Second Annual Meadowdale Raceway Motorsport & Memories Show Saturday, Sept. 18

By: Bernie Biernacki

The second annual Meadowdale Raceway Motorsport & Memories show will be Saturday, Sept. 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., on the site of the former track located on the west side of Illinois Route 31, four miles north of Interstate 90, in Carpentersville, IL.
     Drivers and their cars that once raced on the track, that operated from 1958 to 1969, will be displayed along what was once the main straight away.
     Expected to attend the event, which will include a banquet at 6 p.m. at Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano at 1524 Randall Road, Algonquin, IL, are Tony DeLorenzo, who won the track’s last event, an SCCA National, driving his Owens-Corning Corvette, and Ronnie Kaplan, the renowned crew chief who was team manager for the Nickey Chevrolet Racing Team and put the first AMC Javelin Trans-Am cars on the track.
     Others expected to attend are Don Devine and Harry Heuer, who drove Scarabs and Chaparral MKIs for the Meister Brauser team. Another possible attendee is Augie Pabst, who also drove for Meister Brau.
     Many other Chicago Region - SCCA and the North Suburban Sports Car Club drivers who raced on the track are expected to be on site with their racers.
     Other owners will bring their original and repro sports races, as well as stock cars and open wheel racers. The track hosted not only sports car races, but USAC and the old IMSA stock car events.
     Besides DeLorenzo, such famous drivers as Jim Hall, Mark Donohue, George Fullmer, Jerry Titus, Peter Revson, Hap Sharp, Tony Adamowicz, Ken Miles, Jerry Thompson, and even Curtis Turner spent time on the 3.27 mile race track.
While so many of the famed drivers are gone,     
     Another missing Meadowdale element is the famous (some say infamous) Monza Wall. Designed to mimic the famous wall on the Italian race course. The bumpy, high-banked corner, at the south end of the track, was built (like the original Daytona International Speedway) before modern paving techniques were introduced.
     The track site is now part of the Kane County Forest Preserve District, with much of the site overgrown with trees and shrubs. From Route 31 one can see the refurbished Pure Oil silo, where free parking will be available.
     For more information about the event, call (847) 421-2891.