CHICAGO WHISPERS
by Stan Kalwasinski
Chicago , Ill. , July 26—The late Frank Welch was pretty much the “glue” that held the stock car racing promotion at the Grundy County Speedway in Morris together for so many years. Welch, who passed away on June 14, 2009, was the “promotional kingpin” of the Grundy oval, which has been in operation since 1971 when racing in the Grundy County area was moved there from the old Mazon Speedbowl. Welch, did it all and was, you could say, the understudy to Wayne Carter, who was “Mr. Racing” in the Grundy County area for many, many years.
On July 16, at the Grundy third of a mile paved oval, they held the inaugural Frank Welch Memorial Mid Season Championship race for late model stock cars. The 94-lap event (the distance set because of Welch’s old racing number) saw a field of 20 take the green flag with Joliet’s Brett Sontag, who seems to win a lot of races at Grundy, claiming the victory in a pretty much “made it look easy” fashion.
Just passed the 25-lap mark, Sontag and his “real fast” Ford Fusion No. 5 were in the lead and went on to take the checkered flag ahead of Ricky Baker and Anthony Danta, who seemed to be the only ones to keep pace with the eventual winner. Stevie Campbell and Ron Vandermeir, Jr. finished fourth and fifth respectively.
“We got stacked up early in the race and got the hood all pushed in,” Sontag said. “I was coming up through the field and D.J. (Weltmeyer) definitely wanted to keep the bottom. I got underneath him and climbed over his left rear and bent (my) front end up.
“We came in (during the halfway break) and reset the ‘toe’. We got it close and I think it (the car) was better with the front end bent up. Ricky (Baker) did a heck of a job. That’s a brand new car (for him) tonight. (It’s a good night) any time you can beat Ricky or Anthony (Danta) – they both run good. It was maybe too long of a race. We had a lot of yellows, but I hope it was a good show for the fans.”
Baker, who wrecked a car in mid-June at Illiana Motor Speedway ( Schererville , Ind. ), ran a strong race in his new car.
“It was a brand new car and it’s the first time we had it out,” Baker commented. “We were struggling in practice. The car was bottoming out. We just kept working on it. We’ve been working every night (this past week) on it till three in the morning. It was worth it. I had a flat tire at the break. The car was getting real tight during the first half.”
Danta was second at the “break” after setting third fast time behind Sontag and Chris Cooling.
“About lap 20, we got into the 95 car (Billy Knippenberg) and I think we bent something in the steering,” Danta said. We were pretty good the first few laps after the restarts, but then Brett and Ricky got better. The car was pretty good. It’s a little beat up, but we’ll check it out and maybe we can race tomorrow (at Illiana.)”
Ron Vandermeir, Jr., who finished fifth in the Welch 94 lapper, scored his first career late model victory at Grundy a few weeks ago after being a regular campaigner in the track’s Mid American division. Vandermeir’s orange No. 3 is the same car that the likes of Pat Kelly and John Brolick had great success with. The car was put together by the late Stash Kullman and Mike White during the winter of 1995 with White winning the Grundy late model crown that summer.
Vandermeir is the son of Ron Vandermeir, Sr., who claimed rookie of the year honors in Grundy’s street stock division in 2007 at the age of 49! Vandermeir, Jr.’s grandfather is Jim Vandermeir, who along with his brothers Jerry and Gene, use to race stock cars at the old O’Hare Stadium in Schiller Park , which was located just outside the borders of O’Hare International Airport.
Former Grundy flagman, Jan Moore came up from his Florida home to act as honorary starter for the Welch event.
Don Kenyon is trying to put some “life blood” into Midwestern midget auto racing. Earlier this year, Kenyon, who along with his brother, Mel, were a potent midget racing combo with Mel winning seven USAC midget driving titles, formed the United States Speed Association (USSA) for the purpose of sanctioning and promoting midget racing at several Midwest tracks. The group made its first appearance at Illiana on Wednesday night, July 14.
Only 13 midgets, ready for competition on Illiana’s half-mile paved oval, showed up, definitely supporting the “tough times” midget racing is currently experiencing. The cost of a first-rate midget, including spiraling engine costs, is hurting the once most popular form of automobile racing.
Before and immediately after World War II, it seemed like fans could not get enough of midget racing with drivers sometimes able to race eight-times a week (twice on Sundays) with tracks, some successful, some not, springing up all over the place.
The Chicago area was a “hotbed” for the midgets during the “good times” with tracks like Soldier Field and Raceway Park becoming two very popular midget racing venues. It seems like everything began to unravel when the Offenhauser engine-powered Kurtis Kraft midget came about as fields became so close, competitive-wise, that a lot of the races became “follow the leader” affairs. The introduction of short track stock car racing did not help either.
Midget racers were now unable to build a car in their own garage, but had to order one from the Kurtis factory or a distributor. Fields kind of dwindled and the “slam bang, build it in your backyard” stock cars took over on the popularity front.
Six Kenyon Car midgets were on hand for action on Illiana’s shorter quarter-mile oval with 10 Thunder Roadsters in the pits ready to do battle also on the Illiana half. A new addition to area racing, the “Roadsters” are part of race car family that also includes Legend and Bandolero cars. All of these cars are enjoying popularity throughout the United States , especially in the southeastern area.
A Roadster, a 96-inch wheelbase racer, is powered by a “sealed” 1250cc Yamaha engine. The open-cockpit car utilizes a sprint car-type roll cage to protect the driver, and wide side pods have been included in the design for additional safety. The Thunder Roadster brings back many memories for people who experienced first-hand open-wheel racing during the '50s and '60s – the days of A.J. Foyt, Rodger Ward, Jim Rathmann, Eddie Sachs, etc.
The USSA midgets on the half-mile staged a pretty exciting 30-lap feature race at Illiana with Mario Marietta, a 23-year-old Indianapolis resident, scoring the victory after holding of the late-race charge of Kyle Hamilton, who spun coming off turn four in a desperate attempt for the lead on the last lap.
James Edsall III from Fishers, Ind. was the winner of 30-lap main event for the Thunder Roadsters, while Halen Shafer, from Kokomo , Ind. , won the 30-lap headliner for the Kenyon Midgets.
The USSA racers are set to return to Illiana on Wednesday evening, August 4.
Later in the month at Illiana, the 2nd annual Gas City Vintage Invitational vintage stock car racing program will be held on Saturday, August 14. Vintage stock car racing, plus a full program of Illiana stock car action, will be on tap that night. Also, the track is hosting a “racers reunion” that night. Contact Tom White at (708) 738-7036 for more information.
Some big events are coming up at the Kankakee County Speedway. The dirt track will host the Indy Pic-A-Part Land of Lincoln Triple Crown Clash late model spectacular this Friday, July 30, with $3,000 going to the winner of the 40-lap feature race. Another Land of Lincoln Triple Crown Clash takes place on August 13 with $9,000 up for grabs for the winner of the 60-lap feature that night. The ASA/Super Pro event for paved track late models, originally set for August 28 and 29, has been cancelled.
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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