After reporting on Tony Stewart’s indoor victory at the “Rumble in Fort Wayne” this past Saturday night, it got me thinking about the history of indoor midget racing. I take you back to Chicago, Illinois on November 18, 1934 when the first indoor race was held.
Just one year after midget racing began its evolution in California back in 1933, outdoor races were held in the Chicago area at the Calumet Speed Bowl. A success for both fans and drivers alike, plans were made to take the action inside.
The Midwest Indoor Auto Racing Association was formed with plans made to hold the inaugural race inside the 124th Field Artillery Armory located at 52nd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.
The Armory track was about a fifth of a mile dirt oval. Between the noise, lack of sufficient ventilation, smoke and fumes you can imagine just how cool it probably was!
Harold Shaw of Indianapolis, a veteran racer and a relief driver in the Indianapolis 500 in 1933, piloted the legendary Floyd “Pop” Dreyer’s newly created Dreyer Special to the victory in the 15-lap main event on that opening Sunday night. Leading from the start, Shaw, wheeling Dreyer’s Indian motorcycle engine-powered mount, defeated Chicago’s Jimmy Snyder in the feature.
Tragically, Shaw was killed in a sprint car crash at Jackson County Fairgrounds in Indiana in 1941. Snyder died in a midget car race in Illinois in 1939.
Jimmy Snyder
2 comments ↓
I LOVE these old school photos not to mention the stories that make them have some meaning and often bring them to life.
It reminds me of a little guy who started out at 5 years old that I used to watch at a local quarter midget race track we had here in Sunnyvale. The same little guy would come to the local meets over a couple of years in hopes of finding new blood or better yet higher caliber drivers to compete against. His father and I used to sit and cheer him on or should I say stand since nobody sits down when the little guys compete.
As time when by so did the little midget race track as it made way for a land fill project where many well known electronic companies now grace the landscape Google being one of them. On the other hand that little boy and his father continued finding places to race and he eventually found a great venue to show off his skills along some of the best in the world… His car number is the same today as it was back then… #24 and his name is Jeff.
Great stories, guys. I love these slices of racing past …
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