2022 MiRPA Yearbook

Midwest Racing Preservation Association

Dear Friend of MiRPA,

What a whirlwind of a year! From almost a standstill to full acceleration in a matter of months! MiRPA activities took off like a V12 engine with the biggest, most well-attended car show in our history.

MiRPA has taken steps to accommodate an even better turn out this year when the straightaway of the "ghost track" that was Meadowdale will come alive at the 14th Annual Meadowdale, Motorsports & Memories Car Show!

This annual event celebrates the historical significance of Meadowdale International Raceways with presentations and special car displays. Food, vendors, and lots of fabulous cars and interesting owners make this a big draw for families and car buffs alike.

This year we've highlighted some interesting stories about a variety of women who have achieved spectacular success in the racing world. MiRPA has been fortunate to induct these greats to our Monza Wall of Fame; Lyn St. James, who authored an article for our yearbook, Janet Guthrie and Linda Vaughn. Be sure to read about Denise McCluggage, a true pioneer who won at Meadowdale, in the article by Burt Levy. She raced worldwide and went on to have an exceptional career in motorsports journalism. Denise was considered a great racer, not because she was a "woman" racer; rather she was a great racer that happened to be a woman!

I invite you to attend Coffee & Cars on the first Saturday of each month. Monthly presentations have been added covering a wide range of auto-oriented topics, such as the histories of Nickey Chevrolet and the turn of the century Elgin Road Races. Our group of dedicated, fun-loving enthusiasts are ready to meet friends, old and new, who share the passion of Motorsports. Test your skill on our Meadowdale-inspired slot car track - bring your own car or use one of ours. All are welcome!

The work to safeguard Motorsports’ rich legacy by accumulating historical documents, collateral, photographs, movies and memorabilia continues. To promote and preserve the history of racing in the Midwest.... we happily accept donations of materials relating to this subject.

On behalf of the Board of the MiRPA, I encourage you to keep an eye on our calendar of events and activities, such as the winter banquet, highlighting the people and places that helped build the Midwest racing community beyond the “Monza Wall” of Meadowdale.

I applaud our Board Members who are generous with their time, treasure and talents, and again thank our individual, corporate, community and government friends for their support. We remain an all volunteer organization and depend on the dedication of so many. I am deeply grateful to all of you who donate your energies. If you would like to support this effort, I invite you to ride along with this fun, energetic group! The success of our mission depends on all of you.

Sharing the cars, the stories and the passion... in the spirit of the sport!

On the cover:

Linda

Linda L. Daro Founder/Chairman

Denise McCluggage's very first Ferrari—a dark blue “mouthful of a car with superb handling and wonderful manners,” a 1960 250 short wheel-base Scaglietti-bodied Berlinetta — the most expensive thing she’d ever owned.

Original Photo by Ron Nelson v Cover & T-shirt Art Designed by Lucy DeLap

MiRPA

Once an all but forgotten “ghost track,” Meadowdale International Raceways, located within Raceway Woods, a Kane County Forest Preserve in the northwest corner of Carpentersville, Illinois, lives again. The 50th Anniversary celebration in 2008 brought together the efforts of a hard working group of volunteers and applied a mix of “those that were there” with those that could only wish they were...

The beginnings of the Meadowdale International Raceways Preservation Association (MIRPA) took shape that day!

September 14, 1958, marked the opening of the Raceway, a 3.27 mile road course featuring a steep 180 degree curve known as the “Monza Wall” which led onto the ¾ mile front straight. Estimates of the first race crowd were upwards of 100,000 people. Meadowdale was the dream of Leonard W. Besinger. A developer of commercial and residential properties in the Carpentersville area, he envisioned the track as a destination for the national racing community and a way to bring people to the area.

Automobile, motorcycle, even snowmobile races were held at Meadowdale. The track was home to events held by sanctioning bodies including USRRC, USAC, ARCA, SCCA, Midwestern Council, AMA, and Kart. Sterling Moss conducted a driving school there as well!

