Your probably wondering about the person who created the Raceway Park History website. Let me take a few minutes to tell you about myself.

My name is Steve Bechtel. I moved to Calumet Park in 1975 when I was 5 years old. I grew up about 2 blocks away from the track. My earliest memory of Raceway Park was in May right before we moved in. It was the first time I had seen my new house and was running around like a madman. I guess I was in the way cause my parents told me to go outside and play. It was then that I first heard the voice of Wayne Adams. I wondered where the voice was coming from and walked to the corner of my block to find out. As I got to the corner I heard the cars come to life for the first time. I can still remember looking towards the track and seeing all the lights out in the parking lot. Remember the last scene of the movie Field of Dreams? That's what Raceway Park looked like to me when I was 5 years old.

A few weeks later I went for the first time with my dad. I don't remember much. I know I liked the races and loved the crashes even more. When I think back to those days I still can hear my dad yelling, "C'mon Old Man" as he cheered for Bud Koehler. For the next 2 years Koehler was my favorite driver and he won the championship both seasons. In 1977 things changed. I found out years later Junior Hanley showed up on opening day and won with ease. Then Jerry Kemperman went on a winning streak and had a huge point lead until he got into a feud with track owner Pete Jenin and decided to race elsewhere. What I remember most after that was 2 teenagers making  the Late Model division their own personal playground. One was Ted Moore #36. The other was Bobby Dotter #67. Dotter became my favorite driver for alot of years until he quit running Raceway. To this day I still follow his career. I also remember seeing a couple of Hobby Stock cars behind a business on 127th Street. I would walk by a few times a week hoping to see them working on them. Anyone remember the orange #13-T of Pete Uko and the purple #1413 of Bob Annen? I know I sure do.

By the time 1980 rolled around I was going to the races by myself. My dad didn't want to go all the time so I somehow talked my mom into trusting a 10 year-old kid to walk 2 blocks home after the races. I still remember the deal. She could hear the cars racing. When she stopped hearing the cars I had a half hour to make it home or I couldn't go the next race night. By this time I was stopping by the #36 of Dan Deutsch every night. Hobbyfest was new and Dan always seemed to do well. I would always be first in line to sit in his car after the races. I think I spent more time in that seat then he did in 1980 & 1981.

I had other favorites by then. I grew up with the Sterkowitz brothers so I was always a fan of their brother Scott who drove the #17 car to the 1981 Hobby Stock championship. I also cheered for Nancy Prince #54. I vaguely remember having a crush on her but that info can not be confirmed.

