The indoor drag races at Chicago’s International Amphitheatre during the 1960s were a unique series of events with no known indoor drag racing having taken place before or since.
The Amphitheatre was the site of various major events throughout the years, including the 1968 Democratic Party Convention, concerts by name stars such as Elvis Presley and The Beatles, wrestling matches, auto shows, shows and circuses. The Amphitheatre also hosted midget, go-kart and stock car racing. Even an indoor sports car race was run there.
Located at 42nd and Halsted streets, the facility was adjacent to the “smelly” Union Stockyards — where most of Chicago’s “Hog Butcher for the World” activities took place.
In late 1962, it was announced indoor drag racing would take place at the Amphitheatre, beginning on Dec. 30, 1962. The event was promoted as “The World’s Only Indoor Drag Races.”
A press release from Chicago Auto Racing, Inc., headed by Bill Schade and Carl Bledsoe, read: “A special drag strip is being constructed in the two large halls south of the Amphitheatre arena with steel guard rails on each side of the 60-foot wide racing strip.
“The acceleration portion of the track will measure 440 feet in length (about a third of a normal quarter-mile strip) with the deceleration or slowing stretch of 660 feet. Telephone calls are coming in from all over the area from drivers with ‘hot cars’ who are anxious to compete in this first ever indoor meet. Trophies will be presented in 38 classes of competition with a special award to the Top Eliminator — the fastest car in the meet.”
Schade and Bledsoe, both veterans of the Chicago area racing scene, had been promoting stock car races at Soldier Field on Chicago’s lakefront for a number of years and various motorsports-related events (midgets, go-karts and rod and custom shows) at the Amphitheatre.
Bledsoe’s son, Dave, recently reminisced about the indoor drags.
“The original idea was actually mine,” said Bledsoe. “I sold the idea to dad, who in turn sold it to Bill Schade. While it is a really great feeling to see one of your brainstorms come to fruition, it was also a panicky feeling. The original idea was to run nothing but door slammers. That included all the stock classes including the big super stocks — Chrysler Hemis, big-block Fords and Chevrolets. We also included the gas classes. I know there were no fuel cars or rail dragsters.
“The actual drag strip was in the longest hall the Amphitheatre had, which dictated the length of the strip. The shutdown area was in an addition that the Campbell Soup Co. had added to the existing building,” Bledsoe continued. “You went through a single-wide, garage-type door at the end of each lane to get to the shutdown area. Campbell actually had hundreds of cases of soup stored in this area. The length of the shutdown area would be altered by the soup inventory. Fortunately, we only had a couple of racers get into the soup.”