Motorsports, ECC Motorsports, The Mueller and The Lederer Collections. As a kick off to the Indy 500, a presentation by IMS Historian Donald Davidson, along with Paul Goldsmith, was held at Collector Car Garage. A special members-only event was held at the Autobahn “garage” of Indy winner Bobby Rahal.

MiRPA’s Annual Winter Banquet honors the vision and contributions to the sport of racing made by outstanding representatives of the Motorsports community. We welcome to our “Monza Wall of Fame” those who have shared an undeniable passion for speed and excellence.

MiRPA hosts activities to keep the racing spirit alive year round. Events have been held at locations such as Heidts Automotive Group, Chicago Vintage Motor Carriage, McKee Engineering, Black Dog Speed Shop, Fall-Line

On September 10, 2022, we present our 14th annual Meadowdale, Motorsports & Memories car show. This is a great opportunity to visit with friends... old and new. Hundreds of race and street cars of all marques will line the front straight while Illinois NCRS takes its place in Corvette Corner.

MiRPA is committed to preserving Meadowdale and Midwest Motorsports Racing History. We are an all volunteer organization. Your time, talent and treasure are the greatest gifts you can share with us. We work to ensure the endurance of the motorsports legacy through our 501(c)(3) not-for-profit status.

Meadowdale was a great destination sixty years ago and still is today. The Raceway brought people to live, work, and play. Memories of its history will bring the track alive for generations to come. Enjoy what remains of the track — you can still hear the race cars roaring in the distance. Turn around quickly enough... you just might get a glimpse into the past!

A significant number of Midwest racing venues showcased the early years of many a car, driver and race team...

If they raced then, they raced here!

MiRPA Board of Directors

Operational Directors

Linda Daro Founder/Chairman

Bob McKee

Dale Anderson

Dave Gerber

Len Besinger

Tom Stephani

Jim Anderson

Mike Jablo

Don Devine

Ronnie Kaplan 1926-2014

Lucy DeLap

Steve Merkle

Since Last We Met…

What a difference a year makes! From no show to rain out to Best Show Ever! The 13th Annual Meadowdale, Motorsports & Memories car show made up for the previous two years and then some with record numbers of vehicles, attendees, vendors and fun!

A featured display of AMC Javelins drew owners of this famed lineage from near and far to be a part of this historic gathering. The crowd was treated to an unusually varied set of beautiful examples from the pony car segment of American Motors.

The southern corner (formerly the Monza Wall) was populated by a sea of Corvettes whose numbers smashed all previous turnouts. Along the straightaway, the line of magnificent and diverse show cars extended as far the eye could see ... A beautiful sight to behold!

wowed the crowd at MiRPA's 2022 Winter Banquet during her induction to the Monza Wall of Fame. The laughs started with a rousing introduction by returning 2015 inductee Al Unser Jr. As her friend for many years, Al shared his memories of their first meeting... Ask for details from someone who was there!

The First Lady of

As she progressed from trophy girl to Miss Hurst Golden Shifter to icon, Linda established friendships and professional relationships with all she encountered as she traveled the world representing the industry... and we can see why! Her career raised the bar for all who followed.

Miss Vaughn was presented with commemorative art highlighting her extremely successful career. Signed limited edition prints are available through MiRPA.

Motorsports, Miss Linda Vaughn,

MiRPA's gift box raffle was launched at the Winter Banquet and continued online with the drawing held at our May Coffee & Cars. The winner received a fabulous weekend at Road America with a pair of four-day VIP tickets to the IndyCar race, a fine dinner at Trattoria Stefano and a two-night stay at the luxurious Blue Harbor Resort (and water park) in Sheboygan.

Presentations continued at Coffee & Cars, with Angela Savage and Ted Woerner discussing their book, “Savage Angel: The Story of Swede Savage”; the history of Nickey Racing presented by Tom Stephani, son of one of the owners; Elgin Historical Museum volunteers presenting the fascinating story of the Elgin Road Race that was held on and off between 1910 and 1933; the interesting story of the only dead heat ever at Road America, along with a bit of Formula Ford and Formula V history; and a delightful array of vintage Go-Karts.

