Raceway Park 1951 Season

The nationally renowned Raceway Park Motordrome, located on the southside of Chicago in suburban Blue Island, Illinois opened in September of 1938. The track, a 1/5 mile dustless clay oval was a haven for Midget Car racing performing before large audiences before and following World War II. Stock Car racing was introduced there in late 1948 and quickly became the popular speed attraction at the southside plant. In 1950 Raceway presented 78 shows before ticket paying patrons. In 1951 co-promoters Pete and Nick Jenin paved the track's surface in the early part of the season, presenting their first show on the new pavement on April 22nd. The 1951 Raceway season, which is documented below, reveals an incredible 80 events contested which was declared a national record, securing Raceway Park the title, “World's Busiest Track”. Of the 80 programs, 66 were stock car shows and 14 were midget events performed from March through November running four nights a week during warm weather months while averaging over 30,000 spectators a week attendance wise. Through research to this day no other race facility worldwide has ever presented that amount of racing programs during a one year period. Raceway held its final event in 2000 and was razed the following year, thus bringing to an end 62 years of racing entertainment at one of the world's most famous motordromes, known exclusively as the “World's Busiest Track”. That season and years to come Raceway was home to three of the greatest short track stock car drivers in the history of the sport, Bud Koehler, Bob Pronger and Bill Van Allen. Veteran Hall of Fame announcer Wayne Adams, who spent 42 consecutive years at the Raceway mike, once stated, “if you never seen those three guys in one race, competing against one another, you never saw a stock car race”. Koehler, recognized as the “King of Raceway Park”, finished 5th in Stock Car points but captured the 1951 Midget season point's crown and eventually accumulated 500 career feature victories at Raceway (490 in stock cars, 10 in midgets) which is another all-time record for wins at a single race venue. Koehler also collected 11 stock car titles and 3 midget car crowns at Raceway before retiring from competition following the 1978 season. Pronger, who took 19 wins and finished second in 1951 points, scored two track titles and 148 career feature wins at Raceway. Through the years the Blue Island, Illinois racer was also well known for his speed escapades with NASCAR and other national racing organizations. Van Allen, who earned the 1951 and 1958 track championships would score 111 career wins at the southside oval and countless victories and track titles at a number of other Chicagoland speedways. Sadly the loss of Raceway Park in 2000 brought down the final curtain for short track automobile racing in the Chicago area.