John McKarns
Former Owner of the Artgo Late Model Series
Q: Where & when did you see you first local race?
A: I started attending stock car racing in 1951 at the Wauseon (Ohio) Fairgrounds and have attended between 20 and 88 races a year ever since then! My first race in the Chicagoland area was in 1961 at the old O'Hare Stadium with my brother. By 1963 I was living in Evanston (Northwestern) and started taking public transportation to the Soldier Field events. When I finally had a car at college in 1964 I attended Raceway Park, O'Hare, Soldier Field and Waukegan. Waukegan was my favorite due to the modifieds racing on dirt. That was the style of racing I grew up with in Ohio. I got a job there in 1965 as an assistant pit steward and publicity writer. I met Art Frigo thru Bob Roper and my work at Waukegan (and by then Grundy) and we started ARTGO in 1975. My wife Sue and I bought the business from Frigo in 1979 and the rest is 'history'!
Q: Have you ever raced yourself?
A: I have only raced in several celebrity stock car races. When I was in college I thought about racing, but couldn't afford it and didn't have a place to store a racecar or a place to work on it or a way to haul it to the track.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your racing duties before the birth of ARTGO?
A: Well, I was a stock car racing fan in northwest Ohio all of those years starting in 1951. In 1960, our local paper (The Bryan Times in Bryan, Ohio) quit covering races so I wrote them a letter. They forwarded my letter to the local driver's club. The club wrote back and said there was a split between the track (Bryan Speedway) and the driver's club (Flat Rock Racing Association) and no one was supplying results. Soon I started writing the stories for their new home track in Defiance, Ohio. I was too young to drive, so my Dad took me to all of the races and we both got in free every Sunday night. Admission was $1.25 in those days.
Q: How was ARTGO born?
A: Bob Roper worked for Art Frigo. Frigo lived in Lake Bluff (near Waukegan) and would bring his family to Waukegan on Sunday nights to watch the races and cheer for Roper. Roper won a lot of races in those days. Stan Kalwasinski and I were keeping a point total for the Chicagoland Driving Championship (CDC) among paved track late model finishes at Grundy, Illiana and Waukegan. Roper set up a meeting with Frigo and myself in August of 1975 to discuss a special race. At the meeting, Frigo explained he was willing to risk posting some substantial prize money to promote a special race on an open date to match the top Chicagoland paved track drivers against the top out-of-state drivers. I called Frank Welch (Grundy) from a pay phone at the restaurant and tentatively setup a date. Well, the date was Sunday afternoon September 7th (1975) and somehow, in less than a month, Art and everyone involved got the event put together, insurance purchased, drivers contacted, entry forms out, ads placed, etc. Come raceday, 49 late models and several thousand people showed up in very nice weather at Grundy. Tom Reffner won the event.
Q: After those first few races, did you think you were on to something big? Or were you wondering if a yearly series would appeal to the fans & drivers?
A: The second race, May 9th of 1976, was really well attended and was profitable. So much so, that Art and I decided to give every driver a cash bonus for participating! The drivers really liked that and we were off and going. That's the now famous Mother's Day race with Bobby Allison competing and Ray Young winning. We quickly scheduled a Sunday night race in August with both late models and midgets. That, on short notice, drew and even larger crowd! But it was still 'just' special events at Grundy. As a side note, I went to the Berlin Raceway in June of 1976 for a midweek special featuring Cale Yarbrough and Reffner. I decided to try something like that and worked out a deal to rent the Waukegan Speedway from Gordie Sill for the first 'All-Star 200' on Monday night July 5th (1976). The late models ran 100-laps and Larry Schuler won. 'Jack-at-the-Track' Biddison was the announcer and we had the largest crowd in over 20-years at the track. That was my first real promotion where my money was 'on the line.' In 1977 Art rented the Capital Super Speedway near Madison and the true ARTGO Series began. Rockford was added in 1978. Art had many other business interests and felt his required business travel would limit the series from growing. He offered to sell ARTGO to Sue and myself. Sue was laying in the Evanston Hospital pregnant with Gregg (now age 22) when she signed the purchase documents. Art had promoted 18 ARTGO stock car specials with no rainouts! In 1980 I left my job with International Harvestor in Libertyville and ARTGO and managing the Capital Super Speedway became our full time businesses.
Q: Was it a difficult choice to sell the series to NASCAR?