MiRPA was pleased to be welcomed back to the Fox Valley Public Library in Carpentersville in August with an informational presentation about Meadowdale, then and now, delivered by Larry Fulhorst, MiRPA historian.

Motor Monday Cruise Nights continue in 2022. This very popular event is planned and executed in partnership with the Village of East Dundee. We appreciate the new signage powered by Dairy Queen of East Dundee. Thank you! In this venue as well, we've seen big turnouts of vehicles and viewers all season.

MiRPA continues to participate in activities such as dinners with the Elkhart Lake Historic Race Circuit Preservation Association, races at Road America, Autobahn Country Club & Blackhawk Farms, Indy, NASCAR, NHRA, IMSA and Vintage events along with Mecum Auctions and the Motorsports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies.

Interested in some bench racing with fellow enthusiasts? Join us at Coffee & Cars the first Saturday of each month! Enjoy a snack, old race movies and show off your slot car skills. Bring a car (or not!).

The many volunteers who share their time, talent and treasure in support and dedication are the reason we exist and thrive. MiRPA’s mission to promote and preserve the history of Midwest Motorsports is going strong.

MiRPA’s Winter Banquet is scheduled for Saturday, February 4, 2023 Linda

We are very grateful... Thank You!

"Lady Leadfoot" Remembered

by B.S. Levy

I witnessed my first-ever sports car race at the muchballyhooed new Meadowdale track near Chicago in September of 1958, and it was an experience from which I have yet to recover. I'd heard the relentless radio ads and saw the full-color spread in the Chicago Daily News' Weekender section, and had been pestering, begging, whimpering, wheedling and cajoling my parents as only a desperate, the-world-could-endtomorrow 13-year-old can.

In the end they reluctantly agreed, and I couldn't wait. The Scarabs were going to be there! I'd finally get to hear that famous, howl of a Ferrari Vl2, the brass-section blare of a Jag straight-6, the metallic, bumble-bee drone of an air cooled RSK and the thunder of hot-rodded Chevy small blocks bellowing through open pipes!

I loaded a roll of precious 620 color film into my trusty plastic box camera. I remember my dad wore a sports jacket and my mom a nice print dress with low heels because you simply didn't go out to a public function if you weren't properly dressed back then.

On that historic opening weekend, the not-quitefinished Meadowdale Raceway had all the charm and ambiance of a construction site on Mars. It was a stark, heavily-bulldozed landscape of raw, barren earth and

billowing dust. The spectator sanitary facilities were but a small step up from the beach landing at Anzio. Needless to say, my parents wanted to head for home before lunch break even rolled around, especially after one of the clucking railbirds explained that a Ferrari driver from Kansas had been killed during time trials the previous day ... as if a first fatality was some sort of major rite of passage for a new racetrack! And so began Meadowdale's dark reputation as a dangerous and even deadly racetrack.

My folks were more than ready to leave after that little exchange but I begged them to stay. I'd been pressed up against the fence wire at the base of the Monza Wall, clicking off the allotted 12 images in my little camera as fast as the shutter speed and my thumb's ability to wind the film would allow. I was totally, hopelessly enraptured, though my folks couldn’t understand or appreciate any of it. Eventually, they dragged me away about 20 minutes into the 120-mile feature race, despite a tantrum worthy of a three-year-old in a toy aisle. A monster had been unleashed, and all my parents could do was roll their eyes, sigh as only parents can and wait for me to grow out of it. They're still waiting ... →

Denise McCluggage, a lean, 5-foot-6-inch beauty with shortcropped hair and angular features, had been a sports car freak since the age of six. One summer during her youth, the Kansas family went to watch the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. She first saw racer Louis Unser (whose nephews Al and Bobby would later combine to win seven Indy 500s between them) and even filmed him with the family’s eight millimeter camera. For the rest of her life, Denise would call the daring, dark-haired Unser her hero.

