MORRIS, Ill. — The Legner family and their stock car racing team, Night Owl Racing, have spent quite a bit of time this summer at the Grundy County Speedway and a few other Midwest raceways.
Tom Legner and his sons, Jerry and Brian, along with grandsons, Zach, Gavin and Austin (Jerry’s sons), have been racing in the Crown Vic division at Grundy and have been enjoying success. Reviewing wins for the season, Jerry has won three division feature races at the third-mile paved oval with Gavin scoring two and Brian one.
Gavin, Brian, Jerry and Tom are all ranked in the “top 10” in the latest Grundy standings. Looking through the record books, Jerry was the hobby stock division champion at Grundy in 2023 with Zach claiming top honors in the four-cylinder division at Grundy that same year.
“It’s a great family-bonding experience,” said Austin Legner. “A few of us are there up in the points, but we’ve had some car problems too.”
The competition is definitely there among family members.
“We’ve had a few quiet family dinners,” said Gavin Legner.
Jerry Legner was leading the family as far as feature wins with three until a broken ’pinky’ finger ended his racing.
“There is six of us out here racing,” said Jerry Legner. “We have three generations out here. My dad is racing against his grandkids. Not a lot a guys can say that.”
Some of the “Legner Gang” have also enjoyed success on Illinois dirt tracks this season too with Jerry taking home a feature win at Kankakee County Speedway and Gavin winning at Peoria Speedway in the Crown Vic action. Tom’s third racing son, Eric, has been competing on the dirt at Kankakee for a number of years.
Crown Vic racing involves racing modified Ford Crown Victorias, often ex-police cars and taxis, in an affordable, entry-level division on both paved and dirt tracks.
These cars are popular due to their durable, body-on-frame construction, simple 4.6L V8 engines, predictable handling, and low cost of parts and maintenance, making them ideal for budget-friendly competition.
“I built both cars – one for me and one for my dad so we could have some fun racing with the rest of the family,” said Brian Legner. “That’s what it’s all about. With our work schedules and living far apart (from each other) at least we can get the whole family all together.”
Racing in the family goes back to Norm Legner, Tom’s dad, as Norm raced both midgets and stock cars, beginning in the late 1940s. Norm Legner was the stock car champion at the old Mazon Speed Bowl, the high-banked, sometimes treacherous, quarter-mile paved track in the tiny town of Mazon, Ill. The old coupes were the stock cars of the day in the early 50s with Norm Legner, racing out of Joliet, winning the title at Mazon in 1950 and repeating success in 1955.
Norm Legner, who passed away in 2016, closed out his driving career late model racing on the ‘clay’ at Chicagoland’s Santa Fe Speedway in the 1960s.
Tom Legner began his speed career in mini-stock action at the Joliet Memorial Stadium in 1971 and made his first start in the minis at Grundy that same year. He raced the mini stocks from 1971 through 1975, finishing second in points standings at Indiana’s South Bend Motor Speedway in both 1974 and 1975.
Tom bought an old square-tubing stocker and built a Chevy Nova out of it and scored a heat race win at Indiana’s Illiana Motor Speedway in 1977. With the help of noted chassis builder George Appleton. Legner built a new car and raced it a Grundy in 1979 and, about mid-season, at Santa Fe, competing there through about 1987.
“My dad rode with me to the track every night for so many years,” remembered Tom Legner. “It (racing) was about hanging out with dad. I remember going to Fairbury and Mazon to watch my dad race.”
Retired and in his 70s, Tom Legner has given some thought about retiring from racing.
“I always hoped that we would be able to do this, race against the boys,” said Tom Legner. “I raced against my dad three times (in mini-stocks) and he beat me all three times. I hope the boys keep racing even if I quit.”
