If you could resurrect any dirt track from the dead, which would it be?

[HoosierDirtFan]

Tommy Rients never had any luck at Santa Fe and he raced there a lot over the years. He hated the place. He once said they should make Santa Fe into a toxic waste dump!! LOL! He was the bottom car in a wreck where they were stacked 3 high on top of him. He told me the back side of his fire suit was soaked with fuel and fuel was literally running into one of the track surface drains. Thank God there was no fire because it's doubtful Tommy woulda' made it and that fuel running down the drain would have made a HUGE BOOM!

For those who might not recognize the name Tom Rients he holds the record for most Fairbury dirt late model track championships. I believe he won 6 total. If I'm wrong I'm sure one of the rabid FALS fanatics will correct me.

CIRF

You must be talking about this wreck. It was an 18 car pile up. I was there that day for the "National Clay Track Championship Miller 200"

THE BIG ONE
#77 Steve Pastva, #56 Gary Webb, #27 (Green Car) Bob Pohlman Jr., & #49 Tom Rients.
Also involved to name a few #21 Gibby Steinhause, #7 "Lil" John Provenzano

[IL LM Fan]

That was the first 200 after Howard passed. I always assumed that's why. But IDK how involved Howard was in Track prep. VERY dusty for that one.

[CIRF]

CIRF

You must be talking about this wreck. It was an 18 car pile up. I was there that day for the "National Clay Track Championship Miller 200"

THE BIG ONE
#77 Steve Pastva, #56 Gary Webb, #27 (Green Car) Bob Pohlman Jr., & #49 Tom Rients.
Also involved to name a few #21 Gibby Steinhause, #7 "Lil" John Provenzano

Yep, that's the one! Tommy told me several years later that this wreck literally tore the carburetor off the top of the engine. No one was seriously injured but the potential was present for this to have resulted in multiple fatalities had a spark ignited all the fuel that was present.

That was the first 200 after Howard passed. I always assumed that's why. But IDK how involved Howard was in Track prep. VERY dusty for that one.

I'm working on memory now but didn't Lil' John Provenzano pull into the infield to do some quick work on his car and when he exited the infield he stirred up a huge cloud of dust that obscured turns #1 & #2 which caused the pile up. Drivers couldn't see what they were driving into and just kept ramming into the pile. Can anyone confirm if I'm off base on that or not?

What year did this happen?

I wasn't there so I'm not sure on that but I seem to remember talking to some guys that were there and IIRC that was the story they told. I never heard Tommy ever commit to what he believed caused they whole debacle and we had some extensive conversations after Tommy retired from driving.

[HoosierDirtFan]

Tommy Rients never had any luck at Santa Fe and he raced there a lot over the years. He hated the place. He once said they should make Santa Fe into a toxic waste dump!! LOL! He was the bottom car in a wreck where they were stacked 3 high on top of him. He told me the back side of his fire suit was soaked with fuel and fuel was literally running into one of the track surface drains. Thank God there was no fire because it's doubtful Tommy woulda' made it and that fuel running down the drain would have made a HUGE BOOM!

For those who might not recognize the name Tom Rients he holds the record for most Fairbury dirt late model track championships. I believe he won 6 total. If I'm wrong I'm sure one of the rabid FALS fanatics will correct me.

Yep, that's the one! Tommy told me several years later that this wreck literally tore the carburetor off the top of the engine. No one was seriously injured but the potential was present for this to have resulted in multiple fatalities had a spark ignited all the fuel that was present.



I'm working on memory now but didn't Lil' John Provenzano pull into the infield to do some quick work on his car and when he exited the infield he stirred up a huge cloud of dust that obscured turns #1 & #2 which caused the pile up. Drivers couldn't see what they were driving into and just kept ramming into the pile. Can anyone confirm if I'm off base on that or not?

What year did this happen?

I wasn't there so I'm not sure on that but I seem to remember talking to some guys that were there and IIRC that was the story they told. I never heard Tommy ever commit to what he believed caused they whole debacle and we had some extensive conversations after Tommy retired from driving.

