ROSCOE, Ill. — The Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame, led by Art “Fireball” Fehrman, hosted its induction ceremonies banquet and stock car festival on Oct. 25 at Wayne Lensing’s Historic Auto Attractions Museum.
An enthusiastic crowd was on hand for the day’s activities which included the Lefthander Legends parade.
During the group’s 12th annual banquet, four new inductees were honored including Larry Schuler, Bob Pierce, Elmer Musgrave and Bill Venturini. This year’s guest speaker was Midwest motorsports promoter Gregg McKarns.
Larry Schuler
Schuler began his driving career full-time in 1973 after working on his dad’s cars as a teenager. Lee Schuler was a long time Chicago area stock car competitor, race winner and champion. Larry Schuler won his first feature race in 1973 at Indiana’s Illiana Motor Speedway. He would become a two-time late model champion at the Northwest Indiana track, in addition to winning a late model title at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Ill., in 1976.
1976 was Schuler’s “year to shine” as he won three late model championships at three different speedways in three states, winning at Illiana, Grundy and at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna, Wis. Schuler captured a total of 43 feature wins that year, making him the winningest late model driver in the country. Most of those wins came behind the wheel of the George Appleton-engineered “Junkyard Dog” Camaro No. 30.
Schuler’s racing career has seen over 150 feature wins including three Bettenhausen Memorial 100 victories at Illiana, three Lee Schuler Memorial checkered flags at Grundy and 10 career ARTGO Challenge Series wins. He was the American Speed Association rookie of the year in 1978. This past May at the age of 72, Schuler won the opening-night late model main event at the Grundy third-mile paved oval.
Bob Pierce
Pierce, nicknamed the “Tall Cool One,” was a dirt late model winner throughout the country, especially the Midwest ever since his speed career began around 1970 or so. Racing at Illinois tracks like Fairbury, Farmer City, Macon and Danville during his early days behind the wheel, Pierce began to branch out, competing here and there and winning.
Hailing from Danville, Ill., Pierce was reported to have won 38 feature races in 1983. Pierce was a two-time champion in UMP Summer Nationals action, winning the titles in 1992 and 1995, ending up with 14 career Summer Nationals victories. He was UMP’s National Champion in 1990.
In addition, he captured the annual Herald and Review 100 late model classic at Macon Speedway four times, the first coming in 1983. He was the winner of the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury on three occasions.
During his career, Pierce also captured the Hoosier Dirt Classic and the Kenny Simpson Memorial at Brownstown, Ind., to go along with the Brooks Ford 100 at Rensselaer, Ind., and the National Clay Track Championship 200 at Chicagoland’s Santa Fe Speedway. As his driving days wound down, Pierce founded Bob Pierce Race Cars in Oakwood, Ill.
Elmer Musgrave
Starting his speed career around 1949, Musgrave was a longtime stock car competitor on short tracks throughout the Chicagoland and Midwest areas. Musgrave was a front runner at Speedway Park – later known as Waukegan Speedway, at the old Kenosha County Speedway in Wilmot, Wis., and at Jefferson, Wis.
Hailing from Des Plaines, Ill., at the time, he captured the track championship at the Waukegan dirt oval in 1952, helping his championship-winning cause by capturing the 100-lap main event on the Fourth of July before some 2,000 fans.
For several years, Musgrave was a regular in late model action at O’Hare Stadium in Schiller Park, Ill. O’Hare opened in 1956, with Musgrave competing and winning in the modified class.
Musgrave also competed in “national” stock car races, racing with USAC and MARC/ARCA. He won two USAC races – the first coming in November of 1959 as Musgrave wheeled his 1958 Pontiac No. 56 to a 100-lap victory at California’s Ascot Stadium.
His other USAC win came at Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Ind., in 1963. He won a total of five MARC/ARCA races – the first coming at Georgia’s Lakewood Speedway in 1960 and the final victory being on the road course at Illinois’ Meadowdale International Raceway in 1964
Musgrave won late model features on the new pavement at Waukegan Speedway in 1969 and was also a front runner at Illiana Motor Speedway.
Both of Musgrave’s sons followed their dad’s footsteps into racing. Tom Musgrave was a two-time late model champion at the Grundy County Speedway.
Younger son Ted Musgrave began competing at Waukegan in 1974 before going on to a NASCAR Winston Cup driving career and, later, racing in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series, winning the series championship in 2005.
Elmer Musgrave died in 2000 at the age of 72 with his son, Ted, accepting his award.
Bill Venturini
Venturini began racing at Illinois’ Rockford Speedway in the Roadrunner division in the 1970s and winning his first late model feature race there in 1976. Venturini’s dad, Tony, had raced at several speedways in the 1950s, including Chicago’s Soldier Field.
Bill Venturini began competing in United States Auto Club stock car action in 1978 and also raced in selected American Speed Association and ARTGO late model events. He was the champion of Sal Tovella’s International Racing Association in 1982.
Venturini began racing with the Automobile Racing Club of America in 1982 and was named the series’ rookie of the year in 1983, finishing second in the final points standings and winning for the first time at Michigan’s Flat Rock Speedway. He fielded his race cars out of a two-car home garage in Chicago, where he operated several service station/car wash locations.
For a time during this period, Venturini was known for his “all female” pit crew, headed by his wife, Cathy. Finishing in the “top three” each year in ARCA standings, Venturini finally captured his first ARCA stock car championship in 1987 and repeated his title-winning effort in 1991. He also made a number of starts in NASCAR ‘Cup, Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series action.
When his driving days were over Venturini had scored 12 career ARCA victories and had established still-standing qualifying track records at Daytona and Talladega. He began fielding cars for his son, Billy, to race in ARCA competition.
From there, Venturini Motorsports, establishing roots in Concord, N.C., was formed, developing into one of the premier NASCAR Driver Development Programs in the country while competing and winning on the ARCA Menards Series tour. Venturini Motorsports, owned by “Big Bill”, Cathy and Billy Venturini, and now paired with Toyota Racing, ended up winning 111 ARCA races and three ARCA championships, making the team the winningest car owner in ARCA history. Earlier this month a chapter in Venturini Motorsports closed as the team was sold to Nitro Motorsports.
The evening ended with former Auto Racing Promoter of the Year Gregg McKarns speaking about his experiences in short track racing and today’s racing climate. His early “apprentice” days in the business included selling souvenir programs, scoring enduro races and spending his summers at Wisconsin’s LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway.
Later, McKarns worked in managerial positions at Missouri’s Lebanon I-44 Speedway, Elko Speedway in Minnesota and the Rockford Speedway, establishing the new Big 8 Late Models series during this period.
The youngest son of John and Sue McKarns, who headed the ARTGO Challenge Series from 1979 through 1997, Gregg McKarns and his wife Angie today operate Madison International Speedway and Angell Park Speedway in Wisconsin in addition to leading the ASA Midwest Tour late model series and their involvement in the Midwest Motorsports Racers’ Expo and the annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend at LaCrosse, Wis.
