
Friday, July 31, 2009
1968 program

Thursday, July 30, 2009
1972 - News and Notes from Illustrated Speedway News
Cedar Rapids, Iowa - I don't have many back issues of Illustrated Speedway News but I'll run across a copy once in a while. As I was sifting through my endless stacks of archives (which are really starting to pile up), I ran across this issue dated, August 8, 1972.
While ISN covered mostly Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and eastern parts of the United States, they would venture west and cover some of the racing action in Illinois and Wisconsin. The paper had a column titled "Speedway Hot Line" written by a young up and coming hotshot who would go on to promote a successful (and highly popular) racing series. His name was John McKarns...
Here were some of the reports and results from the "Land of Lincoln" and the "Badger State" in that issue;

Weaving his way through traffic, Kansas City's Ray Lee Goodwin scored a come from behind win in the 25-lap IMCA sprint car feature at the Knox County Fair in Knoxville, Ill., on July 30th. The hard-charging Goodwin throttled his Chevy-powered sprinter into the lead with four laps to go and coasted to victory. Two new Knox County Fairground track records were broken on the semi-banked 1/2-mile that night. Earl Wagner of Pleasantville, Iowa, a newcomer to IMCA racing, cracked the eight lap mark (3:27.11) and Ottumwa, Iowa's Johnny Babb set a new standard for five laps (2:08.27).
Peoria's Steve Lance won a nail-biter during Freeport Raceway's mid-season championships on July 30th. Lance got past Lisbon, Iowa's Roger Dolan late in the 50-lap race and then had to hold off a determined John Connolly of Delhi, Iowa, on the last lap to seal the deal.
At Raceway Park in Blue Island, Ill., Ray Young won his 12th late model feature of the year on Wednesday night, August 2nd. Young started eighth in the short field of 13 cars, took the lead from a spinning Lonnie Prince on lap six and drove his 1970 Mustang to a half-lap victory over Bill McEnery.

Dick Trickle of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., added another feature win with ease, his 49th of the year at Capitol Super Speedway in Madison, Wis., on August 4th. The winningest driver in the state, Trickle set fast time on the 1/2-mile oval (19.31) and then starting at the back of the field for the feature, moved quickly through the pack in his #99 A & W-sponsored Mustang, grabbing the lead on lap nine and beating Jim Sauter to the checkers.
In his weekly column, John McKarns mentioned, "Forty-four wins by the end of July? That's Dick Trickle's 1972 record and he didn't even get started racing until late April as he was still building his 1970 Mustang while other drivers were in Florida for Speed Weeks".
Midwest Racing Archives (This week in history)
1987 - Bobby Layne showed why he was the national weekly racing series point's leader in the IMCA modified division by leading all 25 laps in winning the 4th Annual Modified Madness Special at Lakeside Speedway on July 31. The 33-year-old driver from Pleasant Valley, Mo., started in the inside second row but had the lead before the first lap was completed.
John Stevenson slams his sprint car into the corners en route to winning the Midwest Sprint Association feature at Bemidji Raceway on July 31, 1974.
1974 - John Stevenson took advantage of a late yellow flag to score the victory in the 20-lap Midwest Sprint Association feature at Bemidji (Minn.) Raceway on July 31. Stevenson, driving the Bethke Sprinter, moved past race leader Bob Hop on the last restart and won by a couple of car lengths at the checkers. Hop, Barry Kettering, Harry Johnson and Dennis Olson finished out the top five.
1969 - Darl Harrison of Tiffin, Ohio, fattened his IMCA championship point's lead by winning the 25-lap feature on the 1/2-mile of the Knox County (Ill.) Fairgrounds before 3,700 race fans. Following Harrison across the finish line were Benny Rapp of Toledo, Ohio, Jerry Blundy of Galesburg, Ill., Jay Woodside of Kansas City and Buzz Rose of Lomita, Calif.Friday, July 24, 2009
Midwest Racing Archives (This week in hstory)

Lem Blankenship holds the checkers after winning the 100-lap stock car special in Harlan, Iowa, on July 25, 1969.
1969 - Lem Blankenship of Keokuk, Iowa withstood the challenges of 17 of the best drivers in the Midwest to win the Centennial 100 stock car race at Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, Iowa, on July 25. Blankenship led the race for 95 laps. picking up a total prize of $495 for his efforts. A crowd of 3,306 saw Blankenship hold off George Barton of Ankeny and hometown driver Don Christensen for much of the race. Milo Stodola of Fremont, Neb., finished fourth and the "Flying Tiger" Red Rollins snared the fifth spot.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Midwest Racing Archives Remembers (Rich Vogler)

Did you know?

