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1st Annual Bob Milner Memorial 125 ASALMS Northern Division At Grundy County Speedway
By ASA Late Model Series
Lexington, Michigan (02/14/2007): The ASA Late Model Series Presented by GM
Performance Parts mourned the loss of a devoted official and a dear friend of
the entire short track racing community back on August 31, 2006 when Bob
Milner, the Official Photographer of the ASALMS, passed away due to a massive
heart attack.
Milner, who resided in Angola, Indiana, was a dedicated ASALMS Official as
well as a dear and devoted friend, to not only the ASALMS family, but to the
entire racing community. He was 63 years old when he passed is survived by his
wife, Claudette, as well four children and 11 grandchildren!
The last three seasons of his 40 plus years of award winning photography, was
spent with the ASALMS and during the 2006 season, primarily with the ASALMS
Challenge and Northern Divisions. Milner also filled in with the ASALMS
Southern Division when his schedule allowed. Milner was widely regarded as one
of the best in the entire country in the Motorsports Photography field.
New ASALMS Official Photographer, Chuck Gonzalez has graciously stepped up and
has admirably filled a void left behind with Milner’s passing. The ASALMS
has not, nor will it ever forget Milner and all he did for the entire ASALMS
as well as short track stock car racing in general. With that in mind, the
ASALMS will honor the former Photographer with a Memorial race dedicated to
his memory beginning with the 2007 season.
Over the Memorial Day Holiday Weekend on Saturday May 26, 2007, the ASALMS
Northern Division will head to the Grundy County (IL) Speedway, located West
of Chicago in Morris, Illinois for the running of the 1st annual Bob Milner
Memorial 125. The second race of the 2007 season for the ASALMS Northern
Division.
“Bob was and will always be an integral part of the ASALMS, this event means
the world to me and to the entire ASALMS organization.” Declared ASALMS
Co-Founder/President, Ron Varney. “From now on, there will always be a Bob
Milner Memorial race in the ASALMS. He was and will always be considered the
best there is in his field and him and the entire Milner family always a part
of the ASALMS family.” Varney added.
The ASALMS has made two appearances at the Morris, Illinois speed plant. In
2006 during the 8th annual George Appleton Memorial 125, the ASALMS Northern
Division celebrated the Memorial Day Weekend with an extended distance 125-lap
Feature on Memorial Day Monday, May 29, 2006.
Hometown favorite, Eddie Hoffman, from near-by Wheaton, Illinois survived a
lengthy dual with Jack Smith to win his second straight ASALMS Northern
Division Feature of the season. Just nine days before, Hoffman won the rain
shortened Lake Geneva 100 at the now closed Lake Geneva (WI) Raceway.
2007 Rookie of the Year title contender, Anthony Danta led the first 28 laps
until giving way to Jack Smith, who paced the field until lap 99 and after a
lengthy battle, Hoffman took the lead on lap 99 and would go on to take his
Appleton Memorial Feature of his career over Jack Smith. Eventual 2006 ASALMS
Northern Division Champion, Jesse Smith (No Relation) finished third over Dave
Gentile Jr., and Danta completed the Top Five.
Eventual 2006 ASALMS Challenge Division Champion and Pat Bourdow Memorial
Rookie of the Year, Kelly Bires, made one of his infrequent Northern Division
appearances and shattered the ASALMS track record with a 15.269 in Qualifying.
Nearly a half second faster than the previous record by current NASCAR Busch
Series driver, Todd Kluever. Doug True would take the win in the GM
Performance Parts Shootout held earlier in the afternoon.
In the ASALMS first appearance at the 0.333 Mile Semi-Banked Paved Oval back
on June 19, 2004 in what is now the ASALMS Challenge Division, current NASCAR
Busch Series pilot, Todd Kluever took the win after a lengthy dual with Jason
Setser in the Terry’s Automotive Group 100.
Jason Setser led the first 57 laps until Kluever got by on lap 58 and fended
off Mike Satkowiak to take the Feature Win. Satkowiak settled for second while
Scott Baker, Ryan Tedesco, and Tony Rosebrugh were the Top Five. Kluever won
the Fast Qualifier Award with a 15.679 as 33 machines were on hand.
The Grundy County Speedway Fairgrounds was originally located at Mazon,
Illinois and was built at the turn of the century. The original track was a ˝
mile, racing the old A.A.A. sanctioning body. For years, the greatest race car
drivers in the United States, participated at the Grundy County Fair. Such
drivers as, Wilber Shaw, Mauri Rose, and the late Tony Bettenhausen.
In 1941, the Midget Race Car became the popular. So the 1/2 mile track was
torn up and a 1/4 mile asphalt high-banked track was built. This track was
known all over the country as the Mazon Speed Bowl. In 1970, the Grundy County
Fair Board was faced with a situation where the fairgrounds were obsolete and
there was no adjacent land available for expansion.
That was when the fairgrounds was moved to Morris, Illinois. The new
fairgrounds opened in May of 1971 with Stock Car Racing and has continued
until the present time. The track is a 1/3 mile with a asphalt surface.
The racing surface is 60 feet wide with 22 degrees banking in the turns and 12
degrees on the straights. With speeds in excess of 80 MPH. Midget Driver,
David Gough holds the track record of 14.427. The track is surrounded by 144
1500-watt Quartz lights for a total of over 216,000 watts of lighting. The
grandstands are made of all steel construction with aluminum seats and wooden
steps with a capacity of over 4000.
Grundy County Fairgrounds and Speedway is located on Route 47 just North of
I-80 in Morris, Illinois. Racing begins later this month and will go on until
Labor Day Weekend, every Friday night with special events scattered throughout
the season.
A regular Friday night Regular Racing Program beginning on April 27, 2007 and
consists of Late Models as their premiere division while the Mid-American
Stock Cars Division, Street Stocks, and Mini Stocks fill out the card on
Friday nights.
The Grundy County Speedway is located on the Grundy County Fairgrounds on
Illinois Route 47, one mile North of I-80 at Exit 112 at 8890 North Route 47
in Morris, Illinois. For more information, please call: 1 (815) 942-5043. Or
you can log onto their website at: Grundy County Speedway
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