A: First, I want to point out we 'licensed' the name 'ARTGO Challenge Series' to NASCAR. As part of that agreement, I cannot operate a series which awards points from track to track for a period of time. NASCAR quickly found a series title sponsor and within a couple of months the series became known as the Re/Max Challenge Series. ARTGO was 'our baby,' but when our TV deal fell thru after just one broadcast and we didn't have a title sponsor after over 20 years, it seemed to me that someone else perhaps could take ARTGO to the next level. I was familiar with NASCAR and I thought they were the best route. Frankly some things are much better (point funds and insurance) than we could have ever achieved, but I'm concerned with the direction that some things have gone. I'd like to see higher car counts, I miss the preliminary heat races and I thought by now that TV would be a regular part of the package.
Q: Who were some of the more colorful drivers you dealt with?
A: Well over a thousand drivers raced in ARTGO. Someday I'd like to compile a statistical list of all of them. Among the regulars, I have to say Dick Trickle was a 'one-of-a-kind.' It's just a shame that Steve Carlson and Trickle never have raced that much against each other when they were both at the top of their game. Alan Kulwicki was also a 'one of a kind,' but in a different way. I was always proud when Butch Miller and Bob Senneker ran with us. Drivers like Larry Detjens, Bobby Blount, Jim Weber and Biff George, Tom Carlson, Bryan Reffner, Tom Jones and Rick Beebe were always fun to be around. Burt Weitemeyer, Jamie McMurray, Dick Harrington, Pierre Goulet, George Prziborowski, Larry and Tracy Schuler, Tom and Ted Musgrave, Dr. Jerry Bertolini and Frank Gawlinski were always fun when they were a part of ARTGO events. And who can forget the electricity anytime when Dave Weltmeyer and Eddie Hoffman are on the same track together! And for added excitement, keep your eye on Boris Jurkovic and Larry Middleton! Among the celebrity visitors, I think Darrell and Michael Waltrip, Jimmy Spencer, Bobby Allison and Dale Earnhardt rank at the top of the list of great guys to work with. Ron Hornaday is a great guy too, but he sure was mad when we restarted him at the rear after a halfway break in the 1995 200-lapper at Grundy! Do you remember when Joe Shear, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth all signed autographs and then raced at Grundy in an ARTGO show?
Q: What was the best ARTGO race you seen?
A: At Grundy, it may have been a rain delayed and poorly attended race during the annual 1993 fair where Rich Bickle ran the third groove most of the night. But the night with Hornaday is probably the one I'll never forget at Grundy! Kevin Cywinski got a little wild after that one, but still won the championship! Overall there have been some great ones and some not so great ones. Our next to last race at Berlin (1994) had a wild finish in light rain and the 1981 visit to Raceway Park was special for so many people. Bobby Allison's win at Rockford in 1984 was amazing! And every Oktoberfest is special and so much fun ...
Q: What "young guns" in the REMAX series should we keep our eye on?
A: Although not a 'young gun,' I think Jeff Kendall (No. 00) is smooth enough and smart enough to be the next Steve Carlson. Jason Schuler (No. 37) is really good and he likely will be back in Busch or Trucks someday soon. And Brian Hoppe may step up to another level before too long. Tim Schendel (No. 21) has really matured and Justin Diercks (No. 29) and Ron Breese (No. 01) are candidates to take the next step. Although not running NASCAR yet, I'm really impressed with Erik Darnell!
Q: The Wayne Carter Classic was always a staple on the ARTGO Schedule.. How important was it to you to bring that type of racing back to the area?
A: We feel this has been the premiere pavement stock car race in the Chicagoland area for the fans since 1975. No other event has drawn the out-of-state stars like our ARTGO events at Grundy and this year should be no exception. Current Winston Cup winners Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace all raced in our Grundy events before they were famous. Being on a Tuesday night, no one has an excuse for not being there!
Q: Can you give us more info on this event?
A: The date is Tuesday Night August 7th with a Wednesday night raindate. The Chicagoland Late Models will run a 50-lap feature (under Grundy rules) and preliminary races. The Re/Max Series will start up to 28 cars in their 150-lap championship event. The program will be known as the 'All-Star 200' and racing starts at 7:30pm.
Sue and I have moved to Florida and Gregg now promotes the NASCAR Weekly Races at the Lebanon I-44 Speedway in Missouri. We'll all be back at Grundy August 7th. Thanks for the interview and we look forward to seeing everyone at Grundy.
