|
About a dozen ago I sent out in search of Mellott Speedway with my son. Mellott held AAA midget races in the late 1940's- early 50's (I don't have the exact date and I'm because I can't sleep - but I'm still too tired to be precise) right after the AAA created a championship division for midgets and counted things toward the championship other than 1 mile tracks- Troy Ruttman ran there and apparently drivers who - many who lived at Lake Monticello - would decide to race there instead of Walsh Stadium in St Louis. The late Dave Cassidy told me that it had great dirt and told me a story about the first time Forrest Parker showed up there with an Offy powered midget and didn't account for the additional power and launched off the backstretch. So I head off to Mellott on a cold Sunday in the late fall - hit the town and drove around and essentially see nothing and nobody. Suddenly I saw this guy walking around the corner of his house and I rolled down the window and said "Excuse me, I know this is a reach, but would you know where the race track used to be here in the 1940's?" He said - know about it? I was the promoter. He showed me the field where it was (plowed) and then said ..."You know, I remember the first time Forrest Parker showed up in an Offy!". He said the big issue was crowd control, there was a railroad grade and people would stand on it and watch without paying.
|