Roy Richwine bought the home which is now generally known as Williams Grove Speedway in 1937. It was formerly referred to as the Grangers Picnic Fairgrounds. The very first race happened on May 21, 1939. Joey Chitwood Sr set the short time tomorrow by finishing a lap in 26.03 seconds. Tommy Hinnershitz won the forty lap feature, winning $400. The Flying Farmer won 19 sprint car races with the track, competing in the late 1950′s! He also won 7 Eastern sprint car championships and enjoyed a high ten finish in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Really the only NASCAR Cup race in the Grove happened on June 27, 1954. It absolutely was won by Herb Thomas, leading 150 in the 200 laps, in a 1954 Hudson. Leading one other 50 laps and finishing in second was pole winner Dick Rathmann, Hershel McGriff was third. Other notable drivers were Buck Baker, Lee Petty, Dizzy Dean, Ralph Ligouri and Hilly Rife.
July 29, 1951 became generally known as “Black Sunday.” Two drivers, Cecil Green and Bill Mackey, were killed in back to back qualifying runs at Winchester, Indiana. That day Walt Brown was killed at the Grove. He spun in the second turn while qualifying his car #29. It rolled over and Brown died in the Carlisle Hospital later that day. Eleven other drivers, in addition to 1 official and 1 spectator choosing a lump sum their lives in the track.
The Grove includes a link to the Indianapolis 500. The newest connection is that of driver PJ Chesson, who taken part in the event. Indy winners with sprint car wins in the track include George Robson (1946), Bill Holland (1949), Johnny Parsons Sr (1950), Troy Ruttman (1952), Pat Flaherty (1956), Jimmy Bryan (1958), AJ Foyt (1961, 64, 67, and 77), and Parnelli Jones (1962). Jan Opperman, Joey Chitwood Sr, Johnny Thomson, Duke Nalon, Duane Carter Sr, Eddie Sachs, Rodger McCluskey, and Elmer George (whose family still owns IMS) have sprint car wins here. Ted Horn won 14 sprint car (then known as “big car”) races here in addition to 3 National Driving Championships (1946-48)! He was killed at DuQuoin, IL in 1948 but had enough points to win the title.
Jack Gunn was the track announcer after which had become the the promoter. He added Selinsgrove, Penn National, and Hagerstown to his set of promotional efforts. Gunn, whose surname was actually Gunnells, attended the Milton Hershey School for orphans as well as brother Trim. Trim owned a garage business in Lebanon, PA and was a drivers with the track for several years. Jack won the Promoter of the season in 1979, and passed away in 1980. Gunn is responsible for attracting the nations best drivers to race in central Pennsylvania. He is within the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.
Since sprint car racing began weekly in 1967, Fred Rahmer is among the most most successful driver, winning 83 races. Lance Dewease has 75 wins, Donnie Kreitz Jr has 54 victories, and Keith Kauffman enjoyed 51 wins. Kauffman has got the most wins inside a season with 13 back in 1984!
The speedway has long straights and tight turns. It was supposedly modeled following the Legion Ascot Speedway in California. It’s also known for its spectator bridge which reaches in the backstretch in to the infield. There is a tunnel underneath the track with the first turn which connects the frontstretch fans for the infield. Over will be the infield starter’s stand and the covered frontstretch grandstands. Did you know at once there were a landing strip for airplanes outside of the backstretch from the track?
