Immediate Release-50th Federated-Southern
Illinois 100 at DuQuoin State Fair has Live TV, NASCAR
Flavor!!!
Federated Auto Parts Presents
50th Running
Southern Illinois 100
Automobile Racing Club of America
100-Mile National Championship Stock Car Race
LABOR DAY!
Monday September 2, 2002 DuQuoin State Fairgrounds DuQuoin, Illinois
NASCAR Stars, Top ARCA Drivers, Local Heroes
to Battle before Live National TV Audience
for Federated Auto Parts-Southern Illinois 100 Trophy!!!!!
Macon, Il August 26, 2002
The eyes of the racing world traditionally turn to a one mile circle of dirt carved out of an old strip mine each Labor Day weekend, and this year even more eyes throughout the world will be able to watch the 50th running of the Federated Auto Parts-Southern Illinois 100. Live national television returns in the form of a Speedchannel telecast of the Automobile Racing Club of America RE/MAX Series event at the beautiful DuQuoin State Fairgrounds. This is the 20th consecutive year ARCA has sanctioned the race, and the first live network telecast of an auto racing event from DuQuoin in twenty three years.
Over forty of ARCA’s finest men and machines are slated to make the trip to the park-like setting in southern Illinois for the 100-mile go-round that marks the 20th year of ARCA sanction at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds. The 2002 race is the 52nd national championship stock car event to be held on the "Magic Mile", and the 51st held during the DuQuoin State Fair.
The number of entries for this year’s Federated-Southern Illinois 100 hinges upon what happens during the NASCAR Southern 500 at Darlington, South Carolina. If there are no weather problems and no injuries from accidents, some NASCAR personnel are again expected to make the trip to DuQuoin.
The lure of racing on the southern Illinois dirt was too much to resist for Fenton, Missouri native Ken Schrader. Schrader, presently the driver of the M&Ms Pontiac in the Winston Cup series returned last year to DuQuoin after a fifteen year absence. Top ten finishes in the UMP Summernational late model event in June and the Southern Illinois 100 last Labor Day showed Schrader hasn’t lost his touch on the one-mile ovals. Schrader has won on the mile at Springfield in three different types of machines, and on the Indiana State Fair mile in four different types of machines. DuQuoin is the only one mile fairground dirt track in the Midwest that has eluded Schrader’s grasp, ironically the "Magic Mile" is the one closest to his hometown and the one on which he made his USAC Stock Car debut in 1979. Ken is looking forward to the challenge DuQuoin presents, he was the first driver to file an entry for this year’s race.
Winston Cup car owner Andy Petree has some driving experience in the NASCAR Truck and Busch series, as well as being a championship winning crew chief in the Richard Childress organization for the late Dale Earnhardt. But he had nothing like the experience he gained last year in his first trip to the "Magic Mile", his first appearance on a one-mile dirt track. Andy qualified well and ran the entire distance for a top ten finish, and was so delighted with the hospitality he immediately announced he would return for 2002!
Petree has entered two cars at DuQuoin, one Chevrolet for himself and another that has no driver listed. Rumors are running rampant about who that driver might be, and indications have been that at least one and as many as three current or former Winston Cup drivers are contemplating the open Petree ride. Depending on their schedules and the Darlington race, there could be more NASCAR stars making a surprise visit to DuQuoin.
The NASCAR contingent will have their hands full with the ARCA RE/MAX touring brigade as the top ten in ARCA RE/MAX points are entered for the Federated-Southern Illinois 100. The ARCA touring troops are led once again by defending ARCA champ and defending race winner Frank Kimmel of Jeffersonville, Indiana.
Kimmel swept the Illinois dirt races last year on his way to his second ARCA RE/MAX crown, and looks for a third consecutive title this season. Kimmel won the 40th Allen crowe Memorial 100 two weeks ago at Springfield in dominating fashion, leading 84 of the 100 laps and taking home over $18,000 out of a record purse, and increased his point lead toward a third consecutive ARCA crown. Kimmel has five victories in the Advance Auto Parts Ford Taurus, with associate sponsorship from Pork, the other white meat. Frank has added motivation in this year's race, he will be looking to end General Motors domination at DuQuoin as GM products have won the last twenty-five consecutive stock car races on the "Magic Mile".
Kimmel tangled with fellow Indiana driver and current rookie sensation Chad Blount of Walkerton, Indiana on the last lap of the Nashville race August 9, setting off some post race fireworks between the crews. Blount has two wins in his rookie year, driving one of the few Dodge products on the circuit. Chad got a somewhat rude introduction to the dirt miles at Springfield, after a strong run a spin later in the event forced him back in the pack.
Jason Jarrett, son of 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup champ Dale Jarrett and grandson of two time NASCAR champ Ned Jarrett, had no dirt experience prior to 2001. But Jason fell in love with the dirt at Springfield last August, sitting on the outside of the front row and ending the day third. Jason got some very good advice from grandpa Ned, who posted nearly half of his NASCAR wins on the dirt. The driver of the BioMet Pontiacs returns third in ARCA points and looking for his first dirt track win. Look for the possibility that Jason’s dad might be on hand race day observing his son.
The lure of the dirt got to Jason’s other mentor as well, ageless veteran Red Farmer is coming out of semi-retirement to attempt to become the oldest race winner in ARCA history. Reportedly 71 years of age, Farmer has several ARCA starts to his credit and is the first member of racing’s "Alabama Gang" (consisting of Bobby and Donnie Allison, Farmer and the late Neil Bonnett) to visit DuQuoin since the late Davey Allison in the mid eighties. Farmer served as a mentor to Davey and his brother the late Clifford Allison as they were coming through the ranks. Farmer now competes in late model races in Kentucky, but the opportunity to compete on the fairground dirt was too good to pass up. Red does have some experience on mile dirt tracks, he raced at the defunct Lakewood, Georgia track in the fifties and his career goes back to the beginning of NASCAR!
Other ARCA regulars testing the dirt will be Mark Gibson of Georgia, Andy Belmont of Pennsylvania, Andy’s brother Kevin in a car owned by NASCAR legend James Hylton, rookie Eric Martin of Tennessee, Ron Cox of Tennessee and Chuck Weber of Texas. Cox had a very strong run at Springfield in the ARCA 50th anniversary car, but a late race tangle with Billy Thomas casued a lot of rear end damage to his Pontiac. Late model standout Robert "The Little Giant" Burroughs of Mississippi has a Pontiac at his disposal.
Rookie Chase Montgomery of Tennessee is one of the young guns in the ARCA series, the 18-year old recorded a third recently at the Nashville Superspeedway. Two second generation drivers also pull into southern Illinois as well. Billy Venturini is the son of former ARCA champ Bill Venturini, himself a former USAC stock car driver. Todd Bowsher’s dad Jack is a former ARCA champ and USAC driver as well, and a former Southern Illinois 100 champion. Jack owns the Ford’s driven by Todd, and has perhaps the most unique hauler on the circuit. Jack’s hauler was formerly owned by good friend A.J. Foyt (Bowsher furnished factory Fords to Foyt during the ‘60’s on the USAC stock car trail) and is still painted in the Foyt Racing/Copenhagen colors!
Four-time Southern Illinois 100 winner Billy Thomas of Phenix City, Alabama is one of the favorites to challenge the ARCA regulars again this year. Thomas moved from 36th to the lead at Springfield two weeks ago, however his car was heavily damaged in a wreck. Thomas is the all-time stock car lap leader at DuQuoin and the popular driver apparently has made repairs to the Joe Miller Chevrolet, and filed an entry this week.
Sadly, one driver who will not be here is DuQuoin’s grand stock car champion, Dean Roper of Fair Grove, Missouri. Roper was a six-time winner at DuQuoin, five times during Labor Day weekend. Dean passed away during last year’s Allen Crowe Memorial at Springfield, the victim of a heart attack. He was trying to become the oldest race winner in ARCA history, and is the oldest winner of the Southern Illinois 100, his 1994 victory came at age 55. In his memory, ARCA has renamed the pole award the Old Milwaukee Dean Roper Pole Award.
Local drivers continue their battle to post a victory in the Federated-Southern Illinois 100. No driver from the southern part of the state has won one of the 100-mile events, the closest would be Peoria, Illinois’ Rick O’Brien who won the 1982 race.