Sunday, July 19, 2009
Midwest Racing Archives Remembers (Danny Young)
Friday, July 17, 2009
1980 - Boogity, boogity, boogity; Waltrip is best of the Midwest
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Who can remember these tracks from the past?
Collins Field – Lemars, Iowa (Track was dedicated to Emory Collins/Closed in 1973)
Rolla Speedway – Rolla, Mo. (Tom Maier won the last race there, the “USA 300” in June of ’74. Drivers never got paid as promoter ran off with the purse)
Midwest Speedway – Lincoln, Neb. Lloyd Beckman was the first winner there/ Site is now a Wal-Mart)
Decatur County Speedway – Decatur, Iowa (Open for only 10 years/ 7 cars showed up for first night)
North Starr Motor Speedway – New Brighton, Minn. – (Original name was Twin city Speedway/Frank Winkley was an occasional promoter there)
Santa Fe Speedway – Hinsdale, Ill. (Dick Rathman, driving a Hudson, won a NASCAR Grand National race there on July 10, 1954)
Weetown Outlaw Speedway – Fergus Falls, Minn. (The track was under water from 1987 to 1989/Closed in 1995)
CeMar Acres – Cedar Rapids, Iowa (Also known as the Cedar Rapids Speed Bowl/Closed in 1954)
Sterling Speedbowl – Sterling, Ill. (Closed in 1969)
Raceway Park – Blue Island, Ill. (Bud Koehler won over 490 features events in his career there/Site is now a super market)
Playland Park – Council Bluffs, Iowa (Tiny Lund got his start there/Bill Amick won a NASCAR Grand National race there on August 6, 1956)
Soo Speedway – Sioux Falls, S.D. (Paul Stogsdill won the first race/Dick Sutcliffe won the last)
Tunis Speedway – Waterloo, Iowa (First called Cordes Speedway)
Greenbelt Speedway – Eldora, Iowa (Also known as Harconia Speedway)
Midway Downs – Charles City, Iowa (Torn down in 1979/Also known as Harvey’s Bowl)
Newton Speedway – Newton, Iowa (Site is now a little league ball park)
I-29 Speedway – Sidney, Iowa (Usually referred as Nebraska City, Neb., even though the track was located in Iowa)
54 Speedway – Yates Center, Kan. (Also known as Badlands Raceway)
Waukegan Speedway – Waukegan, Ill. (Ted Musgrave started his career there)
Cannon River Speedway – Morristown, Minn. (Closed in 1980)
Leo’s Speedway – Oshkosh, Wis. (Alan Kulwicki started his career there)
Sportsman Speedway – Marshall, Mo. (Danny Lasoski started his career there)
Ottumwa Aces Speedway – Ottumwa, Iowa (Located west of town on Highway 34 in area known as Monkey Mountain)
Sportsbowl – Dubuque, Iowa (1953 – 1965/Site is now a city dump)
Wright County Speedway – Belmond, Iowa (The track was under water when the Iowa River flooded in 1993)
CeJay Stadium – Wichita, Kan. (Bill Mears, father of Rick Mears, was a jalopy champion there in 1950’s/Site is now Cessna Aircraft)
Mid-State Raceway – Mt. Olive, Ill. (Formerly a motorcycle track/first auto race didn’t take place until 1985/closed in 1989)
Sikeston International Raceway – Sikeston, Mo. (A fist fight broke out between the promoter and the drivers at the very last race on July 18, 1987)
Sunset Speedway – Omaha, Neb. (Built by August & Albert Haden/Joe Kosiski won last race)
Midwest Racing Archives (This week in history)
1977 - Dike, Iowa's Curt Hansen grabbed top honors at the 11th Annual Hardee's Boone Grand Nationals on July 18. Hansen, who set fast time on the evening, showed off a nifty display of driving in capturing the 20-lap feature. Waterloo's Bill Zwanzinger, Tom Bartholomew, Des Moines' Bill Rice and Ron Tilley of Council Bluffs were the top five finishers.
1975 - With Tom Reffner of Rudolph detained in Ohio with a broken down hauler and Wisconsin Rapids' Dick Trickle suffering from engine woes, Dave Marcis of Wausau, Wis. came away with his first feature win of the season at State Park Speedway in Wausau on July 17.
1969 - Red Steffen of Eau Claire, Wis., fought off a number of challenges to win the 20-lap feature at Tri-Oval Speedway in Fountain City, Wis., on July 18. Steffen held off Mert Williams of Rochester and Gary Doelle of Arcadia to post the victory.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Midwest Racing Archives (This week in history)
1995 - Rick Aukland of Fargo, N.D., won the 40-lap Miller Genuine Draft Summernationals at West Liberty Raceway on July 10. Fast timer Ray Guss Jr. grabbed the lead but was overtaken by Greenbriar, Ark.'s Billy Frye on lap 10. Frye was passed 10 laps later by Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., until Aukland sped past Moyer for the lead on lap 32 and went on to score the $5,000 win.
1989 - Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., drove to an overpowering vitory in the 10th Annual NAPA Gopher 50 at the Steele County Fairgrounds in Owatonna, Minn., on July 11. Moyer passed early race leader Steve Kosiski of Omaha, Neb., on lap 21, worked lapped traffic to perfection and won by 10 car lengths at the checkers. Steve Kosiski, John Gill of Brownstown, Ind., Ray Guss Jr. of Milan, Ill., and Joe Kosiski of Omaha were the top five finishers.
Dave Watson of Milton, Wis., would win his first USAC-sanctioned race at the Milwaukee Mile and go on to capture rookie of the year honors in 1977.
1977 - Dave Watson of Milton, Wis., made his first appearance with the USAC stock cars pay off as he drove his 1977 Buick Skylark to victory in the prestigous Miller 200 at State Fair Park near Milwaukee on July 10th. Watson came from a lap down early in the contest to pass NASCAR star Bobby Allison of Hueytown, Ala., driving a 1977 AMC Hornet, on lap 158 for the lead and won by seven seconds. Allison settled for runner-up honors with Don White, Bay Darnell and Harold Fair rounding out the top-five finishers.
Monday, July 6, 2009
When the Midgets were Kings of Playland Park
by Lee Ackerman