2010

Illiana Speedway owner Mike Mikuly shows last year's Bettenhausen winner Boris Jurkovic the great news about the Racestar Concepts I-MOD's racing at Illiana for the first time! Well, the sign is an April Fool's joke but the message is for real!! Come see the I-MOD's race on dirt AND asphalt this year. It'll be exciting!

At Salem Speedway in October of 2010 the wind came up and started to blow this canopy towards the main straightaway during the Halloween 200.
Crew members sprang into action to grab it during this "tents" time.........

Bobby Blount won the Late Model portion of the
South Bend Reunion show back in 2008.

How can anybody not like a guy named Bub McCool from Mississippi? During the UMP Summernationals last year at Kankakee County Speedway.

Gary Bettenhausen flying around Eldora in 1981.

"Chevy Rebellion" rebelling against gravity at
US 41 Raceway in Morrocco Indiana in 1996.

After being introduced at the 2001 Brickyard 400 Dale Jr. is:
A. Glad the troopers don't recognize him because of his 27 unpaid parking tickets.
B. Sorry he ate that 7th White Castle hamburger for lunch.
C. Trying to get his stuck finger out of the zipper.

This is the late great Charlie Jarzombeck getting ready for practice
at Martinsville Speedway.

Robbie Pyle carried our colors at Illiana Speedway for a special show back in 2005.

Dale Blaney waits to be pushed out onto the Route 66 dirttrack in Joliet for World of Outlaws hot laps in 1998.

Robert Yates is watching the race but thinking "Blondes DO have more fun"
at the 1997 Brickyard 400.

The World of Outlaws showing off down the backstretch
at Kokomo Speedway in 2007.

Not only do the very strict tech inspectors at Illiana Speedway check your car before racing, they make sure you push your car away from the scales in step, heads down, both hands on the car, and no talking! This is D.J. Weltmeyer and dad Dave and crew before the Bettenhausen in 2010.

UMP Modified driver Lynn Johns at Shadyhill Speedway in 2010.

These 2 guys went at it all year long in 2010. Mike Kingma (77) won the Racestar Concepts IMOD Championship at Shadyhill Speedway and overall championship
while Adam Williams (14) won the championship at Kankakee Speedway.
2011 is going to be the best yet!

"Tire................FLAT Tire"

Dick Good of Mishawalka, Indiana drove this car in the 1963 Daytona 500.
He started 21st and finished 37th of 50 cars starting.
This car was on display during the South Bend Speedway Benefit in 2008.

Now pay attention all of you future feature winners of 2011. This is the proper way to smile in Victory Lane! Our models are Kamp Speedway Princess
Madison Hall and UMP Modified driver Mike Spatola after a feature win in 2009.

This is Grant Galloway "in flames" at Joliet Memorial Stadium
during the last racing there in 2009.

Before...................

................and after!

Fan favorites Nick Allen (21a) and Jesse Bitterling (225) racing hard all year long at Shadyhill in 2010. Nick won the track championship there and finished 3rd
in national UMP points only 13 out of first place.

Grundy Speedway regular Mike Szekely brought his Street Stock to Illiana for Bettenhausen night and got in the wrong place at the right time during the Turbo Stox feature.

Kurt Allison (48) and Frank Marshall (28) finished first and second in points in the Modified division at Hartford Speedway in Michigan in 2010.

The Fortner brothers, Bob (71) and Chris (444) team up down the backstretch at Shadyhill Speedway on opening night in 2010.

"Sprints on Dirt" drivers Gregg Dalman (49t) and Kyle Sauder (7k) move some earth around at Hartford Speedway last June.

Veteran open wheel racer Larry Rice at Eldora in 1981.

Frenchy (on rocker) and Jigger Sirois chat in the garage area
at Indianapolis Speedway in 1965.

A young Jigger Sirois sits in Jimmy Bryan's winning 1958 Indy 500 car
with Frenchy sitting off to the right.