The Illinois platoon is led by Centralia’s Joe Cooksey in a Chevrolet. The cheers for Cooksey blew the lid off the DuQuoin State Fair grandstand in 2000 when he became the first southern Illinois driver to win the pole for a stock car race at DuQuoin. Cooksey ran very well at Springfield, coming from 31st to fourth at the end making Joe one of the favorites for the Federated 100. Cooksey has raced part-time in the NASCAR Busch series the last few years, but finds time to return to perhaps his favorite venue.
Other Illinois drivers include the third place finisher at Springfield Bob Strait from Mokena, driving for the Bill Hendren team that used to field cars for popular El Paso driver Ken Rowley, Strait’s teammate Chris Geier, Bloomington’s Eric Smith, Carlyle’s Charlie Schaefer, Peoria's Todd Coon and 16 year old Justin Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois in a car . Justin is the youngest driver in the history of the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals to make it’s main event, he ran very well at Springfield and his car is owned by his racing hero, Ken Schrader.
Another Illinois driver sure to draw fans to the "Magic Mile" is DuQuoin's own Brian Winters, who has a new Ford Taurus at his disposal. Winters is thought to be the first hometown driver ever to file an entry for the ARCA event at DuQuoin.
Area drivers include Doug Keller and Jim Eubanks of Missouri, and Dennis English of Benton, Kentucky. Had Kimmel dropped out Keller would have won the Springfield event two weeks ago, he rode the cushion from the back of the pack to take second at the end.
One local driver who is a former ARCA champ has decided to come out of retirement, for at least this race. Sturgis, Kentucky’s Bill Baird was the 1999 ARCA champ and has one win on the dirt mile at Springfield. Bill sold most of his equipment in the past two years, but kept one car and is dusting it off in preparation for the race at DuQuoin.
Baird made last year’s Southern Illinois 100 his lone start on the dirt, joining a stellar field for the 49th Southern Illinois 100.
A warm and sunny day greeted a near sell out crowd, attracted by the ARCA regulars, the local drivers, and the addition of Andy Petree, Tony Stewart and Ken Schrader. The event drew so much interest that ESPN’s RPM Tonite racing news program called the fairgrounds for the results of the event.
The track crew had the "Magic Mile" in exceptional condition, the track was heavy in practice and developed a real cushion. Stewart looked very fast as did Schrader in the Federated Pontiac. Petree followed Schrader for several laps in practice, learning the proper line.
Missourian Doug Keller caused murmurs in the crowd when he ripped off a 34.947 lap as the second qualifier, just a tick off the track record set in 1992 by Ben Hess. Stewart rolled out 7th, and smashed the record with a lap of 34.516, 104.299 miles an hour.
When the Southern Illinois 100 lined up last Labor Day, an estimated 15,000 people were in attendance waiting to see if Ken Schrader could get his first win at DuQuoin, if Tony Stewart could do as well on the "Magic Mile" in a stock car as he did in a champ dirt car, or if Joe Cooksey could become the first southern Illinois driver in 52 years to win the 100-mile stock car race during the fair.
Stewart and Keller made up the front row, followed by Schaefer and Petree, Tom Eriksen and Eric Smith, Robert Burroughs and Schrader, Strait and Donny Morelock. Cooksey started 11th, with Billy Thomas 12th, Kimmel 16th and Baird 19th.
Keller got the jump on Stewart at the start, but Tony rode the cushion for the lead by lap 2. Stewart led until lap 19, when Jason Jarrett moved to the front for four laps. Kimmel led for four laps, before Stewart moved back in front on lap 27. On lap 40, Stewart chose to pit and handed the lead to Kimmel, which Frank never relinquished. But the drama for the day wasn’t over.
Stewart, moving back through the pack, tangled with Bob Strait sending Strait hard into the turn 4 wall, bringing a vocal crowd reaction as an enraged Strait exited the car. Stewart had significant damage to the right front, and a flat tire. The ensuing pit stop dropped him to the back of the pack.
Kimmel continued to lead, with Stewart moving up through the pack. A lap 88 caution allowed Stewart to close in, and on the ensuing restart he began to pick off more cars. By the end, Stewart had moved to second and was rapidly closing on Kimmel, a last lap try for the lead fell short at the line and Kimmel had his third win in the last four ARCA dirt races.
Stewart was so thrilled with the day that he immediately asked when the next ARCA dirt race was, and Petree promised to return the next year!
