By Stan Kalwasinski
June 14, 2010
Chicago , Ill. —Some big race events are coming about this week as the local racing scene seems to be in “full bloom” despite “Mother Nature’s best efforts.”
Illiana Motor Speedway hosts its 9th annual Elmer Musgrave Memorial 100 presented by Texas Corral this Saturday evening, June 19. The “stars and cars” of the American Speed Association (ASA) Midwest Tour, in addition to a bunch of local competitors, will do battle on the Schererville, Ind. half-mile paved oval.
Minnesota ’s Jacob Goede, not a real familiar name to local race fans, put his name in the record books as he won the ASA-sanctioned Musgrave 100 lapper last year at Illiana. Other previous winners include: Boris Jurkovic (2008 and 2002), Dave Weltmeyer (2007), Nathan Haseleu (2006) and Eddie Hoffman (2005, 2004 and 2003).
You have to consider Hoffman, Jurkovic and two-time Illiana super late model champ Jeff Cannon to be the top local ones to be in the battle. Maybe put Steve Carlson of West Salem, Wis. on the list as the “heavy favorite” as the defending ASA Midwest Tour champion is coming off last Friday night’s victory at Hawkeye Downs in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Looking back through the record books, Carlson won an ARTGO Challenge Series race at Illiana back in 1994—his only career victory at the local half-mile.
The event is held in the memory and honor of the late Elmer Musgrave, who passed away at the age of 72 on September 20, 2000. Musgrave was a long-time Chicagoland stock car competitor, racing at tracks throughout the Midwest and the Chicago area. Musgrave was a front-runner at the Wilmot ( Wis. ) Speedway and at the old Waukegan ( Ill. ) Speedway , where he was the stock car champion in 1952. Musgrave was the winningest driver in competition at the Waukegan dirt oval in the early 1950’s. For a number of years, Musgrave was a regular at the old O’Hare Stadium in Schiller Park , Ill.
In addition to his local stock car racing success, Musgrave also competed on several “national” circuits, including the United States Auto Club (USAC) and the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA), which was formerly known as the Midwest Association for Race Cars (MARC). Musgrave captured two stock car events on the old USAC tour with the first coming at California ’s Ascot Stadium in a 1958 Pontiac . He later followed up with another USAC victory at Illiana in 1963, wheeling a ’63 Mercury.
Musgrave won a total of five MARC/ARCA races, including a victory in a 250-mile event on the road course at the old Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville , Ill. in 1964.
Musgrave’s youngest son, Ted Musgrave was the 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion. Ted began his racing career at Waukegan in late model action in 1974. He raced at various Chicago area short tracks before moving his attention to the Wisconsin stock car scene, in addition to competing in ARTGO and American Speed Association (ASA) competition. Ted Musgrave made a total of 305 career starts in NASCAR Nextel (Winston) Cup racing from his first start in 1990 through 2003 before turning his attention to the NASCAR’s truck series. Ted will be on hand Saturday at Illiana to meet fans and sign autographs.
Elmer Musgrave’s oldest son, Tom, was also a front-runner in Midwest stock car racing. Tom Musgrave was a two-time late model track champion at the Grundy County Speedway in Morris , Ill. , winning back-to-back titles in 1974 and 1975.
Kankakee County Speedway will see all the top Midwestern dirt track late model drivers come to town this Thursday for the United Midwestern Promoters (UMP) Summer Nationals. A 40-lap, $5,000-to-win feature event will highlight the program, which is being presented by Indy Pic-A-Part.
The Summer Nationals tour visit usually brings “the best of the best” to Kankakee and this year should be no exception. The talent should be led by three-time Summer Nationals titlist Dennis Erb, Jr. of Carpentersville .
Erb, along with fellow Illinois speedsters Shannon Babb and Jason Feger and Michigan ’s Jeep VanWormer have all indicated that they will compete on the entire 2010 Summer Nationals tour – so aptly nicknamed the “Hell Tour” as the UMP competitors are scheduled to run 29 events over a 32-day period at 28 tracks in eight states.
Art “Fireball” Fehrman’s Illinois Vintage Racing tour visits the Rockford Speedway this Sunday afternoon, June 27, for the 50-lap Illinois Vintage State Championship event. Over 30 vintage cars are expected with a record purse of over $5,000.
Longtime Chicagoland stock car competitor Sal Tovella will be the event’s Grand Marshall. Tovella, who raced both on Chicago area short tracks and in USAC and NASCAR competition, will pace the event in his 1970 USAC Plymouth Superbird No. 8 replica.
The 106th Grundy County Fair will take place at the Grundy County Fairgrounds in Morris from June 30 through July 4. The Grundy County Speedway, located on the fairgrounds, will again be the site of racing during the annual event as the Grundy fair celebrates 84 years of auto racing. Stock car and midget auto racing will again be part of the fair’s racing program.
A late addition to the fair racing schedule is the ASA Late Model Series Firecracker 150, which is slated for the Grundy third of a mile paved oval on Sunday, July 4. The grandstands will open at 12:30 p.m. with the 150 lapper set to get underway at 4:45 p.m. Ohio ’s Robbie Pyle won the 12th annual George Appleton Memorial 125 on May 30—the last time the ASA racers appeared at the Grundy raceway.
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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