Her entrée to the sport was unusual: She was a journalist, writing for Road & Track, Car & Driver, MotorTrend and her own publication, Competition Press (which would become AutoWeek). Denise had a reputation for participating in and excelling at the extreme sports she covered. She had jumped out of airplanes, skied treacherous mountains, become a champion fencer—all in search of what she called “the perfect meditation” that wellhoned exertion can bring. By the time sports car racing really began to catch on in the United States, her skill on European tracks had already earned the nickname Lady Leadfoot. McCluggage chronicled the evolution of auto racing from an oddity to a high-stakes, big-money sport. Over sixty years, no one would document the sport more diligently. No one would capture more poetically what it felt like to drive at high speed.

She Said"

"Drive,

I witnessed some truly fantastic races at Meadowdale over the years. Bob Tullius in his green TR4 even before there was a Group 44 ... Mark Donohue in his indecently quick No. 000 Elva Courier ... Roger Penske in his immaculately prepared “Telar Special” Birdcage Maserati racing the living crap out of Canadian Peter Ryan - a spectacular race, inches apart for the lead the whole way, and not settled until Doane’s Corner on the very last lap.

But my all-time favorite had to be the race between an obviously talented driver in an electric-blue Ferrari Berlinetta and Don Yenko’s ridiculously fast and habitually sideways solid-axle Corvette. Yenko’s car was about the quickest Corvette in the country at the time and he’d dominated so many races that many of the other Corvette guys were grousing about the car’s legality. His crew had even mounted a set of air horns on the hood - speedboat style, you know? - to warn lesser cars out of the way. But the driver in the electric-blue Ferrari wasn’t having any of it, and hung onto the back end of that lumbering, thundering, hotrodded Corvette like grim death, staying cool, calm and patient while prodding and scheming to find a way by. “That guy in the Ferrari sure knows what the hell he’s doing!” I observed to no one in particular.

“That’s not a guy,” the gentleman on my left informed me. Then he pointed to the driver lineup in his program. That was my first introduction to Denise McCluggage. As a typically testosterone-overloaded Male American Teenager, I was thoroughly appalled. “A g-girl?,” I gasped. The guy nodded, and I felt half my swagger leaking out my ankles.

Denise wrote a wonderful piece about that race in her book, “By Brooks Too Broad for Leaping.” After an incredible scrap that saw her pull alongside more than once only to get re-passed on the straight or forced to drop back by a yellow flag, the Ferrari got squeezed into “a therapeutic spin” (Denise’s words, not mine) and came home second. Corvette drivers protested Yenko’s car. After the protest was upheld, the win was handed to the deserving Miss McCluggage.

I e-mailed Denise when I began researching this story, and was surprised by the depth of her enthusiasm for Meadowdale. She called it a real driver’s track. And she closed by saying: “I loved Meadowdale. It was rough, varied, lots of turn turns—not that constant-radius stuff—blind turns, fun! It was a separator course, which is as it should be. I think I only liked the Nurburgring better.” High praise, indeed.

Article edited and reprinted with the author's permission.

Women in Motorsports

Today, team owners are looking for drivers who are ready to win, or at least have winning records so they feel confident the driver can become integrated into their team culture and quickly deliver winning results.

When Dick Simon gave me the opportunity to race for his team in IndyCar, I had years of successful road racing, endurance racing, and speed record runs. However, I had no open wheel or oval track experience. Dick gave me a test in an IndyCar and liked what he saw. He said, “We can do this!”

With support from JC Penney in 1992, we went to the Indy 500 where I became the first woman to win “Rookie of the Year.”

Although Danica Patrick had been a multiple Go-Kart Champion and was the most successful American and highest-finishing female driver to compete at the prestigious Formula Ford Festival in the U.K. in 2000, it wasn’t until 2003 when Bobby Rahal gave her the opportunity to compete first in the Barber Dodge Series, then Formula Atlantic, and finally (at last!) for his team in the IndyCar Series where she led laps and almost won the Indianapolis 500. In 2008 she became the first (and only) female to win an IndyCar race at Twin Ring Motegi.

