Illinois Vintage Racing Media PR PhotoSunday dawned with threatening skies as we were set to open our 7th year of vintage racing at Rockford Speedway.

1st Heat
Eddie Williams of Shorewood, a Kankakee Dirt Driver made his 1st appearance on the Vintage circuit driving the Bob Pronger Car. Fast Freddy Pitner was unable to drive due to a Lawn Mower accident during the week which left him with an injured hand. He needs a roll cage on his riding mower this is the 2nd time the mower was rolled over and down his hill in Tennessee.

Eddie started on the pole of the fast heat and looked like a veteran as he withstood the pressure from Frank Slabanek Jr lap after lap. On the white flag lap Slabenak dove to the inside and Nick Club running 3rd dove to the outside making for an exciting finish. Eddie won his 1st ever asphalt race by mere inches.

2nd Heat
Ron Wilson wheeling his #28 ’57 Chevy lead the 1st lap as the cars behind him scrambled for position,. On the 2nd lap Pat Echlin took the lead. Pat Heaney scraped the wall down the front stretch Darlington Stripe style and never even lost a position holding on to 2nd place. Meanwhile, Dick “Buckshot” Kath driving the Don Waldvogel tribute chevelle was working his way through traffic from his last place starting position, Dick is no stranger to Rockford. He is a former 4 time Figure 8 champion in the 70’s.

On the 4th lap the Yellow was out for a Ron Wilson Spin in the Dale Earnhart ’55 Ford bunching up the field. As Pat Echlin was leading, the laps were winding down. Kath caught Heaney with 2 laps to go. On the white flag coming in for the checkered Dick stuffed it to the bottom and finished 2nd by inches as Pat Echlin took the win.

There was one hell of a close call when Denny Falkos #22 lost power with Pat Heaney & Dick Kath on his tail. Denny swerved to the pit ramp just in time to avoid being rear ended.

Feature
The Vintage Feature lined up but was delayed by a rain down pour for little over an hour. All the cars were loaded, then unloaded and we went racing. The Rockford Staff did an outstanding job drying the track so quickly.

Ben Hamburg started on the pole and had a comfortable lead until the 10th lap when #56 Frank Slabanek Jr. weaved through traffic past Pat Heaney who was 2nd and took the lead from Hamburg. On the 12th lap Pat Echlin was steadily moving through traffic and took over the 2nd spot. Running 4th, Pat Heaney retired to the infield with Mechanical woes on the 14th lap. Just a few laps later the yellow flag was waving for a Dick Kath spin following a sway bar failure. As the Green flag flew with 5 to go, it was Slabenak Jr 1st, Echlin 2nd and Nick Club 3rd. Nose to tail as the White flag flew, Eddie Williams moved to the outside and made a daring pass to claim 3rd at the line.

Jim Ambruoso Photo | MyFinishlinePhotos.comBy Stan Kalwasinski
Loves Park, Ill.—A lot of the people in attendance commented that this should have happened a long time ago.

Saturday evening, April 14, saw the first induction ceremony take place for the Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame at the Forest Hills Lodge, which sits adjacent to the Rockford Speedway in northern Illinois.

The idea of a hall of fame had been talked about previously with the idea bounced around by various individuals over the years. Art “Fireball” Fehrman, a former Chicago area stock car racer, made up his mind and put the creation of an Illinois hall of fame into motion a year or so ago. Saturday’s activity saw the culmination of his work as a group of 15 became the first class of honored inductees.

“It’s a dream come through,” commented Fehrman after the ceremonies. Fehrman watched his dad, Art, Sr., and others compete at the almost-forgotten Mance Park Speedway in Hodgkins when he was a youngster before becoming old enough to compete at Chicagoland’s old Santa Fe Speedway.

“We pulled it off,” Fehrman said. “ It’s a great crowd here tonight with people coming from all over the United States. The hall of fame is here for the ‘long run’ and it will be here for years and years to come for fans to enjoy it and to preserve the stories and accomplishments of the inductees.”

The day started at Wayne Lensing’s Historic Auto Attractions in Roscoe, where each inductee has a display, chronicling his achievements in stock car racing. Lensing, who also owns Lefthander Chassis, has gathered various pieces of racing memorabilia to add to the museum’s racing section. Lensing, along with Fehrman and his wife Pat, who has been nicknamed, “Mrs. Fireball,” are board of directors of the hall of fame. Other directors include Jerry Gille, Herb Shannon Sr,. and his son, Herb, Jr., and this writer.