would see both local and out-of-town racers compete with proceeds from the event to benefit the Shriners’ Hospital for Crippled Children, Chicago Unit. A $10,000 purse would be posted for the series, which would be held on June 18, 20, 22, 24 and 25.
California speedster Sam Hanks, who would go on to win the 1957 Indianapolis 500, grabbed top honors in the opening main event on June 18. Two days later, Hanks was victorious again. The June 22 event was rained out and run the next day with another California driver, Mel Hansen, claiming the win in the 50-lap feature race. Hanks set the track record that night during qualifying with a “super quick” lap of 11.85 seconds. Hansen again rang the victory bell on June 24 with another 50-lap win. Still another West Coast “hot dog,” Ronnie Householder was the winner of the series finale on June 25, winning the 100 lap main event and claiming the World’s Championship crown.
The old cinder track was replaced by a new clay oval in 1941, but World War II erupted and racing came to a halt in the summer of 1942. When racing resumed after the war, Soldier Field would become a midget racing “hotbed.”
With its offices located at Gate “O” at Soldier Field, the Chicago Auto Racing Association, headed by ex-Chicago Cardinals football player, Art Folz, paved the quarter mile track in 1946 and weekly midget racing was presented for a number of years. Chicago area front running midget ace Ted Duncan was the Soldier Field midget champion in 1946 and 1947 with Johnny McDowell taking the title in 1948. California’s Eddie Haddad was the track titlist in 1949 and held the one lap qualifying track record with a lap of 16.27 seconds set on June 29, 1949. Haddad was the man to beat during the weekly Wednesday AAA-sanctioned midget races at Soldier Field in 1949. Haddad won a half dozen or so feature races, including the100-lap Mid Season Championship event on July 27th and the 75-lap Police Benevolent race on August 17. Sadly, Haddad would die in a midget racing crash at Gilmore Stadium near Los Angeles in October of that year. Potsy Goacher of Anderson, Ind. was the champ in 1950.
Weekly midget racing at the arena became a thing of the past, although “spot” dates, featuring AAA and, later, United States Auto Club (USAC) speedsters were part of the Soldier Field summer schedule with Mike McGreevy winning the last USAC midget feature race on July 23, 1966. United Auto Racing Association (UARA) were part of the last season of racing at the “Field” in 1968 with George Kladis and Bill Kollman winning 20-lap UARA features on June 2.
Hot rod racing was introduced to Soldier Field fans in 1947 when Andy Granatelli convinced promoter Folz to stage a hot rod event in July of that year. A crowd of nearly 25,000 gathered to watch local hot rodders compete. Granatelli, of STP fame, would be part of the track’s promotional team through the mid 1950’s. Racing under Granatelli’s Hurricane Hot Rod Association banner, Gilbert “Skippy” Michaels was the hot rod champ at lakefront speed plant in 1949, racing against the likes of future Indianapolis 500 winners Pat Flaherty and Jim Rathmann.
When stock cars replaced the “short-lived” hot rods at Soldier Field in 1950, Rathmann grabbed track championship honors for the Wednesday night action. Rathmann repeated the trick the following season with Michaels capturing a Soldier Field stock car title in 1952. Over the years, it has been said that a lot of Granatelli’s races were “staged.” Staged or not, the racing provided fans plenty of thrills with tens of thousands witnessing the competition every year. Chicago’s Tom Pistone would win three straight stock car championships from 1953 through 1955. The 5’6” tall “racing dynamo” had a fast 1952 Pontiac in 1953, winning the championship against the likes of Kenny Netzel, Larry Odo, Herman Jordan and Al Shear. The 5/13/53 issue of National Speed Sport News carried the headline “Gene Marmor’s Buick 1St in Soldier Field Opener.” 38,078 fans were on hand for that season-opening Police Benevolent Fund race.
Soldier Field was the site of