That 1981 season was pretty cool in the eyes of a 11 year-old. I remember meeting NASCAR drivers Ricky Rudd and Neil Bonnett when they came in to race the locals. I also remember the first and only Artgo show ever held at the track. I remember walking to the track and the first thing I saw was Mark Martin's hauler in the pits. Up to this point I had only read about the Artgo "Stars and Cars" in the Midwest Racing Newspapers I bought at the photo booth. (Speaking of the photo booth, weren't those Surprise Packs they sold for a dollar well worth it? And who will ever forget Gator Gum?) Later in the year I went to see the Oak Ridge Boys in concert at the track. That year was truely magical. It was about this time I started working for the track for a few years. Yep, I was one of those parking lot guys with the orange batons telling you where to park. I even got a promotion the next year and collected the half dollar it cost to park in the parking lot. I ended up doing that for 2 years. It was during that time I met a kid named Dave Foust. His dad Russ drove the #20 Hobby Stock car. I had a nightly routine. I would wait at the school across the street from the track until Dave and Russ pulled in. Then Dave and I would unload the car out in the parking lot while Russ paid for his pit pass. Dave and I were to young to get in the pits and Russ never had any help so he always unloaded his car off the trailer in the parking lot. After Russ was in the pits Dave would give me his $3 and I would add it to my $3 and I would go buy one $6 adult ticket and walk around for a few minutes. Then I would leave and get stamped and meet Dave in the parking lot and rub the stamp on his hand and just like that we had the 2 for 1 discount. Lucky for us Ox (the security guard) never caught on. Maybe he did, and just looked the other way. Either way we owe you one Ox. You have to understand that $6 a night to get in was pretty steep back then for a 12 and 13 year-old. Besides, we needed our money for more important things....Like Kartway!!
The 1986 season was a season of change. I'm sure the "Rockford Rules" Late Model class was booming at Rockford Speedway. However, when Raceway went to those rules it killed the division. All of a sudden no more Bob & Dave Weltmeyer. No more Wayne Para or Jerry Kemperman. Same thing with Hobby Stock class. The guys that made the division so exciting in the early 80's were gone and I barely knew the guys running in the class during that year. The one thing that stands out in my mind about 1986 was running in my first Enduro. I took the family beater that sat behind my house for two years and didn't run and turned it into my first Enduro ride. It was a 1969 Olds F-85. I painted it red and was #4. Back then you didn't pick numbers. Your number
was the order you signed up and was also your starting posistion. Needless to say I didn't set the world on fire. I started 2nd row inside and took the lead going into turn one. I actually led the first lap. Lap two didn't go so well. I got right reared coming out of turn two and was facing Ashland street in the middle of the backstretch. I kept waiting for a break in traffic to turn around but with 80+ cars on the track there wasn't one. So I put it in reverse and went in the pits backwards, turned around and went back out. Nineteen laps later my race was done and so was the car. I raced a few nights in 1987 in a car I bought from Fernando Cabrera. Unfortunatley that car saw the junkyard before it saw a checker flag.
I didn't race again until 1990. I met a guy named Paul Thompson at the track and we became fast friends. He ran  the #41 car in the Street Stock class in the early 90's. He had a 2nd car and he let me drive it a few nights. In 1991 we built me my own car. I ran a handful of nights in the Street Stock class and had a few second place finishes in some heat races and my first top 15 in an Enduro. Only the top 15 spots paid money in Enduro's. I made $20 for fourteenth place.
In 1998 I got married. Of course it was during February so I wouldn't have to miss a race night. My wife Jannelle suggested I build a good car instead of all the hand me down junkers I had drove. She also suggested I run the whole season instead of a race here and there. This was March and the first Enduro was a month away. I went to my friend Paul and asked if he could build me a car in a month. He said it would be tough but he could do it. So we found a 1977 Monte Carlo street car and in less then a month made it race ready car. I lived in Blue Island and drove out to Indiana every evening to help him work on that car. Actually all I did was pay for everything and hand him tools. Paul did a tremendous job and on opening day I remember it rained pretty hard. I didn't leave the wipers on the car but followed the brightly painted car of Mike Buder #55 the best as I could. I ended up 10th. In 7 races that season I had 5 top 15's (points & money spots) a 16th and a 34th (I hit the wall so hard my steering wheek fell off). I ended up 10th in the final point standings and was thrilled that my name would actually be in a Raceway Park program. After the last Enduro I drove one night in the Street Stock class. It was a non point night since their point battle was over and hardly anyone showed up. I made my first trophy dash and finished 5th in the feature. The car held up great all season and I can't thank Paul Thompson and Ron Zisoff of R&S Auto Body enough.
In 1999 I got a deal I couldn't refuse and bought a car driven by Jake Cholke the season before. The car was fast and opening day I got 3rd place and didn't pit once the whole 2 hours. There was some controversy that day. Seems 2 hot dogs from the Midwest Enduro Series showed up and had illegal cars. They finished 1-2 but didn't get DQ'd for some reason. The officials said if they DQ'd them then they would have to DQ me as well. I still remember Raceway official Denny James walking up to me and saying my braided brake lines were illegal and gave me an edge over the competition. I had some good runs in that car but also had a few DNF's that took me out of the point battle. In early August I decided to run the rest of the year in the Street Stock class with the same car. I remember my first night out I had about a straigtaway lead on John Cozzi and he caught me and passed me for the win with 2 laps to go. Afterwards he caught up with me in the pits and told me to take the mirror out of my car cause I looked in it the whole time I was leading and that's why he caught me. The next week Jake Cholke told me to bring the car to his house the following weekend and he would set it up for me. I'm not sure what he did but it worked, The following week I won my first heat race ever. Later in the same night I was running second in the Consi just biding my time. The top 2 made it to the feature and the leader had a big lead. With 3 laps to go he spins out all by himself and hands me the win. It took me 13 years of on and off trying to win a race. Then in one night I won 2 of them. Before the end of the season I would add 2 more heat race wins. I later learned that I was one of the few drivers in Raceway history to finish in the top 20 in 2 divisions during the same year. After only 6 weeks of Street Stock action I finished 18th and even though I missed 3 of the 7 Enduro's I still finished 15th. After the season ended I ran the last Enduro of the season. I had a dominant car and was running on the lead lap with about 25 laps to go when my good friend Bill Serviss jammed on his brakes right in front of me. The hit was a hard one and it took out my radiator. I sat in the infield for over 20 laps and still finished in the money. That tells you how good we were running. My wife was gonna run the ladies Enduro but changed her mind  at the last second. Instead my friend Kristen said she would do it. My pit crew headed by Doug Voss, Greg Blatt & Bill Neering changed the battery, radiator, fan, shroud and everything else that got
damaged in less then 20 minutes. I then proceded to watch my friend spin out about 10 times and wreck the car more then I did all season. She even nailed another car after the checker flag came out. She still ended up 7th and won the best looking car trophy. In October of that year we decided to bring the car to the Bahama Bracket Nationals at Rockford Speedway. I finished 3rd in my heat and transferred to the feature. In the feature I got a flat tire and ended up 14th out of 28 cars.
We took that same car and started the 2000 season with it. At the opening day Enduro we ran a flawless race but ended up short at the finish to that years champion Eddie Wolf #93. I was still pretty happy with a 2nd place finish. When the Enduro races first started in 1985 it was 200 laps. They changed the format to 2 hours. In that 2 hour period I did 365 laps and still didn't win. Man how Enduro's have changed. It was during this time that I started a website called "Raceway Park News". It seemed every other track had a website and were giving their drivers exposure and I wanted to do that for the Raceway guys. It was very popular with fans and drivers. Track management didn't seem to care for it though. I ran 2 more Enduro's and had top 10 finishes and was tied for 2nd in points. I was actually in the hunt for a championship. I noticed alot of guys were taking their Enduro cars and running them in the Street Stock class and then back again in Enduro's. That was a major no-no in the rules. I figured everyone else was doing it so why shouldn't I. I ran one night of Street Stocks and was told not to bring my car back out for the Enduro's. They even went as far as to tell me don't bother painting it a different color and trying to make it look like a different car
(like the other drivers were doing) cause it wouldn't work. I felt I was being singled out because of my website. So right then and there I quit racing. I was 2nd in points at the time. I sold my car (ironically) back to Jake Cholke. I didn't really mind not racing. I was actually enjoying doing the website more then racing. It also gave me more time to help out my friend Bill Neering who was well on his way to winning 17 features and the Semi-Pro championship.
That brings us up to date. In 2001 I joined Steve Loper who founded RMS Local Racing. Raceway Park closed and I like everyone else was forced to go watch races elsewhere. I traveled every week with Bill Neering. We ran at Grundy County Speedway, Illiana Speedway, Lake Geneva Raceway, Rockford Speedway, M-40 Speedway and Mottville Speedway. We attempted Kaukauna and 141 Speedway but got rained out. I saw so many tracks and drivers. Unfortunately is wasn't home like Raceway Park was to me and so many. I always said to myself they can take our track, but they can't take our memories. And the Raceway Park History Website & book idea was born.

