Notes:
1956
Last season of operation—promoted by Eddy Anderson and Frank Ricar, races ever Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday night… Bill Van Allen wins season-opening feature on 519/56 ahead of Tom Saneau of Pontiac, Mich., Bill (or Art) Seckman of Chicago and Bob Button.
…Bill Van Allen wins 25 lapper on 6/2/56 ahead of Kenny Boyer and Art Seckman
…Johnny Kapovich wins 25-lap feature over Arnie Gardner and Bill Van Allen on 6/7/56.
…Art Seckman wins 25-lap feature on 6/14/56 ahead of Bill Van Allen and Bob Perrine.
…Bill Van Allen wins 50-lap Spring Championship ahead of Bob Perrine and Art Seckman on 6/23/56.
…Hal Ruyle wins 25 lapper on 6/30/56.
…Stan Berent of Tampa, Fla. wins 50-lap Mid Season Championship over Johnny Kapovich and Gene Crowe on 7/28/56.
…Bob Perrine wins on 7/31, 8/2 and 8/11
…Art Seckman wins on 8/4. Bob Perrine was second, Gene Crowe third.
…Al Goffin wins “sportsman strictly stock” feature on 8/14.
…Turtle Thompson wins “sportsman strictly stock” feature on 8/16.
…Rained out on 8/18.
…scheduled for 8/21 - ?
…8/23 – cancelled – storm
…8/25 – races postponed because of damage to electrical system from Thursday’s storm
…by October, large sign in front of property reads: “For Sale or Lease, Will Build to Suit”
1955
Track champion Tom Pistone, Gene Marmor, Larry Odo and Bill Lutz were feature winners. Lutz and his 1955 Ford convertible won the 100-lap season finale on 8/7/55 ahead of Roy Czach and Larry Odo.
1954
Red Duvall—Champion
Bill Van Allen won 25-lap season opener on 4/18/54 over Bill Brown and Gene Crowe. Legs Whitcomb - 12-lap consi winner.
4/25/54—Hal Ruyle
5/2/54—Rained out
5/9/54—Bob Button
5/16/54—Hal Ruyle
5/17/54—Red Duvall (first win of the season)
5/22/54—Gary Doodeman (fifth different winner)
5/23/54—Bob Tatersall (UARA Season Opener)
5/25/54—Red Duvall (win #2)
5/29/54—Hal Ruyle (win #2)
5/20/54—Willie Wilson (UARA)
6/5/54—Red Duvall was the winner of 100-lap Spring Championship race over “Happy Dan” Walters, Harry Moyer, Legs Whitcomb, Bill Van Allen and Kenny Boyer.
6/6/54—Tony Lenti (UARA)
Bob Button—winner
Bill Van Allen—winner
Red Duvall—winner
6/15/54—Duvall (win #4 in ’47 Packard)
7/3/54—Bill Van Allen (win #5, 3 straight)
No more UARA midgets
7/5/54—Mal Lane (53 Packard – 50-lap late model race, 2. Ruyle, 3. Harry Moyer)
7/10/54—Red Duvall (win #5, points leader)
7/17/54—Van Allen (win #8, 3 straight)
7/22/54—Van Allen (win #9, four-in-a-row
7/24/54—Bob Button (win #3, 51 Olds, stops Van Allen streak at 4)
7/27/54—Bill Clemans (win #1, 100-lap July Championship, 40 Ford #79, 2. Duvall, 3. Van Allen 4. Boyer, 5. Whitcomb)
8/10/54—Bill Clemans (win #2)
8.14.54—Bob Button (win #6, 50-laps, 2. Duvall, 3. Clemans—now running Tuesday and Saturdays only)
8/21/54—Ken Boyer (win #1 – 10th different winner) and Red Duvall (win #6)
8/25/54—Bob Button (win #7)
8/28/54—Bill Van Allen (win#10 – ends slump)
Rest of year????
1953
Track champion Bill Van Allen, Bill Clemans and Hal Ruyle among top feature winners. Bill Clemans win 100-lap season finale on October 3 over Hal Ruyle, Bill Van Allen, Fred Kasten, Larry Odo and Nick Trgovich.
1952
Prior to 1952, track underwent extensive renovation and name changed to 87th Street Speedway. Eddy Anderson and Bill Yancey are the promotional team.
Bill Van Allen won the first stock car feature held at the new 87th Street Speedway on April 20, 1952. Van Allen won the 30-lap feature over Red Duvall and Haly Ruyle in front of 7,281 fans.
