By Stan Kalwasinski
August 17, 2009
Chicago – Perhaps the biggest news on the area auto racing front is the return of midget racing for one final time to the Joliet Memorial Stadium, marking the first time midget race cars have competed there since 1986.
The event – the “Last Stand at the Stadium” will be held on September 11 and September 12 and will feature midget auto racing sanctioned by the United Midget Auto Racing Association (UMARA) in addition to vintage midget, Dwarf Cars, Legend Cars and go-kart racing. Located on Joliet ’s westside, the flat-quarter-mile paved track will be ripped up and done away with as the “Stadium” undergoes a major remodeling “facelift.” The track, along with the grass football field, will be replaced by a new Olympic-style running track and an artificial grass playing field. The project will begin once this fall’s football season is completed.
In the spring of 1950, it was announced that a new stadium, costing in excess of $600,000, would be constructed on a site along U.S. Highway 52, some three miles west of the Joliet courthouse. Concrete grandstands, with seating for some 10,000, would be on both sides of the stadium with an electric scoreboard erected at the north end of the field with a cinder running track circling the playing field. Four 100 foot pylons, each supporting 12 1,500-watt flood lights, would top each grandstand. The new stadium, erected to honor Will County residents who died in previous world wars, saw its first football games held in September of 1951, marking the culmination of four years of effort by civic and church organizations and municipal and park officials.
Midget auto racing was introduced to the facility in 1952. Sanctioned by the United Auto Racing Association (UARA), the first racing program was held on Saturday evening, June 7, 1952. Walt Weineke of Libertyville , whose regular job was that of a Greyhound bus driver, won the inaugural midget feature at the “Stadium” that night. Ken Rubright, who hailed from Lyndon , Ill. , was the 1952 UARA midget champion.
The cinder surface, which “peppered” many a driver in the face that first season, was covered with clay for racing in 1953. However, there were numerous times that the clay would be pulled off by the speeding midgets with the cinders reappearing and giving drivers a blast of cinders in the face on occasions.
UARA would sanction the midget racing action there for years with Saturday being the weekly race night. The cinder/clay oval was paved prior to the season opener in 1964. On Saturday, June 6, 1964, Ray Elliott of Lockport , who would win his fifth UARA driving title in ’64, would make a clean sweep of the racing action that night – setting fast time, winning the trophy dash and his heat race and topping it off by capturing the feature race.
Saturday night, paved track racing, featuring UARA midgets, would be the “rule of thumb” through the years. Joliet Racing Association, Inc., headed by former motorcycle racer, midget car owner and racing flagman Leo Melcher and Chuck O’Day, would present the racing events. 1969 marked the first season that UARA did not compete at the oval. UARA returned to the “Stadium” on June 10, 1973 with up and coming midget racer Rich Vogler claiming top honors in the 25-lap feature.
Mini stock racing was held at the track from the late 1960’s and into the early ‘70’s. Dave Decker of Elmhurst seemed to be the “guy to beat” pretty much each year. “Spot” United States Auto Club (USAC) midget racing programs were presented during this period. UARA would return on a “full time” basis for weekly action at the “Stadium” in 1975. UARA would sanction the racing until Bob Tezak’s World of Outlaw Midgets (WOOM) group would emerge in 1981. WOOM would continue to handle the sanctioning through the final race held there on August 30, 1986 with Dennis Devea scoring the win in the last feature race held until now.
Joliet Park District President Dominic Egizio, Joliet area radio and racing personality Mike Guglielmucci, UMARA President Steve Thinnes, 2008 UMARA champion Jimmy Anderson, midget PR man and photographer Bill Fries and longtime racing official and car owner Bob Guess are some of the people behind the project. A few weeks ago, it was learned that just getting the arena structurally-ready for the event – fencing, etc., would cost in excess of $20,000.
Practice, qualifying and heat races for all divisions will take place on Friday, September 11 with more racing, including feature competition, slated for Saturday, September 12. A rain date of September 13 has been announced.
The National midget feature will pay $3000.00 to win and $200.00 to start the event. The Ford Focus midget feature winner will take home $1000.00 or $100.00 to start. The UMARA Sportsman midget feature will pay $1000.00 to win and $100.00 to start. The UMARA Dwarf Car winner will take home $750 or $100 to start and the INEX Legends $750 to win and $100 to start.
A few years ago, the late Tom Arthur, midget auto racing announcer for UMARA, and later the Illini Racing Series group, put together a list of midget racing winners at the “Stadium.” Streator’s Bob Tattersall, who would win two UARA driving titles, in addition to three “Stadium” championships, heads the list of “Stadium” feature winners with 33 UARA wins. Tattersall would go on to win the USAC National Midget Championship in 1969 before passing away due to cancer in 1971.
Other “big” winners at the “Stadium” include Bob Richards with 23 wins, Jim McClean with 20 victories, Danny Kladis with 19 wins, Elliott with 19 scores, followed by Mack McClellan (15), Jim Gates (14), Russ Sweedler (12), Harold “Wild Willie” Wildhaber (11), Henry Pens (11), Johnny Riva (10), George Kladis (10), Dick Pole (10) and Devea with 10.
The spirits of Bob Tattersall, Ray Elliott, Danny Kladis and other racing greats no doubt will be present for the two-day event. Midget racing die-hards, along with racing historians, will no doubt line up for a ticket to the event. Hopefully, current day race fans will also support the program.
The address for news and comments is 9618 Cypress Ave. , Munster , Ind. 46321-3418 or e-mail to skalwasinski@yahoo.com.
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