All these shots were taken at O’Hare Stadium in Chicago… Racing was held there for a short period from the late-1950s through the mid-1960s… The track was built to compete with Raceway Park in the Blue Island area of Chicago… Many drivers actually ran both tracks…
Carl Plotke in a '53 Mercury with “T-Bone the Clown”… love the flames…
Great shot of Bob Roper… Note the numbers are on the front and rear fenders and the sponsor is a local record store… remember records?
Bob Dotter (before he ran ARCA) in a '64 Chevy convertible… racing a 1958 Chevy hardtop…
Roy Martinelli in a Chevy convertible… Gotta love that number!
Tom Jones in a 1964 Ford convertible… This was the guy who became the “Zero Hero” in ASA racing…
Nice history. Actually O’hare’s late models turned into convertibles only, so you would occasionally see one run at Raceway Park, but the Raceway Park guys couldn’t run their cars at O’hare. Raceway Park was one of my stock car tracks as a kid.
Really neat pics, I love the cars from the old days. I will try and post some pics of when Tom Jones drove for my dad. He drove from the early 70s till the 80s. Jones had uncountable amount of wins and ran with the best, Kulwicki, Allison, Martin, Wallace, Eddy, Hoffman, Major, Trickle, the list goes on and on. Revell model company made a model of Jones and 4 or 5 other ASA drivers back in late 80s. I’ve collected a bunch of them but they really never took of in value, lol. I’ll try and post some pics of them to.
I’ve got pictures of Koehler in 1966 in Bill Koenig’s 65 chevelle that Koehler signed for me also Jerry Kemperman ,Larry Middleton’s car that I cleaned parts for. They won’t let you do much when you are 14.
Back in the days of packed stands and full fields.
At 14 you should have already been an accomplished, veteran Late Model pilot competing all across the southeast in seven different series in seven separate cars while preparing for your pending NASCAR/ARCA/INDY Light Driver Development contract that your Dad (I mean your sponsor) bought for you.
These are some of the old pics
1st Tom Jones in the back, my dad (Troy Robinson car owner) on the left, and Roy Acuff on the right. This pic was taken when Jones was voted "Most popular driver at Grundy County Speedway in 1972, the year I was born
2nd One of Jones many ASA cars
3rd Old man Dotter
4th Carl Major, who drove for many years for my late uncle Ray Robinson
5th Elmer Musgrave
I love the old pictures, have tons of them. This is when racing was RACING!
Cool pics, Jake the old man looked pretty sporty back in the day, He’s often told me storys from back in the day when jones drove for him, The good old days
[QUOTE=OWMRacer;133480]Revell model company made a model of Jones and 4 or 5 other ASA drivers back in late 80s. I’ve collected a bunch of them but they really never took of in value, lol. I’ll try and post some pics of them to.[/QUOTE]Revell made several kits that appeared in 1991:
Darrell Waltrip’s black Superflo Camaro #17
Butch Miller’s white SAI Camaro #52 with a V-6 and Hoosier tires
Bob Senneker’s blue and silver Elk Vans #84 Camaro
Tom Jones’ white #0 Ford Thunderbird with a V-6
Jeff Neal’s white #5 Zerex Ford Thunderbird with a V-6
Think these things “never took off in value”? Try looking them up on eBay.
They go for upwards of $30.00 nowadays (well, a “regular” model kit these days is now about $20.00). The old MPC Trickle Mustang and Don Gregory/Jeg’s Camaro will go for well over $100.
I think my dad went to 1 race ever. Had to hitch a ride with a neighbor who went to all Raceways races.
Still hard to believe the crowds they use to get look in the backround of all the old Hialeah pics and Raceway also WPB. People really did come to short tracks.
Erik Johnson at the wheel of the “leggy” 7 car… 1961 Chevy hardtop version…
The late Whitey Gerken… '63 or '64 Chevy… Gotta love the painted exaust pipe…
This shot is from Rockford, IL in 1967 featuring Bob Roper’s car pictured at the top of the thread… Two '57 Chevies, a '55 Chevy, a '60 Ford and a "57-'58 Plymouth all in one shot… Was sure more fun when the cars actually looked like cars…
Check out this photo of the great Iggy Katona… This would be at a MARC/ARCA race in 1954… This car definitely saw some “close” action! Note it still has the taillights… Katona went on to win the ARCA race at Daytona three times… Retired after running the 1977 ARCA 200…
