History of Auto Racing in Grundy County

Racing historian Stan Kalwasinski will give a presentation on the history of automobile racing in the Grundy County area on Tuesday evening, September 24, beginning at 7:00 pm. Included in his presentation will be tracks at the old Grundy County Fairgrounds, the Mazon Speed Bowl and the current Grundy County Speedway in Morris. A large collection of photographs will be shown.

The event will be held at the Grundy County Historical Society Museum, located at 510 W. Illinois Ave. in Morris.

Born and raised in Chicago, Stan Kalwasinski was bitten by the auto racing bug when he was about four years old and attended stock car races with his parents at 87th Street Speedway on Chicago’s southeast side. As a youngster, he went to the races at other Chicago area tracks like Raceway Park, Soldier Field, Mance Park and Santa Fe Speedway.

Over the years, Kalwasinski has been a photographer, motorsports writer and announcer. He was a track photographer at Raceway Park and at Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Ind.,

In the 1990s, Kalwasinski was the announcer at Illiana Motor Speedway and at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Ill.

Kalwasinski has gathered a large collection of Chicago and Midwestern area auto racing photos and has accumulated extensive files on area auto racing history. He had been a writer and columnist for both Midwest Racing News and National Speed Sport News for over 20 years, also writing stories for several motorsports magazines. Currently, he is a contributor to on-line racing sites like RaceStar Publications and Speed Sport News.

Kalwasinski is a member of the Mazon Speed Bowl/Grundy County Speedway Hall of Fame and is a board member of the Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame.