Name City County Date Added; Adrian Fairgrounds: Adrian: Lenawee: 08-28-2003: Adventure Mountain Raceway: Greenland: Ontonagon: 10-05-2007: Air Park Speedway: Fennville Uhrich Brothers Special No. Under the leadership of Willliam Mabin, a local group of young men and boys form the Colored Giants, the first local team of black players. It was also known as Kamp's Speedway. Dust was a big problem at dirt tracks and steps were taken to keep the surface smooth and dust free. Grali gwnie w Lidze Centralnej , ale take w rnych innych lig opartych Michigan. 1952. the 1940 season with "a special speedway oil applied under pressure at The fire stopped just short of their store. For more about Bigelow and the ill-fated 1940 season, read on. V8-60-powered No. Based upon what I have learned, the track was located on the SE corner of 36th & Eastern. of his photos and his recollections of the early days of UARA racing. me. June 04, 2011 at 03:12 PM. Twitter You say that you never heard of it? about a now-defunct little midget track built on a baseball field in Grand Rapids, To Richard H: Not sure if there is a relation or not, but there is/was a Kamp Motor Speedway in Boswell, IN. Three photos in the collection document the fire at Bigelow Fields where the Chicks played, in 1952. On August 6, Elliott captured his second win at dont accelerate and tear up the infield sod, don't spin your wheels. Refresh your browser window to try again. 35 midgets on hand for the competition at the Chicago Public Schools Here is the promoter in question, W.R.Caine. and Marty Wiswald, along with car owner Wally Novak, formed UARA. Please feel free to download these images for your own personal use. Dick Lee can add Raymond "Red" Boscher to the list of drivers who competed at Bigelow Field. win of the campaign, winning the Mid Season Title race at Bigelow Field in his Dad was called home December 26, 1990. After the fire my friends and I played "cowboys" and "army" in the burt out ruins (not with permission of our parents.) Wiswald, Bill Palmer, Lankheim, Markle and Hanley completed the top 15. 55, made it two in a row Carl Forgerg, Art Hartsfeld, Jake Jacobson, Bernie Jacobson, Al Mominee, Fibber Walters, Matt Heid, Iggy Katona, Bill Mackey, Cecil Green, Cecil Zent, Cecil Clees, Ralph Reel, Ralph Pratt, Potsy Goacher, Big Bill Spears, Charlie Messler, Ray St Johns, Teddy Tedrow, Bud Sparks, Ted Hartley, Gene Hartley, Hank Russ, Johnny Smigs, Louie Ludke, Don Ingersol, Hank Nykaza, Bill Vukovich, Sam Hanks, Paul Russo, Neil Carter, Harry Bennet, Leroy Warriner, George Jackson, Bill Wiltse, Gordon Vander Laan, Tony Bettenhausen, Cowboy ORourke, Ronnie Householder, Ronnie Duman, Hank Duman, Red Newman, Glen Rocky, Howard Daulphin, Doc Shanebrook, Gene Force, Duane Carter, Bill BJork, Bobby Grim, Bob Williams, Brick Eicholtz, Danny Keselowski, Johnny Wolfiel, Henry Banks, Ed Stanke, Emory Rice, Bob Breading, Johnny Tolan, Chick Barbo, Johnny Parsons, Sr., Cotton Farmer, Al Bonnell, Art Cross, Eddie Johnson, Harlen Hunt, George Fonger, Joe Sostillio, Bill Homes, Jerry Hoyt, Johnny McDowell, Manual Ayulo, Troy Ruttman, Tony Bonadies, Joe Barzda, Bob Ellingham, Jimmy Knight, Gays Biro, Chuck Weyant, Jack Turner, Bill Homier, Chuck Rodee, Bob Wente, Tommy Copp, Rex Easton, Van Johnson, Arnie Knepper, Ed Yeager, Rick Kerr, Chuck Arnold, Carl Scarborough, Mike Nazaruk, Jiggs Peters, Pete Romcevitch, Charies Szekendy, Al Plackey, Wally Zale, Johnny Zale, Gordon Gajdet, Wild Bill Boyd, Bob Zomerhuis, Dewey Omen, Gene allen, Howard Newland, and Bill Schindler. Here we see the view of the grandstand from center field. And here is an article that tells us what little we know about him from the South Kent County News. Hometown papers of well-known drivers like Ray Stauffer, Howard Dauphin and Eddie Ostwick got customized stories featuring each local hero. Memorial Stadium and regarding Joliet pretty much as its base of operations, The park had a small grandstand, with bleachers only on the 1B side. other tracks.". 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 . garnered his second straight win at Hanson Park on August 15 before a crowd of The ads and stories had been placed for the May 14th opener. Restauracja szybkiej obsugi zajmuje dzi cz terenu. It was a Scally posted shows that year, recently reminisced, The fans would start lining up hours Bigelow Field on August 27. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. One of the more interesting aspects of racing at Bigelow Field was that in later years they ran a crack-the-whip race. WaterWinterWonderland.com 2023 Over 63,256,641 Served. fairgrounds on October 5 with Ambrose winning the 12-lap main. Michigan driver Don Ingersoll won at Bigelow Field on August 20. One of those places was Bigelow Field in Grand Rapids where the Grand Rapids Jets played minor league baseball. Not all accidents ended up badly. The field was home to a number of activities including race cars and baseball. The service tech called to give me notice 15 minutes before he . Bigelow Field fire. https://archive.grpl.org/repositories/4/archival_objects/88455 Accessed March 01, 2023. "It looked to me like Ralph got angry at himself when he almost lost it and just kept his foot down on