Chicago Whispers by Stan Kalwasinski

Rockford, Ill.—The Rockford area seemed to be the center point of Midwest stock car racing this past weekend as two events were held in or near the city.

The high-banked, quarter-mile paved Rockford Speedway, which is actually located in the city of Loves Park, presented the 36^th annual Spring Classic on Sunday afternoon. The track’s annual season opener featured the Big 8 Late Models series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet, the Mid American Stock Car Series and the Illinois Vintage Racing cars.

Alex Papini, 23 year-old racer from nearby Machesney Park, scored his first ever Big 8 late model victory, leading all 108 feature laps after starting on the inside of the front row of the 24-car field. Papini battled briefly with fellow front row starter and seven-time Rockford track champion, Bobby Wilberg and would lead the first lap and all 107 circuits after that. Papini and Wilberg were winners of the twin 8-lap “fast dashes”, which set the first 14 starting spots of the feature field.

Announcer Eric Huenefeld interviews Alex Papini after his victory.

“There is nobody else I’d rather beat getting into turn one than Bobby Wilberg,” said Papini. “I watched him run a lot of races here and he’s the man. I never expected that to happen. We gave it our best shot and sometimes the best man wins.”

The 2011 winner of the event, Dale Nottestad, who hails from Sun Prairie, Wis., finished second to Papini and pressured the leader and eventual winner most of the way.

“He (Papini) had such a good run off the top (groove) and I couldn’t quite get the bite I needed off the bottom,” commented Nottestad. “I didn’t want to use him up and wanted to run him clean. It (the car) started loosening up on entry there and it hurt me on the one corner (with about four laps to go). I had to fall in line and take second.”

Papini and his Chevrolet Impala seemed to be in control of the top spot most of the way with Nottestad keeping Papini ”honest” and preventing what could have been a “runaway” to the checkered flag.

“I knew he (Nottestad) was there, but I wasn’t worried,” said Papini. “I haven’t actually raced with Dale that much. I’ve known him my whole life since I was a little kid. Our dads raced together and I introduced him to his wife. I was expecting him to race me clean and he did. If he would have got to my door and got me in the door, I wouldn’t have had a problem with it as long as he didn’t get me in the bumper cover and get me loose.”

Racing late model cars at Rockford on and off since 2010, Papini’s racing efforts were kind of limited in 2012.

“We kind of bounced around last year and ran a real limited schedule, commented Papini about his underfunded team. “I got a great group of guys together over the winter and striped the whole car down to nothing. It’s the same car we ran last year, but it is basically a brand new car. There is not one nut or bolt that went untouched. My crew deserves this (win) as much as I do.”

The win was an emotional one for Papini as his dad, Al Papini III, died from a massive heart attack 12 years ago while competing in the season-opening feature race at Rockford on April 1, 2001. Papini crashed hard into the wall between turns one and two as a result of the attack. After his victory Sunday, young Papini, with the checkered flag in hand, stop briefly along the wall between turns one and two for a moment of reflection.

With 37 entries on hand for the Big 8 Late Model opener, officials accounted for 40 late model-style track championships among the group from a three-state area, labeling the drivers the “best weekly warriors in the country.”

The Mid American Stock Car Series saw only 12 entries show up for the circuit’s opening event of the season with the feature event of the afternoon changed to a twin 25s format, instead of the scheduled 50 lapper. Minnesota’s Adam Bendzick and Jack Stern of Slinger, Wis. shared victory honors in the twin features with veteran driver Mark Pluer of Brookfield, Wis. taking overall victory honors.

Illinois Vintage Racing saw 11 cars show up for the afternoon’s action with Dick “Buckshot”Kath of Janesville, Wis. scored the victory in the group’s 20-lap feature race in his Chevelle ahead of Tim Hamburg and Pat Echlin.

The Rockford speed plant opens for its 66^th consecutive season of racing action on Saturday evening, April 20, again featuring NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action.

Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame Banquet

A large crowd assembled at the Hoffman House in Rockford for the second annual Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame induction on Saturday evening. This year saw 11 individuals inducted into the hall of fame after 15 were inducted during last year’s inaugural ceremonies.

The list again represented a solid contingent of Illinois stock car racing legends. Jim Cossman and Roy Martinelli were Northwest Region inductees. Cossman was a long-time competitor at the old Waukegan Speedway, where he captured four track championships during his career. With all of his championships coming on the dirt before the track was paved prior to the 1969 season, Cossman reminisced about those “Chicago guys” coming to Waukegan and making the competition even harder.

O'Hare Stadium standout Roy Martinelli was among this year's inductees.

Martinelli was a two-time track champion at O’Hare Stadium in Schiller Park, which once stood in the shadows of Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Starting his career at the Waukegan oval, Martinelli pretty much became a fixture at O’Hare by 1960 and was one of the track’s leading drivers and car owners until the track closed after the 1968 season. At one time, Martinelli and his brother, Reno, fielded a three car team for himself, Erik Johnson and other top drivers.

The Ray Young '50 Oldsmobile tribute car was parked at the entrance of the Hoffman House during the evening's ceremonies.

