CHICAGO WHISPERS
by Stan Kalwasinski
Chicago , Ill. , June 28—Does a big crowd one week at a short track lead to a small crowd the following week?
It seems so if you take at look at Illiana Motor Speedway’s crowds the last two Saturday nights. On June 19, the Schererville, Ind. speedway saw one of the largest crowds in recent years turn out for the American Speed Association (ASA)-sanctioned 9th annual Elmer Musgrave Memorial 100 presented by Texas Corral. This past Saturday night saw a small crowd turn out for a regular Saturday night show at the half-mile paved oval with the weather a little warm, but no threat of rain.
I don’t know if it’s the hard economic times, graduation parties, town and church festivals or just simply too many other things to do, but I hope fans start supporting the local short tracks a little better and real soon.
Jeff Cannon of Kouts , Ind. dominated the late model stock car racing at Illiana this past Saturday after finishing fourth in the Musgrave 100 lapper the week before. Despite injuring a finger on his left hand Friday afternoon, Cannon was still able to wheel Wayne Govert’s almost identical-looking Chevrolet Impalas to victories in the super late model and limited late model main events.
“Man, we did a couple of things over the past week (to the car) that I wish we would have had last week for the ASA race,” Cannon said. “The limited car was just OK, but this car (the super late model) was on a rail. I can’t say enough. It’s a good feeling.”
Commenting on his injured finger, Cannon said, “It was a painful night, but I guess it was worth it. I was trimming trees with a chainsaw and I ended up trimming my finger too. I had to move the steering wheel way far away from me so that I could turn it. I kept binding up my hand in there and it just hurt so bad.”
A winning driver in Midwest late model stock car circles for over twenty years, veteran Steve Carlson captured last week’s 100 lap Musgrave Memorial battle at Illiana. The 52-year-old West Salem , Wis. driver made it look pretty easy as he scored this third ASA win of the season. It was Carlson’s second career win at Illiana, having won an ARTGO Challenge Series event there on July 21, 1994.
Carlson was ARTGO’s “rookie of the year” in 1988. From there, he went on to win nine season titles, five of them after the series became a NASCAR touring division beginning in 1998. Carlson won 67 feature races, one short of Dick Trickle’s all-time leading 68 wins.
Carlson was the 2007 NASCAR Weekly Series National Champion and has six track championships at his home track—LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway ( West Salem , Wis. ), where he started his racing career in the mid 1970’s. During the 1990’s, Carlson seemed to be almost unbeatable at the Rockford Speedway, where he won the National Short Track Championships event seven times.
Another veteran driver was a winner in the Chicago area during the last week or so as Billy Moyer, the Batesville, Ark. driver, captured the $5,000-to-win UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals 40 lapper at the Kankakee County Speedway on June 17. Nicknamed “Mr. Smooth,” the 52-year-old Moyer claimed the victory over Jason Feger and Frank Heckenast, Jr., who led the race till Moyer passed him with 17 laps remaining.
Moyer won the opening three Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” events, also posting wins at Indiana ’s Brownstown Speedway and at Cedar Lake Speedway in Somerset , Wis. Moyer, whose son, Bill Moyer, Jr. finished 10th at Kankakee , has not followed the entire Summer Nationals tour this year. The Senior Moyer is a six-time overall Summer Nationals champion.
Remember when the United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned dirt track stock car racing? Moyer was USAC’s stock car champion in 1986 and 1987.
A couple of Australian visitors were in the grandstands for the June 17th Summer Nationals stock car program at the Kankakee County Speedway.
Taking a 25-hour plane ride from their home in Perth in Western Australia to San Francisco, brothers Mark and Andrew Webster were on hand for the second round of the annual Midwestern dirt stock car tour.
“We flew from San Francisco to Chicago and rented a car and went to the Prelude to the Dream and the Dream at Eldora Speedway in Ohio ,” said Mark, who at 34 is the oldest of the brothers and races stock cars in Australia . “We should have bought the car. We already have over 3,000 miles on it!”
Taking in two Lucas Oil stock car events and the opening night of the Summer Nationals at Brownstown , Ind. , the brothers hoped to take in as many Summer Nationals events before returning to Australia on June 25.
Three-time Summer Nationals champion Dennis Erb, Jr. of Carpentersville won a “Hell Tour” event at Illinois ’ Belle Claire Speedway in Bellville on June 23. The second generation driver, who won the titles in 2007, 2007 and, again, in 2009, had 13 career Summer Nationals victories before the start of the 2010 chase. Erb finds himself in second place in the standings behind current points leader Shannon Babb.
Shadyhill Speedway in Medaryville , Ind. will host its 10th annual Firecracker 50 for UMP modifieds on Sunday evening, July 4. $3,000 will go to the winner of the 50 lapper at the quarter-mile dirt track.
Jesse Bitterling won the UMP modified feature at Shadyhill this past Saturday night, ending Nick Allen’s streak of three in a row. Bitterling has now established himself as a “favorite” in Sunday’s 50 lapper along with Allen and a host of others. 50-plus cars is not out of the question as Shadyhill has been attracting 30 or more modifieds for its weekly Saturday night programs. Illinois ’ Jeff Leka is a three-time winner of Shadyhill’s Firecracker event, including his victory last year.
For your information, there will be no racing at Shadyhill this Saturday, July 3.
The Illini Racing Series midgets compete at the Grundy County Speedway in Morris (during the annual Grundy County Fair) this Wednesday evening, June 30. Action gets underway at 7:00 p.m. Allen Gillis currently leads the association’s point standings over Doug Orseske and Tyler Trainer. Gillis and Orseske have both won two feature races this season. Competitors of the ASA Late Model Series Northern Division are slated to do battle at Grundy on the Fourth of July as they compete in the Firecracker 150. Apparently, the starting times for this event have changed so check either ASA’s website or the track’s for the schedule of events for that day.
This past Saturday at Illiana saw a “special guest” handling the flagging chores as long time sports writer and motorsports journalist, Tony Baranek, with guidance from regular starter Tom White, waved the flags. Baranek, a long time writer for the Southtown Star in Tinley Park , is doing a special feature on sports-related occupations.
“It’s a lot harder than it looks,” commented Baranek. “I had Tommy helping me. He does so many things.”
Vintage stock car racing will return to Illiana on Saturday evening, August 14, as the speedway is the site of the 2nd annual Gas City Vintage Invitational. The vintage racers will run on Illiana’s half-mile paved oval, competing in a trophy dash, two heat races and a feature. The track will also host a “racers reunion” that night. For more information, contact Gary Mitidiero at (708) 935-1041.
On another note, the USAC Silver Crown event at Illiana, originally scheduled for Thursday, July 8, has been canceled.
Don’t forget the World of Outlaws sprint car event at the LaSalle Speedway on Thursday, July 8. Kasey Kahne’s Showdown for the Bud Crown Finale brings the “Outlaws” back to the LaSalle oval for the first time since 2004 when Danny Lasoski earned a win. Other World of Outlaws winners at LaSalle include Steve Kinser (1999 and 1994), Stevie Smith (1998), Mark Kinser (1997), Sammy Swindell (1996) and Dave Blaney (1995)—not too shabby of a group!
Support your local short track before it’s too late! 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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