By Adam Mackey
(Springfield, IL) The August 17 Bettenhausen 100 continues a tradition of 100-mile national championship racing that celebrates the 90th anniversary of the first national championship race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, as well as celebrating a tradition of competitive auto racing at the fair that goes back at least 114 years. The “Springfield Mile” holds a legendary distinction among 4-wheel and 2-wheel competitors, the championship race became a model for races at the DuQuoin and the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The track itself was used as a basis for other tracks across the country. The Springfield Mile is one of the oldest and most historic motorsport venues in the United States.
In 1905, Barney Oldfield brought his barnstorming tour to Springfield two years after running one mile per minute at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. By 1909, Lewis Strang and the Buick Racing team set records on the Illinois track in an exhibition run. The next year saw true competition for purse money at Springfield and tragedy as well. Springfield’s own LaRue Vredenburgh was fatally injured as drivers competed for first prize paid in gold. By 1911, the first Indianapolis 500 was complete and the winning Marmon appeared at the fair as part of a publicity tour.
The fair became part of J. Alex Sloan’s IMCA fair schedule prior to World War I and would be part of that tour until the mid 1920’s. From 1915 to 1925, stars such as Sig Haughdahl and Fred Horey set speed records and thrilled a packed grandstand. During the mid and late 1920’s, Indianapolis drivers Howdy Wilcox, Lou Schneider, Bill Cummings and Wilbur Shaw moved Springfield dirt. The track saw a major change over the winter of 1926. The original oval ran almost east and west, with turns 1 & 2 near Peoria road and 3 & 4 pressed up against sheep and horse barns. The wood grandstand was ready for replacement as well. The track was re-oriented to the current north-south configuration and a massive brick, concrete and steel grandstand was constructed for the 1927 season.
During the Great Depression, people were looking for inexpensive entertainment. With the demise of the board tracks auto racers were looking for places to run, and not coincidentally, state and county fairs were looking for attractions to draw crowds. It was a perfect set up for the return of auto racing to the Illinois State Fair. Enter Ralph “Pappy” Hankinson, a long-time east coast promoter with ties to the American Automobile Association. Hankinson had a vision of bringing the Indianapolis machine to the Illinois capitol. During the 1933-34 offseason his vision came true, the contracts were signed and Springfield had a 100-mile national championship race, just one of four on the schedule including Indianapolis.
Seventeen two-man Indianapolis machines filled the pit area on the morning of August 25, 1934. The day was sunny and warm, and a massive crowd was beginning to fill the stands. Drivers and their riding mechanics suited up for the warmup session and qualifying, among them 1934 Indianapolis winner Bill Cummings, future winners Kelly Petillo and Mauri Rose, and a Detroit dirt track ace by the name of James Murdock “Billy” Winn. Cummings set a track record of just under 40 seconds in Cotton Henning’s Boyle Valve front drive Miller. Johnny Sawyer would start on the outside of the front row, Petillo third, Rose fifth and Winn eighth. Fourteen cars would start the first ever national championship race at Springfield before a crowd reported at 20,000.
Sawyer got the jump on Cummings and began to dominate the race. Cummings went out on lap 16 with a hole in the radiator. Winn moved up steadily and by lap 93 was running second when the clutch went out on Sawyer’s machine moving Winn into the lead. No one else was close and Winn won the 100-miler by over 2 minutes over Russ Snowberger. Winn became a popular winner at Springfield and would repeat in 1935. The large crowd pleased promoter and fair board so much that national championship racing was to become a staple of the last Saturday of the fair. Except for the years surrounding World War II, a 100-mile national championship event has been part of the Illinois fair since 1934.
Ninety events for upright open wheel cars, sixty of them named for the Bettenhausen family. Fifty-four different winners, nine of them Indianapolis 500 champions. A win on the Springfield Mile has helped twenty-one drivers to a national championship including Logan Seavey in 2023. Over forty of the open wheel championship cars are expected to return to the historic Springfield Mile in 2024 to carry on a tradition that has been part of the fair for ninety years.
The 61st Bettenhausen is part of a huge weekend of racing that begins Friday night, August 16 at Lincoln Speedway featuring MOWA Sprint Cars, Saturday afternoon, August 17 with USAC Silver Crown and Sportsman at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and Sunday afternoon, August 18 with the ARCA Allen Crowe Memorial 100 and the Sportsman Nationals at the Illinois State Fair.
Advance tickets for the Illinois State Fair races are available by calling the Track Enterprises office at 217-764-3200, by calling the Illinois State Fair box office at 217-782-1979, or by stopping by the Illinois State Fair box office.
Advance sale discounted tickets for the ARCA Menards Series event on Sunday, August 18 can be purchased in Central Illinois area Menards stores for a price of just $20. Stores selling tickets include Champaign, Danville, Effingham, Forsyth, Normal, Pekin, Peoria, Quincy, Springfield North/South, and Washington.
For more information, visit www.usacracing.com, www.arcaracing.com, or www.trackenterprises.com.