In my case as well as Danica's, the team owners (Dick Simon and Bobby Rahal) were former drivers who saw talent and potential and gave two different female drivers an opportunity. These stories are a rarity.

Some successful racers have “done it” on their own... by racing with family and friends before “making it.”

Sarah Fisher is an example. She raced with her family in Midgets and Sprint Cars before the opportunity was presented to be the youngest driver to race in the Indy 500 in 2000 for Derrick Walker Racing. She raced for a number of other IndyCar teams and also did some NASCAR racing, ultimately starting her own team (Sarah Fisher Racing) with multiple family members.

by Lyn St. James, 2017 Inductee

How to “make it” in racing? A young, talented and committed person, has to have an aspirational desire, experience, race results, networking capability, opportunity, and financial support, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity. If any one of those elements is missing, especially the financial support, the likelihood of “making it” is slim.

The stories about women racers are inevitably about the struggle, the lack of support, the limited opportunities. No matter how passionate female drivers are about racing and “making it,” any reasonably intelligent person would eventually say to themselves, “Why would I want to continue doing this if the struggle will be so hard and my chance of succeeding is nil?”

I’m pleased that this is changing for women in racing. With successful racing efforts by women and for women, we are now seeing more positive messaging. We’re seeing more and more women competing and winning at every level in every part of the world.

The incredibly successful Paretta Autosport entry in the 2021 Indianapolis 500, owned by Beth Paretta, features driver Simona DeSilvestro. A large percentage of team members are female including the racetime over the wall crew ... a watershed moment for women in motorsports. Beth Paretta, myself, and forty other professional women and men in the motorsports industry are working to make a difference for the women already in the industry as well as opening the doors for more women in motorsports careers.

The result is Women in Motorsports North America (WIMNA), a community of professionals devoted to supporting opportunities for women across all disciplines of motorsports. Our inclusive, resourceful environment fosters mentorship, advocacy, education, and growth, ensuring the continued strength and successful future of women in our sport. We intend to engage everyone to activate the solution! Please look us up, and let us know what you’re doing!

Visit WIMNA's website at www.womeninmotorsportsna.com

Al Unser 1939-2021

Al Unser, the youngest of four racing brothers, was often called the “quiet” Unser. On the race track, it was another story—Al dominated, winning four of the nine Indy 500 wins by “Indy’s First Family.”

Born in Albuquerque, NM, Al began racing in 1957 at the age of 18, coming up through the oval racing ranks. Following family tradition with a pair of wins at Pikes Peak, he then made his Indianapolis 500 debut in 1965. Al won his first Indy 500 in 1970, and would win three more times over his thirty year IndyCar career. He become the second driver to score four wins, tying A.J. Foyt. Al was not entered to run in 1987 but fate had other plans. When Danny Ongais, his replacement at Penske Racing, crashed in practice, the team grabbed the 1986 March-Cosworth show car that was on display in the lobby of a hotel in Reading, PA, and hurriedly prepared the year-old car. Unser took the wheel, starting twentieth on race day. A great race strategy and some bad luck for Mario Andretti and Roberto Guerrero put Al in the lead for the last 17 laps and landed him at the top of the podium with his fourth Indy 500 victory ... perhaps his most famous win!

“When things were right with Al, he was the most untouchable human being I ever saw,” said his brother Bobby, himself a three time Indy winner. Al perfected a winning combination of consistency and speed. He knew how to go fast.

Al was deemed “Big Al” later in his career when his son Al Jr. (Little Al) joined the family tradition and became a two-time Indy winner himself.

His quiet humble approach and great sense of humor combined with his warm personality competitive spirit and incredible talent made him a fan favorite

The loss of Al at 82, and his brother Bobby earlier this year at 87, signals the end of an amazing era in racing.

“Dad taught me everything I know, just not everything he knows”

Al Jr.

Then...

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