There will be a Sirois Family Vintage Racing Auction on June 3, 2011
CLICK HERE for the details

A looooooooong time ago when I was a kid, I rooted for Don Allen at Illiana Speedway. And it wasn't because he owned a few Dairy Queens either!
Notice the sleeveless driver uniform! This is a Wayne Bryant photo from 1968.

Al "The Milwaukee Madman" Atkinson came down to Crown Point Speedway from Wisconsin with a bunch of other late model drivers on a regular basis to get
dirty with the regulars! This is from 2004. What was the price of gas back then?

Gene Payne's IMOD car was voted "Best Appearing IMOD for 2010"
and you can see why!

Battle of the Nicknames with Todd "The Shermanator" Sherman inside Mike "Opie" Spatola during Fourth of July racing at Shadyhill in 2010.

Bob and Bobby Pierce watching the action from the infield
at Kankakee in October of 2010.

Here's what you do to gas up your stock car when you forgot to bring a funnel! "Borrow" a traffic cone, cut out the top and hope a photographer doesn't turn you in at Salem Speedway in 2010.

Racing legend Rich Vogler posing in the pits at the Indy Speedrome in 1988.

AJ Foyt waiting to be pushed off in the Houston Astrodome
for some midget racing in 1972.

During hot laps at Kamp Speedway in 2007, Brian Shirley got "too sideways" and Jimmy Owens actually did miss him on the right side. Trust me, I was there!

This is the starting field coming around for the start of the 1996 Indy 500 with Tony Stewart on the pole. Notice about 20 photographers on the inside fence of about 10,000 who photograph the race!

Neil Martin (88) and Jeff Barger (16) racing their IMOD's at Plymouth Speedway in 2007. The IMOD's will be back on asphalt this year at Illiana on June 4th!

Shawn Toczek spraying some dirt into the pits at Crown Point Speedway in 2004.

This is veteran sprint car driver Danny Smith at Hartford in 2006. Danny suffered a broken back in a crash last year but is getting ready to go at it again this year.

Danny "The Dude" Lasoski scootered past me with a smile after checking out the Hartford Speedway track prep for the World of Outlaws' visit there in 2003. They're going be there again this year so don't miss them!

It's a family affair as Ed Yost leads Jerrie Yost last year
at Shadyhill in heat race action.

This Russ Lake photo shows the start of a USAC stock car race at Milwaukee in 1965. That's Jim Hurtubise and Bobby Isaac on the front row.

When you have sponsors like Fairoaks Farms and Herrma Dairy on your stock car, it helps visibility when you paint it to look like a guernsey!
Brad Severs at Shadyhill in 2006.

Shane Cottle (10) and JJ Yeley (1) battle during a heat race
at Kamp Speedway in 2007.

USAC National Drivers Champion Bryan Clauson at Kokomo Speedway in 2010.

Two time Crown Point Speedway Late Model Champ Scott Martin getting a UMP Modified sideways at Shadyhill on May 22nd on 2010.

It wasn't that the Texas Corrall Cowboy was scared, he just didn't want his big hat to blow off during pre-race activities at Illiana for the Musgrave 100 in 2010!

Brett Sontag taking the win in his heat race at Illiana during the
Musgrave 100 in front of a large crowd last June.

These sharp looking USSA Midgets are coming out of turn 4 for the start of their heat race at Illiana last year.

Bill Knippenberg in this pristine '62 Chevy convertible during the Illinois Vintage Racing at Kankakee last year.

I'm pretty sure that Brad DeYoung...

...and Kevin DeYoung both sleep in beds with one leg off of the floor!

A couple of Pure Street Stocks at Shadyhill trying something new in that division. Staggered nose pieces for better aerodynamics!

"Would you mind getting your nose outta my business?"

This is one of my really favorite shots of Shannon Babb
at Kamp Speedway in 2007.

