Scally posted 1938 Bigelow Field Midget: Final Standings:1-Art Hartsfeld: 1939 Bigelow Field Midget: Final Standings:1-Art Hartsfeld: 1948 Bigelow Field AAA . Also, thank you to Bob Sheldon, early UARA photographer, for use Me dad, Eddie Ostwick, drove midgets in the 1930s and 1940s but I do not know if he ever went to Bigelow Field. News. Bigelow Field Raceway Midget Auto Race Program 1950-Grand Rapids MI-Ads for C. Item Information Condition: --not specified "Condition is VG . checkered flag in front of Saylor and veteran driver Don Hanley. Notes - Delivery *Estimated delivery dates include seller's handling time, origin ZIP Code, destination ZIP Code and time of acceptance and will depend on shipping service selected and receipt of cleared payment. his Willys No. cars on hand with the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association left to sanction the The damage was estimated as high as $50,000, including $5,000 worth of baseball equipment. Paul | Ave. Chicago. Delivery times may vary, especially during peak periods. Detective Tales Pulp July 1945- Chloroform cover- Day Keene (#233260434102). Copyright 2023 Stats Crew, Stats Crew - The Home of Sports Statistics. track sat on the northwest corner of 39th started off the evening by setting fast time. 1952. Wally Zale is shown here in his #1 midget in 1940. Location & Hours Bigelow Fields 624 Kennebago Road Eustis Me, 04982 Phone: 207-246-2177 Get directions You are always welcome to view the herd from the road, keep in mind during the winter they are not as close to the road as in the summer. You say that you never heard of it? Belvidere winner Simmons and Tony Saylor. RICK KNIGHR 6168130260 , THANK YOU! The dugout roof fell and caught him in the throat and the rest is history.". The fire stopped just short of their store. It was also known as Kamp's Speedway. The park had a small grandstand, with bleachers only on the 1B side. Today the campus of East Grand Rapids High School occupies the site of Ramona Park. Located south of Wealthy at Reeds Lake shore, it is the first park to have a grass infield, 2,000 permanent seats, 4,500 total capacity, dismantled 1903. The stadium burned down in 1952. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Rapids_Chicks August 1 with over 8,000 screaming fans in attendance. | Visit ArchivesSpace.org Johnny Wohfeil also had a scare when he crashed and saw red spots on his windshield. 2067 84th St SW Byron Center, MI BARBARA BIGELOW OBITUARY Bigelow, Barbara Barbara Bigelow, age 89, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday, January 20, 2021. Earl Simmons of Maywood won the feature race that afternoon on a An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. But despite the reported crowd of 7,000 on August 23, 1938, Don and Carson only promoted the track one more year. First of all, the attendance was not up to their expectations and secondly, they had Ohio tracks they were promoting which had conflicting racing dates with Bigelow Field. Bob Hope performed here in 1946. The Detroit Tigers once played an official home game here. and added note, the Kamp Motor Speedway in IN was dirt. n.d.. Helen Earlene "Beans" Risinger Grand Rapids Chicks collection, Collection 160. Nick and Pete, and also at Soldier Field, Ray Lankheim of Chicago won the second -- Paul Ostwick (Eddie Ostwick's grandson), Posted by: Great article Al! On the 18th, only 11 cars are listed as competing with Joe Allan winning the feature. Hank Heald was the announcer before moving on to the Grand Rapids One of the more difficult features won was by Ralph Pratt when he and two other cars came down for the checkered flag and he ran over a wheel, got airborne and actually crossed the finish line without any wheels on the ground. baseball field diamond saw Simmons cop the main event. So not sure if this is the same family and ended up moving to the IN area, but find it very coincidental. Grand Rapids, Mich. on Wednesday night, June 16. on winning the next night, grabbing feature race honors at Bigelow Field. Attendance listed indicates the total home attendance for the team even if it played in multiple home ballparks or additional cities in the same year. On the Fourth of July, UARA visited the newly of these cars taken away large portions of the posted purse. Seller Rating. midget finally won a UARA feature at Hanson Park on August 8, defeating Zukor IM THE GRANDSON OF LATE GREAT ROBERT "KING OF THE DIRT" KNIGHT. Bigelow Field fire. However, from birth to age 9 I lived on Loraine Street behind Bigelow Field and my home backed up to what was the center field fence line. racing was booming in the late 1930's and new tracks were springing up during time trials, running around the tricky 1/5-mile dirt oval around the Ralph Reel lost his life during qualifying one night. The action looks great as the drivers round home heading for first base. Name City County Date Added; Adrian Fairgrounds: Adrian: Lenawee: 08-28-2003: Adventure Mountain Raceway: Greenland: Ontonagon: 10-05-2007: Air Park Speedway: Fennville Managed to talk with a farmer who owned & operated the land in the area, and he remembers the fence by the tracks, planes overhead, and primarily motorcycle racing there-but cars at times as well. in his columns and race reports which appeared in Illustrated Speedway If you spin, dont accelerate and tear up the infield sod, dont spin your wheels.". Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Gary Brey | To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Grand Rapids History Center. He never flipped a race car and went on to win the National Championship and the 1957 Indianapolis 500. Common Access Card Update Email Address. ranking Class B Drivers, Auspices of Big Bill Mitchell, out of Detroit, was one of the flagmen and he had a solid background in racing, having owned big cars as far back as the late 1920s with drivers such as Chet Miller, Cliff Duran and others. Main The only clue we have is a line in Dick Lee's story that states, "1940 found a new promoter out of the Indianapolis area who failed to pay some purses and soon vanished." We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Grand Haven River Road Track raced jalopies from 1946 to 1948. . the Grand Rapids Jets played. He lost some teeth and broke his nose, but by a miracle was not seriously injured. September 16. At least, they are mysterious to me. 100 lap Championship race over Simmons, Saylor and Elliott. It was a matter of economics. Thanks, Gayle Kamp Kamp Motor Speedway, LLC just thought this might be interesting and you may want to reach out to them and ask if they were indeed affiliated. ", Everything seemed to be going fine as opening day arrived. Tragedy struck during the evening when 32-year old Frank Stauber There was two more weeks of racing on June 4 and then June 18, 1940 and then nothing. The pits were located near third base and the clay track was usually good and sticky, never dusty. View Larger Map perhaps a track such as Motor City Speedway or the Chicago Amphitheater or the Nutley I remember one time a car was qualifying and spun in turn three, went into the infield grass and kept running in circles, apparently the driver was unconscious. spin, just pull it out of gear and well pull you off the track. This site was just mailed to me. Have been conducting research on the GR Speedway/Kamp's Speedway (and others in the GR area) for a few years as well. It was a 1/4 mile dirt oval that raced 1940 - 42. CONTINUE. Cecil Clees was driving the Jake Jacobson J-3 when his fatality occurred. Great site! Everything seemed to be going fine as opening day arrived. Three photos in the collection document the fire at Bigelow Fields where the Chicks played, in 1952. Rapids where the Grand Rapids Jets played minor league baseball. included starter Art Kelly, timer Harold Fosdick and pit steward Charles Here is the promoter in question, W.R.Caine. Rubright came home second with Simmons third. Hanley won the If so, he fooled a lot of people. Hanson Park, capturing the 50-lap Championship race in front of 10,000 fans. In the words of the article shown here "The second feature went to Tony Willman, who started in second place and overcame Duke Nalon on the 18th lap to win a spectacular duel that saw the drivers bouncing around the track like jumping jacks as huge holes were torn in various parts of the track. All were midgets with Ford V8-60 engines. Wohlfiel, Henry Banks, and Duane Carter, you would probably be thinking of Please see item description for more information. Eddie says if anything the new job is faster than the car with which he won the championship. It seemed like there was a flip in every race.. Racing at Hanson Park pretty much came to an 17 midget in the inaugural UARA We ask you consult the propietor for current information. Noon First Race 2:00 pm, Featuring top win of the campaign, winning the Mid Season Title race at Bigelow Field in his One accident occurred during the running of the first heat race. n.d.. Helen Earlene "Beans" Risinger Grand Rapids Chicks collection, Collection 160. A rough and dusty track at the Northern Grand Rapids had its share of league stars including Players of the Year Connie Wisniewski in 1945[3] and Alma Ziegler in 1950. inaugural season of events at Hanson Park Stadium on the citys northwest side. One of those places was Bigelow Field in Grand Grand Rapids History Center. Bigelow Field Raceway Midget Auto Race Program 1950-Grand Rapids MI-Ads for C cleared payment - opens in a new window or tab, Report this item - opens in new window or tab. Larry 85 of a mile. See feature on Jimmy on this site. lap Championship event. At this time the track is for sale but there has been no tangible offers. dirt oval: r5/3/1938-40, 47-c52: defunct: TRACK DRIVER STANDINGS. Toledo driver Bud Hufsman was action. I have not read in detail all that has been said, nor am I an advid race car fan. Wiswald, Bill Staff Interface Bigelow Field znajdowao si pod adresem 3873 Division Avenue South Grand Rapids, MI 49548. Grand Rapids History Center. The field was home to a number of activities including race cars and baseball. Grand Rapids History Center. $2,882.00 with Zukor setting a new track record of 20.13 seconds during time Elliott made it eight in a row, winning on the Hanson Park dirt on September 23. fairgrounds on October 5 with Ambrose winning the 12-lap main. Football Stats - NFL - CFL - AFL - Arena Football - Indoor Football - Search Larry Johnson, Singer, Simmons and Boscher rounded out the top ten. 12,000. 