| I would first like to thank John Surges for all his effort in creating the Vintage Modified Stockcar Club. Without this clubs existance I surely would not have started the search for Pop's last car. Preserving my Grandfathers memory by reconstucting his last Super Modified has truly been a moving experiance for me. Thanks John and all who keep the VMSC strong!! |
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Click on Pops IRA Roadster Modified and see
it's history and reconstruction!!!!
it's history and reconstruction!!!!
| Click on the VMSC Logo to go directly to the club site! |
| What's the big deal about the old Interstate Racing Association!! I cut my teeth on racing at an early age. My Grandfather, Pop Kline, raced with the IRA from it's beginning. My earliest memories include standing out on our sidewalk just waiting to see car trailers pull around the corner in down town Genoa City! As they passed our house my checkered flag would be waving at full force. Wish I had a dollar for every honk and wave!!! How about that bumper to bumper traffic while exiting Lake Geneva. I remember laying on the back seat of Mom and Dads car listening to the chorus of frogs and crickets as we waited for our turn at the stop sign on the way home. Don't really remember staying awake long enough to make the stop sign!! Funny how you forget who won and lost after all this time. One thing you never forget are the drivers names, everyone now legendary! Looking back from right here in 2005 at what those drivers accomplished with build it yourself, back yard race cars really is something!! Running for points on both Dirt and Asphalt at multiple tracks truly is different than most anything we see in the state of Wisconsin this day and age. 2,3 and 4 nights a week!!!! It's no wonder the IRA has evolved into one of the premier Sprint Car Associations in the country. Let's look at their meager beginnings. |
| Click here to see News Articles from Days gone by. Point standings, Weekly race reports that cover the IRA Super mods! Articles will be posted as they become availible! |
| Click on the underlined names for more pictures!!! |
| The actual year the IRA began has yet to be determined. Some of the guy's that helped to create the club think it was 66 while still others recall it to be 67 or 68. So far I found a couple of printed sources that point to 1968 as the first official Club year? I'm looking for news articles from 67 and 68 to help verify the correct year! 40 year old memories are a bit fuzzy!! Help me find a printed announcement introducing the Interstate Racing Association to it's new eager fans!!! |
| Where have they gone?? Unfortunily many have found their way to that race track in the sky where everyone wins! Still others can be found if you know where to look! Check the pits at an IRA show! Many second generation IRA drivers can be found. Dad's and uncles who once raced aren't far away!! Still others continue on with their repair and body shops! I'm trying to contact as many of these early IRA guy's as I can. I'm hoping to post their favorite pictures of themselves along with stories that they would like to share. |
| Special Thanks!!!!! None of this would be possible with out people willing to share their memories with all who choose to surf by!! Thanks to: John Surges, Bob Bergeron, Larry Horkan, Paul Kuyawa, The Potter Family Ken Monroe, Tim Barty, Jack Biddison and Tony Kautz |
| The following information is a combination of 2 discussions I was privileged to have with both Ken Monroe and Whitey Harris. These guy's were part of the IRA's infancy. The first organizational meeting was held in at Whitey's home. The first club meetings were at the old Tar Foo club south of Antioch on 59 and Grass Lake Rd.! Many of the IRA board meetings were held in Ray Toft's office at City Hall! Ray was the first club President. How was this club inspired to form?? Let's go back to 1965! The MSC was running modified divisions at tracks from Milwaukee up through mid state. Many tracks south of Milwaukee and Northern IL. also ran modified divisions. Most were promoter run divisions where the drivers were at the promoters mercy. Many treated the drivers and fans favorably but sometimes problems did arise. In 65 Modifieds running at Wilmot were paid from 40% of the nightly gate. 4000-4500 was a very reasonable attendance figure in those days. Looks like fans had to pay the hefty fee of $2 a head to see their favorite drivers saw the wheels of those fire breathers they rode around in!! It seems the promoters at Wilmot were experiencing a thinning out of fans and warned the drivers that the gate numbers were starting to slide. Being a very resourceful bunch, the wives of some of the owners and drivers decided to help the promoter count his fans as they made their way through the gate. Unfortunately the Promoters numbers were quite a bit short from the actual count and trouble soon reared it's ugly head. A boycott was in order and a search for another place to race was on! Only 2 options presented themselves. Talk to Rockford Speedway about adding a division or convince Sturge Taggert to add a circle track on the grounds of his drag strip at Lake Geneva. In the Spring of 66 the flat 1/4 paved track was laid down at Geneva in about three days! The original opening on Memorial Day was delayed as rain kept the pavers away! The full page add taken out in the Checkered Flag Racing News included an apology from track officials for the delay! A few mod's did stay on at Wilmot as buying more expensive Asphalt tires was not possible. A Promotion Group headed up the planning for this widely anticipated grand opening. First estimates thought 5000 fans would come out on opening day, but at the last minute all food and beverage orders were doubled as close to 10,000 fans were now expected. The track was all geared up on opening day for a very meager 1000 fans. Needless to say many local businesses lost a lot of money in this endeavor. When all was said and done the Lake Geneva Raceway would now be owner by a collection of local businessmen. By the end of the season the original promotional team was no where to be found and Mr. Taggart had to go it alone to keep the track operational. All the turmoil created plenty of issues with the drivers who tried to put on the show. With the management of both tracks in question, owners and drivers alike thought it was time to form an Association to look out for their interests! Hence, the Interstate Racing Association was created. "The Norm Potter Collection" Thanks to Greg Potter for digging through his late father's collection of race papers and year books to help verify some of this information! |
| I'd love to add your favorite Pictures and comments about Vintage IRA Modifieds and Super Modifieds!! Feel free to contact me by clicking here!!! |
| If you have saved this as your start page your missing the boat! Double click this link and save it to your favorites list! www.vintageira.com You'll be able to come back here from the new start page! |
| Coming SOON!!! MRN articles from 1968 announcing the new Interstate Racing Association! |
| Update!!!! |
All newspaper articles
are from 1968 !
are from 1968 !