Bill Van Allen of Chicago wins 100-lap Spring Championship on Thursday, May 29, in his Larry Moisan ’46 Nash #6 over Gene Crowe, Red Duvall, Dick Kooyenga, Tony Bigelow and “Happy Dan” Walters.
Red Duvall won 400-lap race on Sunday afternoon, 9/28/52. The Hammond resident defeated Dick Kooyenga and Bill DiGonia. Race was first 400-lap stock car race in Chicago area. Reportedly, Duvall made two pit stops, one for a drink of water, and finished 20 laps ahead of runner up Kooyenga.
Bill Van Allen – track champion with 17 feature wins. Hal Ruyle – second in points, 14 wins
1951
Track sat idle. Girls’ Bluebirds baseball team moved to Sparta Stadium, 21st & Kostner.
1950
The Bluebirds of the National Girls Baseball League played their home games at Gill Stadium.
1949
UARA midgets and, later, stock cars competed during the season. Walter Johnson of Chicago won opening 25-lapUARA midget event on 6/19/49 ahead of Pete Peterson. Paul Ambrose and Raymond “Red” Boscher also among feature winners.
1948
The birthplace of weekly short track stock car racing in the Chicago area took place at Gill Stadium, a girls’ baseball field that was located on the city’s southeast side at 1111 E. 87th Street (at Greenwood Ave.) between Cottage Grove and Jeffrey avenues. The home of the all-girls, Chicago Cardinals baseball team, the small arena saw a 1/5-mile dirt track laid out inside its premises for the purpose of presenting midget auto races in 1948. The open wheel speedsters of the United Auto Racing Association (UARA) were the weekly headliners there with drivers Ray Elliott and Paul Ambrose hard to beat. Gene Hartley won the season-opening 20-lap feature on Sunday afternoon, May 23. Lou Scally of Chicago won on May 30th. Wheeling Leo Melcher’s No. 34 midget, Elliott scored seven feature wins during the 26-race schedule, which included Tuesday and Sunday night action, and was crowned the Gill Stadium champion as well as the overall UARA titlist.
As the 1948 campaign progressed, hot rod car owner Chuck Scharf and his driver Eddy Anderson persuaded track officials to have them put on an “exhibition” stock car race during intermission of a midget race. What started out as a couple of cars racing each other on the track turned into races featuring a dozen cars or so from Scharf ‘s northside of Chicago used car lot.
“Those early stock car races at Gill Stadium were something else,” reminisced Wayne Adams, who handled the announcing duties for UARA during its early days and “called” the first stock car event at Gill.
“It all started when Scharf and Anderson brought out about a dozen or so used cars from their used car lot and put on a little exhibition,” remembered Adams some five decades later. “With mostly midget drivers handling the cars, the sport took off, with fans screaming as headlights and windshields shattered, doors got smashed and fenders were knocked off. It seemed like the fans kept screaming and cheering long after the races were over.”
After several of these exhibitions, the stock cars were ready to go it alone. On Labor Day, September 6, a capacity crowd jammed into the stadium to witness the strictly “stock” races on the flat fifth mile dirt oval. Larry Johnson of Chicago, a UARA midget competitor, walked off with the top money in the 25-lap feature event. Johnson drove a 1937 Ford to the victory over Johnny Werner, Harvey Sheeler, Harold “Wild Willie” Wildhaber and Sam Koske.
Bob Meyers in a new Jeep station wagon pushed a hay bale through the infield and ended driving up on top of it and ending his racing for the evening. Bill Van Allen, Tom Cox and Harvey Sheeler, along with his brother, Ed, won 8-lap heat races, while Johnson won the 6-lap “handicap” heat. Ralph Smitt was the winner of the 15-lap semi feature. Track management planned another stock car event for Friday evening, September 17.
Ed Sheeler and his Buick won the feature race on the 17th ahead of Chet Ogrentz and Gilbert “Skippy” Michaels, Van Allen, Wildhaber and Harvey Sheeler. The following Friday night saw Van Allen and his 1940 Ford grab top honors in the 25-lap chase ahead of Bill Palmer of Chicago and Mike Relja. Wheeling a ’37 Ford, Relja was the winner on October 1, defeating Johnson and midget ace Ambrose. Palmer, another UARA pilot, was awarded the feature victory on Sunday afternoon October 10 after Relja and Bill Weed were disqualified after cutting though the inside of infield markers. Palmer closed out the season with another win on Sunday afternoon October 17, wheeling his Nelsen Hirschberg Special Ford Coupe to victory in the 30-lap main over Van Allen and Walt Schmidt.