35 midgets on hand for the competition at the Chicago Public Schools Veldrome. Wczesne zespoy Grand Rapids gray w Recreation Park w dni powszednie oraz w Alger Park nad Reeds Lake w weekendy. 1/4 mi. end on September 30 with Rubright, wheeling the Bob Lockard Willys, winning the Memorial Stadium and regarding Joliet pretty much as its base of operations, Bigelow Field znajdowao si pod adresem 3873 Division Avenue South Grand Rapids, MI 49548. My boyhood friends and I would stand at the entryway and watch the midgets being hauled in. Pniej zespoy gray na Bigelow Field na South Division Avenue. A McDonalds and a Laundromat are now sitting on that corner. Youd put the throttle to the floor and if you wanted to slow down, youd hit the kill button. Paul Russo, Tony Bettenhausen, Cowboy O'Rouke, Ronnie Householder, Johnny as the Michigan representative both for the the national auto racing weekly, the, My dad appears to have taken on the job with gusto based on the number of news releases that were issued and the articles that appeared in the Grand Rapids papers prior to the opening of the season. Here we see the view of the grandstand from center field. Cite Item Description. More Info. in his eyes stated, "I'm afraid that its all over, I'm going to tear it My father built a 2x8 bench seat on the backside of the fence in our back yard, so we (with a ladder) could sit and watch the midget races and ball games. UARA feature event at Hanson Park on June 6. Bigelow Field - Grand Rapids (Wyoming), MI (USA) - posted in TNFs Archive: Genlemen, this is very interesting reading and deserves a seperate thread. V8-60-powered No. Copy to clipboard. Willys-powered midget apparently stuck with Stauber shooting off the first turn The car stayed there for a few seconds and then just slid down the pole and ended up on all four wheels. 18, winning the weekly 25 lapper in his Markles V8 No.32. There is clearly a lot of work to do on this April day with racing just a month away. The service tech called to give me notice 15 minutes before he . The economy is another factor in our decision. Zeiter came to Grand Rapids and laid out a one-fifth dirt track for midgets at Bigelow Field with the first Bigelow Field Grand Rapids Colts Michigan State Lg Grand Rapids MI. The neighbors living near Bigelow Field at that time will never forget when promoter Jim Williams booked the Ward Beam Thrill Show. Zukor won again at Hanson Park on Someone at CSRA seems to have vouched for him. PayPal Me: https://www.paypal.me/michigandermanPlease check out my Zazzle store! Bigelow Field fire. The Chicks played their home games at South High School in Grand Rapids, with the exception of 1950-1952 when games were played at Bigelow Field in Wyoming Township. Other featured drivers included Art Hartsfeld, Roy Duby, George Witzman, Jake Jacobson, Carl Forberg and the 1939 midget champion Eddie Ostwick. 1940 found a new promoter out of the Indianapolis area who failed to pay some purses and soon vanished. Russ Jacobson, the son of the legendary Jake Jacobson, didnt get hurt but probably got chewed out by his father, Jake, when he was towing the J-2 and J-3 midgets from Bigelow Field back to Pontiac, MI and went off the road by Ada. As shown in the program, about 29 cars and drivers were on hand including many of the best racers in the Midwest. If a driver still didnt make it, he then got a last shot at the feature through a consolation race. They enjoyed continued success following the move, making the playoffs every year until the league folded following the 1954 season.[2]. Don and Carson Zeiter then quit promoting midgets at Bigelow Field for two reasons. 1952. Ford and motorcycle engine-powered midgets. Shewbridge Field: FORT WAYNE DAISIES: 1946 - 1954: Memorial Park: 1945 - 1946: North Side High School Field: 1944: Nicollet Baseball Park (Minneapolis Millerettes) GRAND RAPIDS CHICKS: 1952 - 1954: South High School Football Field: 1950 - 1952: Bigelow Field (Wyoming Township) 1945 - 1949: South High School Football Field: 1944: Borchert Field . Most people in Grand Rapids dont remember Bigelow Field because it was torn down over forty years ago. Ambrose drove the Nelsen Hirschberg I'm helping racetrack historian Dick Lee put together a book on local tracks and recently sent this article to him. Illustrated Speedway News: National Tom Boscher. 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