Chicago Whispers
by Stan Kalwasinski
July 14, 2008

                Chicago , Ill. —Had the opportunity this past Friday evening to witness the first-ever night race at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet .  A little tailgating, a near-capacity crowd and the general “buzz in the air” of a NASCAR race made the evening something special.  Of course, everyone knows who dominated at Chicagoland over the weekend—one “red hot” Kyle Busch!  Two races—Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup and two wins.  Not bad for a two days of work.

            Veteran Indiana midget racer Kurt Mayhew won the 25-lap Illini Racing Series midget main event at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis. on July 6.  Mayhew has a lot of laps of experience in midgets, being a regular at Angell Park for a number of years.  Mayhew grew up “a stone’s throw away” from Illiana Motor Speedway, where is late mom, Helen, used to cook up those delicious beef sandwiches in the old pit concession stand.

            Too bad Illiana owner Mike Mikuly and Art “Fireball” Fehrman of the Illinois Vintage Racing group couldn’t come to terms regarding the “deal” for a night of vintage racing at the Schererville, Ind. half-mile paved oval on June 28.  Four vintage cars did stick around and race with “old timer” Pat Echlin winning the feature.

            Nick Allen of Wheatfield , Ind. was the winner of the 8th annual Firecracker 50 for United Midwestern Promoters (UMP) open-wheel modifieds at the Shadyhill Speedway in Medaryville , Ind. on July 4.  Allen picked up $3,000 for his winning effort, finishing ahead of Jeff Leka of Buffalo , Ill. , who had won the two previous Firecracker battles at the quarter-mile dirt speed plant.  Allen has returned to top racing form after being involved in a serious accident late last season on the dirt at Shadyhill.

            Two of the biggest area paved track super late model race events took place during the weekend of June 21-22.  The 7th annual Elmer Musgrave Memorial 100 presented by Texas Corral Grill and Saloon.  The Champion Racing Association Super Series feature was won by Boris Jurkovic in dominating fashion.  Jurkovic and his Chevrolet set a new CRA qualifying mark (18.864 seconds) and then ran away from the rest of the field in the 50-mile chase with Eddie Hoffman settling for second place.

            The following evening, the “stars and cars” of Steve Einhaus and Tim Olson’s ASA Kwik Trip Midwest Tour visited the Grundy County Speedway in Morris.  Minnesota racer Donny Reuvers captured top honors in the Echo Power Blower 100 held at the one third of a mile paved fairgrounds oval.  Reuvers took the checkered flag in front of Dan Frederickson, who won last year’s ASA Midwest Tour event at Grundy, and former two-time Grundy late model titlist Brett Sontag, who was using a “crate engine” in his Ford Fusion.  Travis Sauter set a new ASA Midwest Tour qualifying record with a lap of 14.960 seconds.

            Some leftover notes from the Illiana and Grundy races…29 cars showed up at Illiana, while a total of 30 were on hand for Grundy.  Only one driver—Dave Weltmeyer did “double duty.”  0.730 seconds separated the top sixteen qualifiers at Illiana, while only 0.216 seconds separated the 16 fastest at Grundy.  Hard to believe the Weltmeyer did not make the show at Grundy, the scene of two track championships for the “Dyer Flyer” and numerous race wins.  Why weren’t there more fans at Grundy?  Maybe more area drivers are needed to make the event more successful. 

            Hoffman has won the last two regular Friday night super late model main events at Grundy.  Hoffman and his Tom and Lisa Kmak-owned Fusion were “red hot” in ASA Late Model Series Northern Division competition a month or so ago.  “Fast Eddie” and his Lisa Thomas Salon-sponsored mount won at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont , Ind. , at Toledo , Ohio and at Grundy.  Pretty impressive!

            Anthony Danta has been real strong this season in Schepel Performance (limited) late model action at Illiana.  Danta, wheeling his dad Frank’s Impala SS, has now scored five feature wins.  One of those included an impressive pass-for-the-win over Eddie Hoffman a few weeks ago.  The Orland Park speedster, who turns 22 on July 18, was the 2005 limited late model champ at Illiana.  The last couple of years have seen Danta turn in several stellar runs in ASA Late Model Series Northern Division action.

            Patrick Wilda, Jr. captured top honors in the United Midget Auto Racing Association (UMARA)-sanctioned Carter/Anderson Classic on June 21 at Grundy.  The event is held in the memory of Don Carter, Sr. and Jim Anderson, who were both involved in the local midget race scene for years.  Anderson ’s son, Jimmy finished second followed by Steve Thinnes, who is the headman of the UMARA group.

            50 Years Ago—Don Oldenberg and Robert “Legs” Whitcomb shared victory honors in Fourth of July holiday Twin 50’s action at Raceway Park near Blue Island.  Whitcomb drove Stash Kullman’s ‘56 Oldsmobile No. 4U to his victory.  Stock car racing and fireworks at Raceway on the Fourth—you almost couldn’t beat it.

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