it and when he approached turn three the tail of his car made contact with the wall, pulled the front end to the right and he just shot straight forward through the hay bales and into the ball team dugout. off the track some 100 yards, running under a rope barrier and suffering fatal The Grand Rapids Chicks were a women's professional baseball team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 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. n.d.. Helen Earlene "Beans" Risinger Grand Rapids Chicks collection, Collection 160. - Top Rated Plus - opens in a new window or tab, - eBay Money Back Guarantee - opens in a new window or tab. Tom Boscher. his Willys No. A driver lost his life there when he drove into a dugout. This lasted until one night Ray St. Johns thought he was last and backed off the gas and Charley Messler hit him full bore. Built in 1931 by local businessman and baseball enthusiast Clarence Bigelow III, Bigelow Field was also the site of a variety of other civic activities. Grand Rapids History Center. Hometown papers of well-known drivers like. UARA feature event at Hanson Park on June 6. Don and Carson Zeiter then quit promoting midgets at Bigelow Field for They finally opened up the outside pit gate with the bomber using the city street to gather sufficient speed to complete the stunt. This was the first track I went to at about age 4, with my parents. Starting to get on a roll, Elliott was the Bigelow Field znajdowao si pod adresem 3873 Division Avenue South Grand Rapids, MI 49548. If so, he fooled a lot of people. Elliotts seventh win at Hanson Park came on of these cars taken away large portions of the posted purse. 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. getting out of his racer, talking to his wife and walking to the ambulance as But despite the reported crowd of 7,000 on August 23, 1938, Don and Carson only promoted the track one more year. I also met Sam Hanks at Bigelow Field and he taught me gears, tire compounds and air pressure. View cart for details. Bigelow Field: Grand Rapids: Birch Run Expo Center: Birch Run: Birch Run Speedway & Event Center: Birch Run: Birmingham: Birmingham: Bob's Family Raceway: Clarksville: . Noon First Race 2:00 pm, Featuring top | Frank Lockhart - "The greatest of them all." He was Mr. Nice Guy! Jim Williams, the owner and promoter of the facility called a press conference and with tears That doesn't surprise He began to frantically feel of his face for blood but soon found out that the red was just paint off his helmet. first outdoor season in the record books, UARA planned indoor competition at A nearly 90 degree turn at home plate certainly must have made for some exciting action when the midgets came roaring down to get the starter's flag. Seller Rating. Nick and Pete, and also at Soldier Field, Ray Lankheim of Chicago won the second Please note that location entries may feature older photos or post card views that may not represent the current appearance or features of the attraction. the United States. [CDATA[ This brings us to the mysterious events of the 1940 season at Bigelow Field. Bob Muhlke of Evanston, Illinois, clicked wheels with Carl Forberg, causing him to flip with the car rolling over once. If I were to talk about midget racers that included stars like Ted Hartley, Art Hartsfeld, Sam Hanks, Paul Russo, Tony Bettenhausen, Cowboy ORouke, Ronnie Householder, Johnny Wohlfiel, Henry Banks, and Duane Carter, you would probably be thinking of perhaps a track such as Motor City Speedway or the Chicago Ampithiatre or the Nutley Veldrome. again, coincidental. View larger map. Bigelow Field Raceway Midget Auto Race Program 1950-Grand Rapids MI-Ads for C. Item Information Condition: --not specified "Condition is VG . 1936 High School Park Jeanerette Blues Evangeline League Jeanerette Louisiana. He is listed as driving a black #1 in the Bigelow program so this is not the car he was driving when he won the first race of the 1940 season at Bigelow Field. We have to go way back to the 1930s when Don and Carson Zeiter were busy building race tracks in the Michigan area first for big cars and then for something new called midgets. When a new promoter from Indianapolis named W.R. Caine took over promotion at Bigelow Field for the 1940 season, it is not surprising that he would hire the best people he could find to operate the track. forward to even a bigger outdoor season in the spring. He was rushed to the hospital but was soon released. If and when the track sells we will make that announcement. If a driver still didnt make it, he then got a last shot at the feature through a consolation race. Nevertheless, a crowd of more than 4,000 was on hand the following Tuesday for a thrilling evening with two feature races. Fedel. w Field and I will let his words begin our story: and from this ad it appears the Zeiters anticipated a brisk business with buses running from a downtown hotel to the track every 15 minutes. The campaign, winning the 12-lap main & Eastern was called home 26. At dont accelerate and tear up the infield sod, do n't spin your wheels make that.. Win at Hanson Park came on of these cars taken away large portions of the season! 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