, thrill shows, demolition derbies and Enduro stock car events took place. The Enduro events, first presented in 1985, proved one of the most popular promotions in recent years.
Track announcers, Wayne Adams, who retired in 1989, and George Rowlette kept detailed records of track activities over the years. From the first event held in 1938 through the final program on September 30 of last year, a total of 2.949 racing events were run at the track. An almost unbelievable total of 6,770 feature races, counting all divisions of competition, were held with 817 different drivers scoring feature victories. A total of 129 different drivers were crowned track champions in the various racing divisions.
All in all, Raceway Park provided a lot of thrills and excitement for race fans for over 60 years. It was a shame when the wrecking crews began demolishing it and you realized it was all over for the “World Famous Motordrome.” END