It was 1990. He got squirrelly off turn 2 went into the infield and came back out on the made a HUGE dust cloud that engulfed the back stretch and all you heard was smash, smash, smash.... Ironically Lil won the race that day over a huge field of cars.

[IL LM Fan]

My memory of it, and this is over 30 years ago so... I don't remember specifically Lil John leaving and re entering the track, but I may have missed that. It was already very dusty. I remember Lil John moving very slow but still on the track on the back straightaway, causing others to check up. A pile up ensued and with the dust combined with the sun setting in the background, drivers were piling into wreck full throttle. It has been reported by others that Lil John had transmission issues and a Track official waved him to stay on the track? He was able to replace the transmission with the lengthy delay and won the race.

[LugNutz]

The one that i would like to see back is, The old Cannon River Speedway in Morristown Minn. Nice banking and good sticky dirt.

[CIRF]

It was 1990. He got squirrelly off turn 2 went into the infield and came back out on the made a HUGE dust cloud that engulfed the back stretch and all you heard was smash, smash, smash.... Ironically Lil won the race that day over a huge field of cars.

My memory of it, and this is over 30 years ago so... I don't remember specifically Lil John leaving and re entering the track, but I may have missed that. It was already very dusty. I remember Lil John moving very slow but still on the track on the back straightaway, causing others to check up. A pile up ensued and with the dust combined with the sun setting in the background, drivers were piling into wreck full throttle. It has been reported by others that Lil John had transmission issues and a Track official waved him to stay on the track? He was able to replace the transmission with the lengthy delay and won the race.

Thanks for setting the record straight guys. I'm working on memory of conversations from 20 years ago. As I said, I wasn't there. The only thing I was sure of is Lil' John had a hand in the beginnings of the crash.

I also remember some who were there saying Lil' John had some very heated back & forth with some spectators through the catch fence! IIRC what I was told is that some of the rhetoric got quite loud and explicit! LOL! Either one of you guys able to expand on that?

[84wedge]

All of them in Ontario, Canada. Covid still has the province shut down.

[84wedge]

CIRFYou must be talking about this wreck. It was an 18 car pile up. I was there that day for the "National Clay Track Championship Miller 200"THE BIG ONE#77 Steve Pastva, #56 Gary Webb, #27 (Green Car) Bob Pohlman Jr., & #49 Tom Rients.Also involved to name a few #21 Gibby Steinhause, #7 "Lil" John Provenzano

What a picture!

[Dirt Clod]

Thanks for the Santa Fe memories, guys. I drove up to that Miller 200 from Decatur that day. Had been to many Santa Fe half mile shows and a few Clay Track Championships. That day I decided to sit on the backstretch for a different view. Santa Fe would always be packed for the 200 lap race.

My memories were the race had its normal late afternoon start. Track was always dry by then. Drivers drove into turn 3, right into the sun. I thought Lil John pulled to the inside of the backstretch, causing the big dust cloud to go up. Dust and sun started that big pileup. I remember getting blinded and just hearing the sounds of cars crashing into each other. Amazing Lil John won. CIRF, your comments about Tom are right on. Amazing no fire started. I think (and others can verify) that Santa Fe had a big horn they blew for any red flag condition. I seemed to hear that other times before. Clearly the horn sounded that day.

I drove over to the old Santa Fe location one trip to Chicago to say a final goodbye. Huge homes were built on that site. Also remember the old billboard that stood off the Tri-State Tollway for many years. I've seen that photo on here, too. Amazing many times Santa Fe raced 4 nights a week.

[CIRF]

Thanks for the Santa Fe memories, guys. I drove up to that Miller 200 from Decatur that day. Had been to many Santa Fe half mile shows and a few Clay Track Championships. That day I decided to sit on the backstretch for a different view. Santa Fe would always be packed for the 200 lap race.

