I'm gathering some stuff on old timey Chicagoland hot rod history, hoping you all could help out with links, photos, anecdotes, etc. Particular points of interest - indoor racing at Chicago Stadium, US 30, Union Grove, Byron... Chris Karasamines, Bettenhausens, Granatellis, Broadway Bob, Arnie 'the Farmer' Beswick, Cotton Werksman... street racing, Skips, etc. Let's see the pix and hear the stories!
One of the guys I work with lived at US 30 every weekend. He has books of photos he took. Now, if I could just get them from him and scan it in...
I won my first trophy drag raceing at the Interanational Ampitheater indoor drags in 1965, I was 16 years old. I ran a 52 Plymouth Belvider in M/S class. I long ago forgot the time I turned, but I'll never forget the thrill! Skips drive-in was a regular stop an Saturday nites, and Dog and Suds on the south side was a good one too. I used to go to the stock car races with my dad at soldiers field. Do you remember that?
I've heard about the indoor drags at the Ampitheater, the whole concept is competely magnificently insane! Got any pics?
The Zettle Bros have a LOT of great local history/stories. Kevin aka HotRodChassis knows some local old time racers
Sorry , I was to busy being overwhelmed by watching all my heros race to take any pics. There was a tread on here a while ago with pics tho.
So what are you gonna do with all that stuff. Books ? Giant HAMB post? I'll keep looking for this one, as I've always wondered about Chicago rod history.
This is going to be awesome Mike! I can't wait to see what you come up with! Two of my favorite subjects... hot rod history and Chicago history! Maybe you'll find out about some mobsters that owned blown, rubber ripping hot rods!
I remember hearing about jalopy racing at Soldier Field. I think I saw the pics up there at a tourist center somewhere.
I have to ask my buddy Bob about it or see if we could do a tour Mike.. A old time racer and still in the racing Ind.. I know he still makes and does NASCAR goodies. Also helps out old freinds with they cars builds and how ever he can do. I also know he's got a few old sprint cars at the shop with offys..
Sam Giancana was supposed to have had some souped up cars, done either from the dealer, or from someone else in Chicago. I have a copy of Andy Grantielli's book with tons of stories of racing and such from the Gracor days. Mike if you want to borrow it let me know and I'll send it to you.
Here you go Mike ........... DRAG LEGENDS DVD. Draglist.com is proud to offer the great new DVD series by Mike Rachanski and Bob Kerr. This is taken from the same outstanding raw footage from which we created tapes 5 and 6 below. This is the first of many new DVD titles, so stay tuned! If you liked Match Race Bonanza and Match Race Chicago Style, you don't want to miss DRAG LEGENDS. An incredible 180 minutes of footage on two DVDs for an introduction price of only $26.95 make this DVD an incredible bargain, too. Funny car and pro stock fans, you cannot miss this DVD. Some of the top flopper drivers of the '73 season are here and duking it out: Dale Pulde in M/T's Revelleader, the Condit Bros. LA Hooker, the Creasy Bros. Tyrant, Bobby Wood's Vega, Gary Bolger in the Gold-digger, David Ray in Mike Burkhart's Vega, Ron O'Donnell in Big Nose from Illinois, Kenny Safford in Mr. Norm's Super Charger, Radici and Wise, Kelly Chadwick, the list goes on and on! In addition to the funnies, the best Super Pro Stock racers in the Chicago area meet at every event for wheelstanding, four-speed bangin' action! YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS INCREDIBLE TWIN DVD SET! Order now, before the guys come to their senses and charge $39.95 for this set. aka Hotrod Hoodlum............
Here's a little blurb I found on Route 66 and it's relationship to Chicago... In the Beginning Its all About Trucking Route 66, despite what we may think, was not created for tourists wanting to enjoy the sights of America. Route 66 originally linked rural communities in Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas to Chicago. It was a farm commerce road enabling farmers to transport grain and produce for redistribution. Route 66 was planned to run across the middle of America on a diagonal and was very helpful to the trucking industry, which by the 30s, had come to rival the railroad for importance in transporting goods from producer to market. The route between Chicago and California was easy, flat driving and avoided some of the ice and snow of the northern routes. Route 66 was appealing to truckers. As quoted here: http://gosw.about.com/od/southwesthistory/a/66history.htm
I attended this event twice as a spectator and remember my eyes watering for the five hours I stayed. The shutdown was short and each lane went into an overhead door into another section of the building. The floors had a sheen on them and the O/H doors looked pretty narrow as you approached them. I saw a couple of guys hit the brakes and try to go through the doorway sideways with little success.
The second entry on this list is the legendary Chicago B or C/Gas '57 Chevy called "Shake, Rattle and Run"
Larry, post those pics ya got of "Indoor Drag Racing" at the Chicago Amphitheatre in the early '60's! Can ya dig two cars squaring off and charging at a pair of overhead doors at the "End of the Line" into another room!!!!! With spectators milling around the cars at the start line before they take off! Joel
Does any one remember Lake Geneva Drag Way I raced there in the early 70,s no electronics just a flag guy. Back then you could not run a car faster then a ET of 10.00 if you did you wound up in the corn field at the end of the shut down
i soo want this for christmas... http://www.amazon.com/They-Call-Me-Mister-500/dp/0809296357 I want to live here Granatelli Speed Equipment Grancor Automotive Specialists Authorized Distributors for McCulloch Superchargers 5150 N. Western Chicago 25, Illinois
Not to hijack, but recently Joe Granatelli, a younger Granatelli, had a shop here in Vegas behind SoCal and he was the shadiest, most fucked up guy I've ever met! Rip-off artist FOR SURE! Ripped me off and two other friends of mine to support a bad gambling problem he has! If anyone here ever runs into that guy for business reasons... DON'T get involved! Walk away as fast as you can and don't ever look back. If you've intrusted him with something of yours, get it back NOW or forget about it, because you may not ever see it again! There's my warning... now back to the regularly scheduled thread containing awesome info about Chicago and the auto world...
my pops and my uncle were in club called the Idle Wilds and they both still have their jackets. I will try to get my pops to post some info for ya. I think he has some photo slides of indoor shows late 50's early 60's. let you know soon.
My Viper brother John Hogan passed away and left many great stories undocumented. But check out these names: Karamesenes, Don Maynard, Engine Specialties, Don Schumacher (as a young man, he's damned famous these days), non symetrical ammonia hydrazine as an exciter to nitromethane, Mr Norm's, the Dodge dealer, Sam Giancana as the money guy for many, many cars, and lots more. Hogan once told me a story about taking the race car transporter right through the 1968 riots from Engine Specialties to get Indy, because everyone knew that Giancana had money in the car and messing with it would be VERY unhealthy. This will be a very interesting thread. Keep those cards and letters coming, folks
Grand Spaulding Dodge (Mr. Norms's) was always a good place to go on a saturday afternoon. They were the only dealership that would take a hot rod in on trade. Walking thru their used car lot was like walking thru a car show. Sometimes one of the mechanics would bring out a big block Coronet and pull a hole shot on Grand ave. for the folks. They must have sold a ton of cars.
The Jalopy Journal
