RAY YOUNG BIOGRAPHY

By Stan Kalwasinski

            No doubt one of the finest performances in Chicago area stock car racing, Ray Young won four 30-lap feature races in one night at Raceway Park near Blue Island during one of the track’s popular “Monza Classic” events. 

            It was Sunday night, July 12, 1964, and the then 32-year old Young was one of the top drivers in the track’s “rough and ready” late model division.  The old paved speedway measured slightly under a quarter-mile and it sometimes took and little “pushing and shoving” to get to the front. 

            Young and his S&H Radiator-sponsored 1963 ½ Ford started off the night by setting fast time during qualifications with a lap of 13.15 seconds.

            The first 30 lapper saw a field of 24 start with Young lining up last in a very competitive field with the likes of Bud Koehler, Ted Janecyk, Johnny Kapovich, Harry Simonsen, Don Oldenberg, Stash Kullman, Rich Miller and “Legs” Whitcomb among his fellow combatants. 

            Young and his white No. 99, trimmed in black and red colors, seemed to “fly by” Koehler’s ‘64 Mercury No. 77 at about the halfway mark and took the checkered flag ahead of Koehler and teammates Kapovich and Janecyk in their  Jerry’s Auto Parts Chevrolets.

            With Young again starting last, 22 cars answered the call for the second 30 with Erv Dunner pacing the event until lap 17 when Young raced into the lead.  Kapovich pressed Young the rest of the way almost getting the lead on the last lap.  Dunner held on to third ahead of Koehler and Whitcomb.

            Again coming from the back, it took Young 20 laps to get to the front in the third 30 lapper, taking the top spot away from Koehler.  Young romped to the win with Koehler and Kapovich battling for the runner-up spot with Koehler getting the edge at the finish.

            The night’s finale saw Kapovich in his red Chevy No. 37 with a white roof set the pace for 15 laps with Koehler and Young racing through traffic to get to the front.  Koehler and Young battled for the lead with Young finally getting the position on lap 26.  Koehler “popped” a tire on the last circuit, but held on to third behind Young and Kapovich.  Rich Miller and his No. 1AM Chevy finished fourth, followed by Whitcomb in Dave Marino’s Oldsmobile F85 and Kullman’s familiar Chevy No. 4U.

            The final Monza standings saw Young with a “perfect” 400 points, followed by Kapovich, Koehler, Miller, Whitcomb, Kullman, Dunner, Bill Milan and Oldenberg with Paul Bauer and Louie Panico tied for 10^th.  With his stellar performance, Young moved from fourth to second in the track’s standings, earning $600 and the Bill Von Esser Auto Parts trophy for his efforts.

            Coming from the back of the pack in a 20-24 car field to win a 30 lap feature at Raceway Park was an accomplishment in itself, but to win four 30 lappers in a single night like Ray Young did in 1964 is definitely a feat—perhaps the greatest in Chicagoland stock car racing history.

            Young was born on March 15, 1932 in Whitwell, Tenn.  He began racing stock cars at Raceway Park in 1952, wheeling a 1941 Ford coupe, No. 23L.  A few years in the Army halted Young’s racing career halted.  Racing an Oldsmobile and later a late model Studebaker Hawk, Young scored his first career feature win at Raceway Park on June 24, 1959, driving his Studebaker No. 99. 

            Young was Raceway’s late model champion in 1962, wheeling his ’57 Ford to 16 feature wins, including the track’s annual 300-lap classic.  Young repeated his 300-lap classic victory in 1964.  In 1973, Young was again the late model champ at Raceway, nailing down 17 feature wins. 

            Young also was a late model titlist at Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Ind. in 1966 and at the Waukegan (Ill.) Speedway with back-to-back titles coming in 1969 and 1970.  Young won a total of 31 features at Waukegan during those championship seasons.

            Young was among the front-runners at the Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Ill. when the track opened in 1971, replacing the old Mazon Speed Bowl, where Young was the track champion in 1970.  Young had the distinction of winning the first 100 lapper at Grundy at the end of the 1971 season.

            Young was the overall winner of the Chicagoland Driving Championship (CDC) in 1975.  With points tabulated for feature races at Grundy, Illiana and Waukegan, Young won a total of 10 CDC features on his way to the crown. 

            1976 was a banner year for Young.  He won his third career Waukegan driving title, winning a total of nine feature races.  On May 9^th, Young captured ARTGO Racing’s CAM2 Classic 100 lapper at Grundy before a standing room0onlu crowd.  Young and his Camaro bested Bob Senneker, Joe Shear, Tom Musgrave, Tom Reffner, Dave Watson and NASCAR’s Bobby Allison.  Young closed out the season, winning the first of two straight Tony Bettenhausen Memorial 100-lap chases at Illiana.

            In 1977, Young began to faithfully follow the American Speed Association (ASA) “Circuit of Champions” tour.  Young would pretty much be an ASA regular until the end of his racing career.  Young’s best ASA season was 1979 when he finished third in the points.   

Young closed out his Chicago area track title-winning ways in 1978 when he copped season late model honors at Grundy.  The “Friday Night Racin’ Place” saw the “tobacco-chewin’ truck driver” win seven feature victories.   Young retired from racing in the early 1980’s.  He now spends his time between the Chicago area in the summer and Florida during the winter months.

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