The late Jesse Hockett at Kamp during USAC Sprint Week in 2007.

At Kamp Speedway, sprint car driver Chris Brann is thinking 2 thoughts at this point: 1. I shouldn't be right here. 2. Thank God those big tires are there...

...because those tires kept him from going down a steep embankment where more damage to him and his car could have happened. He was ok!

The starting grid ready to race in the 1947 Indy 500. Mauri Rose (27) started on the outside of the first row and won the race.

Dale Earnhardt flew past us on the backstretch on his way to winning the 1998 Daytona 500. Not the best photo I've ever taken but I'm glad I have it!
Can you believe he's gone 10 years already?

This is Phil Line looking for a line around Broadway/Southlake/Crown Point Speedway in the mid-nineties.

Ryan Brooks (44) took advantage of AJ Miller's "drifting" out of the 4th turn at Shadyhill Speedway and went on to win the Barefoot Mini's feature on 7/31/10

Chicagoland racing legend Tom "Zero Hero" Jones matched smiles with his son Tom in Victory Lane after the younger won the Legends feature at Illiana Speedway on June 19th of 2010.

One thing I enjoy a lot at Shadyhill is throwing candy to the kids at "Halftime". When I win the Lottery, I'll throw silver dollars to them!

I guarantee you'll never see a better smile from Stan Kalwasinski (arrow!) as he helps push his son Jack's #99 to the starting line for the 2010 Bettenhausen Memorial 100 at Illiana.

The parade lap at Salem Speedway for the Halloween 200 in October of 2010. If only the Indy 500 drivers could line up this perfectly!

UMP Late Model National Champion Rusty Schlenk at Kankakee Speedway on June 17th of 2010.

The USSA Thunder Roadsters were entertaining last year at Illiana Speedway.
Try to catch them this year on August 3rd.

AJ Cooley showing why dirt is fun to race on at Shadyhill in May of 2010.

John Quill at Kankakee in May always carries the colors when he races.

Big dogs at Illiana racing close and clean. Boris Jurkovic, Jeff Cannon and Eddie Hoffman in May of 2010.

Tom Bell was just saving wear and tear on his left side tires
at Kankakee in June of 2010.

I have total trust standing on the track with the IMOD drivers during the feature parade lap at Shadyhill in June of 2010.

At the start of the Modified Feature at Hartford Speedway in Michigan in 2006, coming to the green flag, Bub Patrick started to flip end over end down the frontstretch. This is the result. That's Bub in the red helping to clean up.

In 1997 at the Brickyard, Darrell Waltrip ran this chrome monstrosity which, on a sunny day, we heard, would perform corrective eye surgery on you without you knowing it!

This is the start of the very first NASCAR Truck race in Daytona in 2000. Our seats were exactly 30 rows up from the spot where Geoff Bodine flew into the fence during the race. We felt the brief fireball from the impact and watched the catchfence dance around for about 30 seconds afterwards.

Here's what remained of Bodine's truck! He was not seriously injured.

"Look Ma, top 'o the world" says Richie Hedrick qualifying at the UMP Summernationals at Kankakee in June of 2010.

This is Steve Francis, the "Kentucky Colonel" during qualifying at Kamp Speedway when the World of Outlaw Late Models visited there in 2007.

The King, Richard Petty during the 1999 Brickyard 400 showing someone down pit lane the hand that has signed over a billion autographs.....

Having a ball, inside of a ball is this track worker at Daytona in 2000.
And, getting paid to be there!

Not a speck of dirt got on his car as Art "Fireball" Fehrman cruised around Kankakee Speedway during the Illinois Vintage Racing group's
visit there in July of 2010.

In the ever-increasing Racestar Concepts IMOD division Kalia Clark has one the best looking IMOD's as she flies past the grandstand at
Shadyhill Speedway in July of 2010.

PFC Will Scott held the colors in the pacetruck at Illiana during the
Molenaar Classic at Illiana in July of 2010.

