[Grocery Guy]

Originally Posted by ISF A huge shout out should go also to Justin McCoy. I believe his partnership with the Izzo's was much of the impetus for the reopening of La Salle. Not sure this all would have happened without the involvement of Justin and his wife. Just for the record, Justin hails from Streator, IL and is the great nephew of midget standout, the late Bob Tattersall, who was also from Streator. To get this thread somewhat on topic, there is hope that La Salle could become a regular yearly venue for BMARA and/or MARA. It's strategically located for Badger and it's a safe bet that the Badger/MARA midgets would put on an exemplary show at La Salle. Let's hope it happens with some success in the future.

Thanks for this update! Streator is my hometown, so I was thrilled to see a businessman like Justin step up to help Tony and his family. I'm sure they and other put hundreds of hours to get the track back into racing condition and a schedule put together. I had no idea about the Bob Tattersall connection. Very nice.

Kevin Kovac wrote a great article on Dirt on Dirt about the connection between Tony and Justin. Hopefully you got to read it. Amazing when good minds start working together.

[chathamracefan]

Originally Posted by 767 very good racing last night! That track looks like it would put on a great sprint car race! First time I had ever watched an event here. They did a great job bringing it back. Hard to beat that 32 in his home state.

It does put on great sprint car action. They used to have a race late in the year that was $5k to win late models & $5k to win wing sprints. Usually drew at least 30 of each. Went to it a couple times. Was a very good show. Outlaws also used to put on some bangers there in the early 2000's. Place sort of reminds me of a bigger Jacksonville (not banked as much) & races real well.

[ISF]

There actually was a racetrack on the exact plot of land that contains the present day track. That track began operations in 1948 as Tri-County Speedway and was host to mainly midget racing prior to closing sometime in the mid 1950's. After the original racetrack was done away with a drive-in theater was built on the property in the 1950's and closed sometime in the 1970's and the property laid basically dormant until Tommy Glynn built the present day track that opened in 1986.

The aforementioned late season sprint car event was/is the Bill Waite Jr. Memorial that included the IRA winged sprint cars and the Badger Midgets. At that time the midgets generally put on a great show but later years the Badger guys weren't included and the dirt late models and modified's took their place.

The Bill Waite Jr. Memorial is again on the La Salle Speedway schedule featuring the MOWA and IRA winged sprint cars as well as the Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars which are a crate engine sprint division.

IIRC Sammy Swindell got dinged pretty bad during one of the WoO's Sprint Car events back in the day at La Salle. The track exit opening in the retaining wall was located in turn #3 and Sammy hit it a ton during qualifications, I believe. A couple of dirt late models had some nasty dust-ups in the same area. That's exit opening was closed off quite a while back.

[kendirt]

Originally Posted by ISF There actually was a racetrack on the exact plot of land that contains the present day track. That track began operations in 1948 as Tri-County Speedway and was host to mainly midget racing prior to closing sometime in the mid 1950's. After the original racetrack was done away with a drive-in theater was built on the property in the 1950's and closed sometime in the 1970's and the property laid basically dormant until Tommy Glynn built the present day track that opened in 1986. The aforementioned late season sprint car event was/is the Bill Waite Jr. Memorial that included the IRA winged sprint cars and the Badger Midgets. At that time the midgets generally put on a great show but later years the Badger guys weren't included and the dirt late models and modified's took their place. The Bill Waite Jr. Memorial is again on the La Salle Speedway schedule featuring the MOWA and IRA winged sprint cars as well as the Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars which are a crate engine sprint division. IIRC Sammy Swindell got dinged pretty bad during one of the WoO's Sprint Car events back in the day at La Salle. The track exit opening in the retaining wall was located in turn #3 and Sammy hit it a ton during qualifications, I believe. A couple of dirt late models had some nasty dust-ups in the same area. That's exit opening was closed off quite a while back.

I ran the Badger portion of the 2016 Bill Waite at LaSalle. Badger was there again in 2017, but I didn't go. WingLESS was added in 2018 IIRC.

Our 2016 feature was truly epic.

I chalked Badger being replaced by WingLESS up to them bringing a similar car count with a significantly lower purse. I'm sure IRA lobbied for it as well.

[jason88cubs]

First time at la salle and spoon

Both great

Being in the pits at spoon is amazing

Also leaving the track a little after 9 after late model feature? Heck yes. Need more of that

[chathamracefan]

Originally Posted by jason88cubs First time at la salle and spoon Both great Being in the pits at spoon is amazing Also leaving the track a little after 9 after late model feature? Heck yes. Need more of that

Did you get all the dirt out of your crevices last night? Great night at Spoon but I was sitting down low with some friends that couldn't climb too high & we ate the gritty river dirt all night. Thank God for goggles. Spoon really is a hidden gem. Gets more pub these days thanks to streaming & getting a few sanctioned races but lots of people still don't know about it. Kind of has an out in the boondocks feel with being hidden back in the trees.

[767]

I'd love to see High Limit run this same schedule.

The late models are 2 for 2 on good shows.

[nathans1012]

2 damn good races down and 3 good races to go for Illinois Speedweek.
I've seen races at all 5 of the track's multiple times.
All 5 tracks have a different track surface and produce great racing. This is a great week of dirt racing for super late model and open wheel modified fans.

[toprow1]

$50 camp fee at Lasalle, $75 at Eldora. I stayed in Indiana.

[jason88cubs]

Interesting before la salle they discussed ending flo night after last year but promoters and drivers wanted it to keep going

At lincoln right now. Another good crowd