United Midget Auto Racing Association (UMARA) announcer Tom Arthur wrote the following for www.chicagolandautoracing.com
JOLIET MEMORIAL STADIUM - A HISTORY
By Tom Arthur, Sr.
"Three miles west of Joliet", so said the advertising for the earliest United Auto Racing Association (UARA) midget auto races. That was the location of the Joliet Memorial Stadium built by the Joliet Park District in 1951 and opened to auto racing in 1952. With the ever expanding boundaries of the City of Joliet, the Stadium now sits closer to 10 miles from the western boundary of the city.
Built for the purpose of hosting high school and college football as well as track and field events, the Stadium seats 10,000 fans and has seen that capacity met many times over the years for championship football teams, and occasionally for midget racing! The cinder track surrounding the football field is 440 yards for runners, multiplied by three feet per yard that equals 1320 feet - a quarter mile and the perfect size for midgets.
The cinder surface was common for track and field facilities in those days. The thriving industrial base in Joliet provided a seemingly unending, low cost source to maintain the surface, at least until the midgets started running races on the loose substance. To quote former UARA official Paul Kerber from the association’s 1967 yearbook, "Any of the old timers will agree that if you weren't in front it was like both barrels of a shotgun blasting you with rock salt.” With the open face helmets of the day, most of the lost cinders were most likely embedded in the faces of the drivers from second on back.
In 1953, clay was placed on top of the cinders. Again quoting Mr. Kerber, "No more cinder blasts, until the middle of the feature, when the mighty midgets would peel the clay off in spots". The track was first paved in 1964 and resurfaced in 1979. The Stadium would host weekly midget races through 1985, 1952 - 1980 under the UARA banner and 1981 - 1985 with World of Outlaw Midgets (WoOM) sanction. In 1986, WoOM ceased operation midseason, breaking the weekly racing streak at 33 years. Mini Stocks were a popular addition for several seasons.
In 1987 Aaron Willis founded the United Midget Auto Racing Association (UMARA), but weekly racing was done until 1990, when the Raceway Kart Association ran on a regular basis until 1995. Many of the kart drivers have made their mark since those days. Bill Kloster in stock cars, David Gough, Brandon Hartsell, Reid Ceponis, Matt Estep, David Bryne and more in midgets. These drivers can add their name to the list of drivers who can say they "ran at the Stadium" -- Ray Elliot, Jigger Sirois, Mel Kenyon, Tony Bettenhausen, Don Vogler, Bob Richards, Roger West, Danny and George Kladis, Henry and Danny Pens, Dennis Devea, Bruce Field and so many more.
Stadium Champions were crowned, but the list is incomplete. 1976 - Jim Gates, 1977 - Bob Kammerer, 1978 - Don Carter, Jr., 1979 - Tom Corcoran, 1980 - Bob Richards, 1981 - Mack McClellan (?), 1982 - Bob Richards, 1983 - Jim Gates, 1984 - Don Carter, Jr. Some of these drivers won the title under the Joliet Racing Association (Leo Melcher and Chuck O'Day) and the later years under WoOM.
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