The Northeast Region was represented by inductees Ray Young and the late Bud Koehler. Young, the “tobacco chewin’truck driver,” won track championships at five different area speedways during his career. A lot of his success came at Raceway Park, where he started his career and won a total of 107 feature races and two track championships. Three track titles at Waukegan were also part of Young’s racing, which saw him move into American Speed Association competition before running his final full-season in 1982.

Bud Koehler's family - wife Grayce (center), daughter Lynn and son Roger.

Bud Koehler was the “King of Raceway Park” as the former midget racer would win a total of 11 stock car titles and 490 feature races at the speedway, which was located minutes from his Blue Island home. Racing stock cars for the first time in 1949, Koehler retired from competition after the 1978 season. He won three-consecutive Raceway driving titles during a period from 1974 through 1976, enjoying his best single-season winning effort of 30 feature wins in 1967. He won the track’s grueling annual 300 Lap Classic seven times. Koehler was 82 when he passed away in April of 2003.

2013 Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame Inductee - Jim O'Connor

The Midwest Region saw dirt track stars Jim O’Connor and Rich Clement inducted. O’Connor, who began racing at the old Sugar Island oval near Kankakee in the 1960s, became a front runner at both Santa Fe Speedway and the Kankakee Fairgrounds oval. O’Connor won three Santa Fe late model championships during a four-year period and four titles at Kankakee. O’Connor was a four-time winner of Santa Fe’s annual National Clay Track Championship 200 lapper.

Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame organizer Art Fehrman (right) poses with 2013 inductee Rich Clement

Clement began racing in the novice class at the old Mance Park Speedway in Hodgkins. He and Ken Finley tied for late model championship honors at Santa Fe in 1959. He won Santa Fe’s Clay Track championship event in 1959 and 1963. He garnered top late model honors at the Kankakee Fairgrounds track in 1974. During his racing career, which included USAC stock cars, he began to develop wheels for local stock car competition, eventually getting them approved and accepted into USAC and NASCAR racing, building a successful business in the process. Wheels for Indianapolis-type cars and drag racing have also been part of Clement’s racing background.

Two racing greats, Herb Shannon and Jack Tyne, now both deceased, were inducted into this year’s class as they represented the South Region. Shannon was a hard charger at the Peoria Speedway, winning two championships at the old track and one at the new speedway. His 1957 title-winning year saw him win 19 out of 26 features held. He was a two-time winner of Peoria’s Illinois State Championship race. Shannon competed in USAC stock car competition from 1956 until 1982. He was fifth in the USAC standings in 1963. Shannon wheeled a “factory-backed” Dodge to a fourth place finish in Colorado’s Pikes Peak Hill Climb event in 1965. He competed in three NASCAR Grand National races, finishing 24^thin the 1965 Daytona 500. Shannon passed away on September 8, 2012 age the age of 81.

Hailing from Streator during his career, the late Jack Tyne was a multi-time stock car track champion at the Fairbury Speedway and also captured honors at the Farmer City dirt oval. If there was a dirt track in Illinois, Tyne probably competed there from the Springfield Mile to the smallest clay track “bull ring.” Tyne, who began his racing career at the age of 16 at the old Third Street Speedway in his hometown, passed away in July of 2009. He was 80 years old.

The late Hugh Deery of the Rockford Speedway passed away in July of 1984, but not before building the Rockford oval into one of the nation’s short track success stories. Deery was this year’s race track promoter inductee. Whether it was a new idea for race track refreshments, an idea of a season-ending special or a whole set of new technical stock car rules, which he instituted in 1974, Deery was at the top when it came to race track promotion. The Deery Family, led by Deery’s wife, Jody, still own and operate the speedway to this day.

Santa Fe Speedway track announcer Jan Gabriel was part of this year’s hall of fame induction class. Beginning in 1968 and for 14 consecutive summers, Gabriel handled the microphone duties at the “track of clay” – working as many as four-nights-a-week. He was part of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track announcing crew for three years and, after his Santa Fe days were over, began producing the nationally-syndicated “Super Chargers” TV series for 12 years. Gabriel passed away at the age of 69 on January 10, 2010.

Finally, Wayne Lending was honored as this year’s stock car builder inductee. Born in Iowa, he got interested in stock car racing as a teenager while working at a local hometown garage. He moved to Illinois and began racing at the Rockford Speedway, winning the very first race he ever competed in, wheeling a ’58 Chevy convertible to the checkered flag in 1969. Stock car racing titles at both Rockford and the old Lake Geneva Raceway in Wisconsin came later with Lensing beginning to pay more attention to building race cars instead of driving them. He started his own company – Lefthander Chassis in 1982 and built the business into one of the most successful and well known stock car chassis-building and parts companies in the country. In 2001, he created the Historic Auto Attractions museum in Roscoe, which is the home of the Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame.

It was a busy night as some of the greats of Illinois stock car racing were honored and remembered.

The address for news and comments is 9618 Cypress Ave., Munster, Ind. 46321-3418 or e-mail to skalwasinski@yahoo.com.