I hope you enjoy it,
Steve Bechtel
My First Enduro Car...1986
My Pit crew...
Steve Smith, Keith Sterkowitz,
Me and Dave Foust
RPH Photo
My First Street Stock...1991
Dale Earnhardt wasn't the only guy to drive a pink car
Track Photos
In 1992 I ran the same car one time before selling it to a guy named Tony Vines. I again started to work for the track, this time in the pit concession stand. I worked there until 1998. It wasn't the greatest job in the world but the people I worked with made it fun. Thanks Frank Gawel, Wayne Talaski, Kristen Talaski, John Burdy & my future wife Jannelle Webb. I raced one Enduro in 1995 with a car I bought from Bill Neering who drove the #5 Semi-Pro car. I had met him through longtime Raceway friends the Wiltjer Family. I met Billy Bob, Dawn Bob, Jim Bob & Shaun Bob in the late 80's and have been friends  with them ever since.
Track Photos
This is the car I drove only
once during the 1992 season
RPH Photo
RPH Photo
Opening Day Enduro ...1998
My wife was a big Jeff Gordon fan
So we switched the number to #24
The crew after another top 10 finish
Including...
Billy, Becky, Keith, Cristin,
Jannelle, Dad, Paul, Me,
Whitey, Bill, Stacie & Julie
RPH Photo
Tom Nagel Photo
Becky Czerwinski  Photo
My First Ever Win at Raceway Park
Now I know how Michael Waltrip
felt after all those years
(Thanks Jake Cholke)
Racing against Don Ackerman #27
at the Rockford Speedway during
the Bahama Bracket Nationals
Opening Day Enduro ...1999
3rd Place Finish
My best finish up to that point
Opening day Enduro...2000
2nd place finish
Best Enduro finish ever
2000 pit crew
Including...
Stevie, Bill, Jimbo, Katie,
Becky, Jannelle, Kristen & Greg
Bill Neering & Crew
after another feature win
during his 2000 title season
RPH Photo
RPH Photo
Tom Nagel Photo
RPH Photo
Yep that's me back in 1981
Never one to miss a photo opportunity I was ready
when they snapped this picture while the girls were
busy looking in the stands for their mom
Who runs the website???
Spectator Division...1987
That's me in the #75
RPH Photo