Waukegan Speedway

Years of operation:  1949 - 1979

Location:  3305 W. Washington St., ¼ mile east of U.S. Route 41, Waukegan (Park City), Ill.

Notes:  first race program (midgets) held on September 4, 1949—heat races won by Harry Turner, Chuck Marshall and Ernie Zartler, feature rained out… a week later, Jimmy Caris won the first midget feature race at the track…quarter mile track was dirt/clay from 1949 through 1968, paved in November of 1968 for the 1969 racing season…first race on new pavement held on April 12, 1969…paved track until 1978 when it was returned to a dirt surface…last race program held on September 15, 1979—Mike Frost was the winner of the late model feature…Gordon Sill was promoter there from midway through 1963 season until track’s closing…Sill, along with Fred Lorenzen, did carpentry work at O’Hare Stadium when it was being built…John McKarns was scorer and announcer there, later promoted his first race there—All Star 200 (7/5/76)…2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ted Musgrave started racing there in late model division in 1974 as an 18-yearold rookie…Wisconsin’s Johnny Reimer was a six-time Waukegan modified champion…Dennis Burgan, Jim Cossman and Ray Young also among champions with three or more titles.