"Angel with a dirty face" is starter Matt Orns at
Shadyhill Speedway on the Fourth of July of 2010.

In June of 2010, the "Sprints on Dirt" visited Hartford Speedway in Michigan. This is Marques Huffer in his very colorful winged sprintcar getting ready to get it dirty!

On a gorgeous fall day in October of 2008, during the South Bend Speedway Benefit racing, these stock cars thought they were at football practice!

Master racecar restorer Steve Truchan of Gary, Indiana had the famous "Flinstone Flyer" supermodified waiting for restoration when Racer Rich and I visited
his shop in January of 2010.

The finished Flinstone Flyer in November of 2010.
We have to get out there in the summer to hear it roaring outside the shop.

Dirt late models, modifieds, sprints and midgets all get their left front tire up in the turns. The Pure Stox at Illiana Speedway get the left rear up going into
the turn like Brandon Vines does here during practice in the spring of 2010.
It's always fun to see!

During "Test and Tune" at Shadyhill Speedway UMP Stock Car driver
Michael Daugherty sported a "moustache" on his car.

Chris Windom at Kokomo during the
Indiana Sprint Week trying to harness the energy.

Late model dirt Hall of Fame driver Dick Potts climbed into his car on opening day of 2010 at Kankakee Speedway to start his 50th year of racing. He finished
10th in points for the year. Still showing the young 'uns how to do it!

See MORE of Gary's Nostalgia Lane Photos HERE

AJ Foyt just turned 76 years old recently. How'd that happen?
This is AJ being interviewed at Indy during the 1999 Brickyard 400.

This is an Indianapolis Speedway photo that I have 2 of and they're
both signed by Paul Goldsmith and Ray Nichels!

This photo was taken of legendary Tom Bigelow at Terre Haute in 1979 by the late photographer Tom Reel of Lowell. I was able to get Mr. Bigelow to sign it at Santa Fe Speedway in 1987. While telling Tom I just found out my wife Arlene and I were going to have a baby, he's writing down on the photo "Hi Arlene, Best Wishes to a new mom. Your friend, Tom Bigelow" When I got home and showed her she said "Who's Tom Bigelow?"

I bought this 11x14 black and white photo at a memorabilia show for a couple of bucks years ago and was told it was at South Bend Speedway maybe sometime in the 40's. Just a sharp action shot that makes you really appreciate the old time photographers!

One of the finest color guards you'll ever see was at Shadyhill Speedway
last year on the Fourth of July!

Little Nathan Splant at Illiana Speedway for "Racing for Babies" night is thinking: A. I can't believe Erik Darnell is right behind me! B. I can't look at these
Hooters girls anymore. C. That bright sun is giving me a headache.

Veteran Bill Davis completed his 50th year of racing in 2010 and shows no signs of slowing down. This shot taken at Shadyhill Speedway.

Mark Grosvenor in this fantastic looking modified on opening day at Kankakee.

Pure Stock Champion for 2010 Helen Nester (00) not afraid to make it 4-wide on her way to winning the feature at Illiana Speedway.

Shane Hmiel during qualifying at Kokomo Speedway in July of 2010.

This Bob Sheldon photo is of Hammond Raceway action in 1940. The 5/8 mile track was located between Calumet and Sheffield avenues in North Hammond Indiana. After its demise it became an outdoor movie theater.

All 4 of these modified drivers are waving at the crowd during their parade lap at Kamp Speedway in 2006.

Richard Childress, Roger Penske and Al Unser Jr. in the garage area at Indy in 1998 prior to the IROC race. Ya think Little Al wanted to drive Earnhardt's car?

Chris Economaki, founder of National Speed Sport News, takes a break from reporting the action at the 1998 Brickyard 400. It's overwhelming to ponder what Chris has seen and heard in his many, many years of involvement in auto racing media. He just recently celebrated his 90th birthday!