My memories were the race had its normal late afternoon start. Track was always dry by then. Drivers drove into turn 3, right into the sun. I thought Lil John pulled to the inside of the backstretch, causing the big dust cloud to go up. Dust and sun started that big pileup. I remember getting blinded and just hearing the sounds of cars crashing into each other. Amazing Lil John won. CIRF, your comments about Tom are right on. Amazing no fire started. I think (and others can verify) that Santa Fe had a big horn they blew for any red flag condition. I seemed to hear that other times before. Clearly the horn sounded that day.

I drove over to the old Santa Fe location one trip to Chicago to say a final goodbye. Huge homes were built on that site. Also remember the old billboard that stood off the Tri-State Tollway for many years. I've seen that photo on here, too. Amazing many times Santa Fe raced 4 nights a week.

DC, I remember that old billboard! As of 3 or 4 years ago there was also a faded old wooden billboard on the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) just south of the Kingery Road (Rt. 83) exit. Kingery was the street we always took south off of I-55 to go to Santa Fe.

As a child I remember Jan Gabriel doing the radio commercials on WLS radio for Santa Fe and all the drag strips in the chitcago listening area. We could get WLS perfectly even though we're over 100 miles from chitcago. They had a jingle for Santa Fe that went something like "Santa Fe, the track of clay, you ain't seen NOTHIN' 'till ya' been to Santa Fe"!! They must have run that commercial 40 times a day! I got in on the last days or good ol' Santa Fe Speedway. The quality of competition was dwindling by then and the handwriting was on the wall in regards to the fact that it's days were numbered.

I've been told that sometime back in the 1950's Santa Fe actually hosted a NASCAR Grand National (Cup) race.

[Dirt Clod]

Boy, us old timers sure have great Santa Fe memories. I probably passed that I-55 board many times, too. My brother lived in Clarendon Hills. I used to take the County Line Road exit. I think we drive through Burr Ridge. Hard to believe how that area grew up.

Yes, Jan was an incredible announcer. His voice on WLS carried for many years. You're right.....his Santa Fe commercials were legendary. I think he was famous for the US 30 drag racing commercials, too. SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY. You can find them on You Tube. I might have talked to Jan once at SF and I think he was a big Indy 500 fan. Pretty sure he attended the Indy 500, then went to Santa Fe to announce that evening. I made trips to those half mile races and loved to watch Pete Parker come down and challenge them. Those Santa Fe guys treated him pretty good. I do remember hearing about your Tom Rients comment on how he hated racing at SF. Lot different that the downstate IL tracks. Interesting about the SF NASCAR race. Need to look that up and learn something new.

[dmr37]

From ChicagolandRacing .com


On July 10, 1954, the first-ever NASCAR Grand National stock car race in the Chicago area took place at Santa Fe with (not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word) Rathmann winning the 200-lap race and a reported $1,000 for his efforts. Rahtmann, a California native, guided his Pure Oil-sponsored 1954 Hudson to the win over Herb Thomas, Hershel McGriff, Lee Petty, Buck Baker and Jim Reed, all NASCAR regulars. Over 6,000 fans were said to have witnessed the event, which saw Baker, the fastest qualifier, lead the first 46 laps until Rathmann took over. A number of local drivers participated including Hal Ruyle, Art Doogan, Frank Ropp, Robert “Legs” Whitcomb, Bill Brown, Bay Darnell and Bill Moore, who turned in the best performance by a “local” with his 10th place finish in his 1950 Plymouth among a field of 23.

[AllenK]

I don't see how that whole Santa Fe wreck didn't explode. That's a lot of metal rubbing together due to the wreck and getting the cars separated also.

[EvelB7]

I remember being at 34 Raceway in late 70's-early 80's and my dad was talking to Joe Merryfield about going to Santa Fe, Joe told him about his experience and we decided to skip that trip.... Joe said they 'rented' him tires, dq'd him when he won and knocked the lights out of his hauler as he left-seemed like they didn't care for ol Injun Joe in the Chicago area at that time....

[Slideways]

Concord (N.C.) Speedway

Before they "paved it to death".

[BloomerWon]

https://youtu.be/R1rAcZxZa1c