The 2001 Southern Illinois 100 proved DuQuoin’s race track isn’t called the "Magic Mile" for nothing. The magic began long before the track was built, when local Coca Cola executive Bill Hayes acquired a former strip mine on the south side of DuQuoin. Hayes, an aficionado of horse racing, felt that the citizens of southern Illinois needed and deserved a fair in the same stature of the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. Hayes also felt that the trip to Springfield was prohibitve for southern Illinois residents, so they were unable to enjoy the sights and sounds a fair provides. The first DuQuoin State Fair was held in 1923, with a half mile track and small grandstand for harness racing.
Shortly after World War II, the Hayes family decided to build a new one-mile track and grandstand on some additional land that had been obtained. By this time, hayes knew the value of auto racing as a gate attraction for any fair, so a dual purpose facility was built with grandstand seating for nearly 18,000. The first auto race was held in 1947, a sprint car event won by Jimmy Wilburn. Two champ car races were held in 1948, the latter taking the life of Ted Horn.
Stock cars were added in 1950, with Californian Jay Frank winning the 100-mile contest. Pushed aside for a second champ car event and 100-mile midget races, the stocks didn’t return until 1954, when Chicago’s Don O’Dell became the first Illinois driver to win a DuQuoin stock car race.
Since then, the list of stock car drivers to win, much less compete at DuQuoin would fill several coffee table books. Jimmy Bryan became the first driver to win in champ cars and stock cars on the mile when he won the 1957 USAC stock car race, A.J. Foyt followed suit in 1969. "Golden Boy" Fred Lorenzen took two events before heading south to NASCAR, while popular USAC drivers Norm Nelson, Paul Goldsmith, Don White, Butch Hartman and Jack Bowsher won 100-mile races during the fair.
Rusty Wallace bested Foyt and a star studded field in 1979 to take his only win, while Sal Tovella won the 1980 race. Two hundred miles in 1984 made the DuQuoin stock car event the longest dirt race in the nation, and the last USAC stock car race in history. Rookie Dave Goldsberry won on the last lap, winning the USAC title at the same time.
ARCA came on board in 1983 to co-sanction with USAC. Bob Keselowski won two events, while Bob Strait won a rain-shortened event in 1991. By 1992, the race had been reduced to 250 kilometers, and back to it’s original 100 mile distance in 1996. Bob Hill won for the second time in that 1996 race, while Billy Thomas won three of the next four.
Some of NASCAR's best found the lure of DuQuoin too much to resist, in addition to Stewart, Schrader, Rusty Wallace and Fred Lorenzen, NASCAR drivers such as Mike Wallace, Alan Kulwicki, Dick Trickle and Jeremy Mayfield have all made an appearance at the DuQuoin State Fair.
The "Magic Mile" underwent a major facelift in 1998, new bleachers were built and a new hub rail installed. A new concrete wall was in place by 2000, and the MUSCO lighting system completed last year.
Labor Day marks the fifty-third anniversary of stock car racing on the "Magic Mile", and it doesn’t appear to be losing any popularity in coal country. Monday will begin earlier than usual, with ARCA practice from 8 to 9. Old Milwaukee pole qualifying is scheduled to begin at 10:00 and drivers will shoot for Tony Stewart’s one lap record of 34.516 (104.299). Live television mandates a 12 noon start for the Southern Illinois 100, and forty drivers will be shooting for a record first prize from a record purse. The 100 mile ARCA record could be in jeopardy, set here in 1983 by Dean Roper at 1:06.35 or 90.101 miles an hour. The 100-mile track record was set in 1972 by former ARCA star Jack Bowsher at 95.432 miles an hour (1:02:52.34).
UMP Modifieds will accompany the ARCA stock cars, the semi-feature and the 20-mile Oldani Memorial are slated for Labor Day. Defending champion of the Oldani Memorial is Missouri's Brian Collins who won last year's thriller.
Promoter Bob Sargent is urging fans to buy tickets in advance, in anticipation of a large crowd and a starting time moved up by over an hour to accomodate the Speedchannel broadcast.
Tickets can be obtained at the DuQuoin State Fair box office, Ticketmaster outlets, or at 217-764-3200. The Track Enterprises website can be found at www.trackenterprises.com.
