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In January 2001, Pat York, a longtime Open Wheel competitor had a vision
of starting a vintage car club based out of Northern Indiana. Being the
nephew of one of the most prolific and well liked open wheel drivers
hailing from the Midwest, Tom York, Pat knew much of the history involved
with racing in the Indiana, Michigan, Ohio area. He had grown up watching
his father Jim work closely with his uncle in the heydays of USAC and
gained a plethora of memories stemming from being immersed in racing as
diverse Oswego Speedway's famous International Classic 200, to the Wildest
Sprint Car Race in the World-Anderson Speedway's annual Little 500. As
Pat's racing career wound to a close, he longed for the memories to remain
and a viable outlet to allow others like him to share and document the
vast richness of the history of auto racing in the "Michiana" area.
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| Pat knew of a few fellow enthusiasts who had restored some old racer cars. However, the closest Vintage Car Club was Midwest Old Timers based out of Central Indiana. The closest show was Winchester Speedway. and that was 340 miles round trip from Pat's Mishawaka, IN home and that didn't suit his vision of a club based in Northern Indiana. | |||||||||||||
| The initial meeting was held at Coachman Enterprises in Mishawaka, Indiana. Bob Richez, Bob Jones, Randy Peters, Don Woolley, Jack Troyer, Jim York, and Ron Verash were the attendees. All were car owners except for Don who had computer knowledge, and Ron, who has been going to races throughout the Midwest his whole life, and had photographed many of the races he attended. After some discussion a name that best described the purpose and vision of those in attendance was agreed upon and Michiana Vintage Racers was born. Pat was elected President, Bob Richez was selected for Vice President, and by process of elimination, Ron Verash was selected as the announcer/club historian/PR Director. | |||||||||||||
| A few weeks later, Pat had another meeting at his place that was open to anybody who had interest in Vintage Cars. In addition to the first group, over 20 individuals were present including Jim Baugh, Chuck Barnett, and Mike Miser. Jim Baugh has been involved with the prestigious Winchester Old Timers group, as well as sharing membership with Chuck Barnett in several other Vintage groups. The help of these two gentleman proved invaluable when it came to formulating a rulebook. Also, in that second, well attended meeting, it was decided that the group was declared a not for profit organization. In addition, yearly dues were agreed upon to offset operational overhead, as well as the cost of a newsletter to keep members informed and updated of club happenings. | |||||||||||||
| To further enhance exposure for MVR, Ron Verash contacted the Marc Times Racing News out of Kalamazoo, MI to inquire if he could do a weekly column covering the club's shows and news. MARC Times has been instrumental in the propagation of quality, safe racing in the Midwest, with Publisher Dick Beebe being at the forefront of trade paper publishing for many years. Along with a weekly column, Ron also mentioned that he could bring his numerous photo books to the shows to set up for public viewing. Ron's albums cover over 40 years of pictures, including pictures from the old Tri-State days that would add to the interest level, while also educating the "rookies" as to the history of oval track racing in the Michiana Region. Knowing that the Annual Coachman Auto Club Cavalcade of Wheels car show at Notre Dame's ACC was just around the corner, the club decided to make their first outing. Six of the club members got their cars ready, Jim and Pat York, Randy Peters, Bob Richez, Paul Hein and Jack Troyer made the short tow to the ACC, while Ron brought out the photo books, and Jack set up a TV and VCR to show racing tapes all day. | |||||||||||||
| The Cavalcade of Wheels car show has always been a gathering of not only hot-rodders and custom car fans, but also race fans and teams feeling spring fever and itching to get on the track for a new season. A good deal of interest was generated at the car show that day by those drivers, and many fans alike. At this point, the club members knew they were onto something and that there were probably many more people interested in the history of racing in the Michiana area. It was time to book some dates for spring and summer and local tracks were contacted to see if they would be interested in hosting an MVR show. The first promoter to show this interest was Mike Bird from the South Bend, (IN), Motor Speedway. He agreed to schedule a show the last Friday in June and that was the first time that members were allowed to put their cars on the pavement. Other tracks that first year were New Paris, (IN), Speedway, Plymouth, (IN), Speedway and Kalamazoo, (MI), Speedway. | |||||||||||||
| From those humble beginnings, Michiana Vintage Racers has grown to include nearly 60 members hailing not only from Indiana and Michigan, but also Illinois and Ohio. With the schedule gradually increasing at a steady but maintainable rate, MVR hopes to keep things fun and inexpensive for Club members while still reaching as many fans as possible. With this in mind, MVR has yet to charge a sanction fee to any promoter interested in booking a show, making it easy for a track operator to enhance his weekly events with a truly unique experience of "Racing to Remember for the young and old fan alike. | |||||||||||||
| If you are interested in booking a show or would like more information about Michiana Vintage Racers please use the contact information below. We also welcome all correspondence from fans and former racers who would like to share their memories and add to the history of oval track racing in the Michiana area. | |||||||||||||
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