DWIGHT, Ill. — Former Chicago area stock car champion Don Waldvogel passed away on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the age of 91.
Racing out of Lockport, Ill., Waldvogel was a two-time late model champion on the clay at Chicagoland’s Santa Fe Speedway, winning the crowns in 1958 and again in 1969. Wheeling the Seth Piper-prepared 1969 Chevelle No. 51 in 1969, Waldvogel had scored eight feature wins by the end of August, including two 50 lappers on the speedway’s half-mile dirt oval in May and June.
Waldvogel won two 100-lap main events at Santa Fe in 1962 behind the wheel of his Chevy No. 51. Waldvogel’s biggest Santa Fe win was the National Clay Track Championship 200 in 1965. He drove the Rich Ponkauskas Chevelle to the win on Santa Fe half-mile on Sunday evening, Sept. 5.
“Five guys went together and bought that ’64 or ’65 Malibu from (Raceway Park champion) Bill Cornwall) and put a 409 (engine) in it,” said Waldvogel about his Santa Fe 200 win. “I finished second to Bill Van Allen on Saturday and then won the ‘200’ on Sunday. That paid for the car.”
Waldvogel’s last big win at Santa Fe came in 1974 when he won the Stars and Stripes 50 lapper.
Waldvogel was a four-time track champion at Illinois’ Kankakee Fairgrounds Speedway, winning the titles in 1954, ’55, ’57 and ’67. He was instrumental in bringing racing back to the Kankakee dirt oval in 1967 after an absence of some 10 years because of a disagreement between management and drivers. He won a career total of 34 stock car feature races at Kankakee.
A farmer by trade, Waldvogel’s racing career dated back to 1951 at Indiana’s Schererville Speedway – later known as Illiana Motor Speedway. The rookie racer had put together a 1939 Ford and numbered it 57. Someone else had the number and a piece of tape changed it to 51 – which would become Waldvogel’s signature number.
“For a couple of years, I wanted to drive a race car,” reminisced Waldvogel this past October. “Bud Koehler was my idol. My Dad and I use to go to Raceway Park in Blue Island and watch Koehler in the stock cars.
“My biggest thrill in racing was when I slid myself into the seat of Bud Koehler’s car for a 50 lapper at Santa Fe. They wouldn’t let Koehler race because he was from Raceway Park. By 25 (laps), I went from the back row to the front.”
In 1952, Waldvogel won two stock car heat races at Raceway Park.
“I came within a couple 100s (of a second) from setting a new track record (during qualifying) and won the fast heat,” remembered Waldvogel about his visit to the paved Raceway Park. “The engine was a ‘full house’ flathead Ford just like Andy Granatelli had. My Ford had no fenders and they griped about that. The promoter told me never to come back with this car.”
In 1996, Waldvogel finally returned to Raceway Park and won two Dwarf Car heat races and a trophy dash.
Waldvogel won several Dwarf Car championships as his career rolled toward the 21st century. Racing through 2001, Waldvogel enjoyed a lot of success in the State of Iowa.
Records show Waldvogel making one United States Auto Club stock car start, finishing 10th at Illiana in the Tony Bettenhausen Memorial 100 in October of 1963, driving Jack Watts’ 1963 Ford.
Still farming last year and chasing coyotes off of his fields, Waldvogel could be seen sometimes in the grandstands at local tracks, watching the races at Kankakee or at the Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Ill.
Waldvogel, known as the “Flying Dutchman” to his fans, was inducted into the Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2012 – being part of the inaugural class.