Meadowdale International Raceway talk leads off historical society season

In its day, the Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville was the place to be.

It may have only had a short life, but during those 11 years people were able to watch races -- and crashes -- while spending the day together at an inexpensive venue.

"My father dragged me there on opening day," said Streamwood resident Bill Pohnan. "I was only 9 and didn't care about car racing. But people said 150,000 other people were there that day. It was a big thing."

In the inaugural race in 1958, Little Rock, Ark., resident Robert Walker raced and died when his car flipped over.

He wasn't a professional racer. He was a 25-year-old insurance agent who liked to drive cars fast.

But the appeal of the 234-acre complex, along Route 31 north of Route 72, put amateur drivers on the same track with professionals.

It also put Dundee Township, especially Carpentersville, in the same company as other circuit tracks.

"It was like (the track in) Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin," said Elgin resident Bill Cramer.

"It was a big thing for us."

He grew up in Dundee Township, and went to the Meadowdale races in his teenage years.

"There were grandstands, but they were small. People used to line the track and watch the cars go by. I was there for the race that was billed as the 'two hottest drivers with the two fastest cars in the world,'" he said.

"Lance Reventlow was the first driver and Chuck Daigh was the second driver. They were friends, and there was talk that one let the other one win."

He can't remember who the victor was.

But surely, someone in the crowd of the tens of thousands of spectators can.

Maybe former East Dundee resident Howard Mesick can. He watched many Meadowdale races, said his sister, Joanie, and brother, Raymond. During one, his horse wandered onto the track and stopped the cars. During another, he lost his class ring.

"Oh, my parents were mad," Joanie said. "It cost a lot of money."

With the excitement and popularity of Meadowdale came problems. Spectators driving to the track caused traffic jams along the two lanes of Route 31. Neighbors complained of the noise, the crowds and oil-smelly pit crews who came with the teams of drivers.

They didn't take away from Meadowdale's popularity, though.

"It was a very challenging track, and people liked that," Pohnan said. "It was the type of track that if you didn't pay attention, you'd never make it around the first lap."

The hair-pin and banked curves could turn the shiniest and fastest cars into crumpled junk in the time it took to bite into a concession-stand hot dog.

"Meadowdale had about five good years (as far as the crowds)," Pohnan said. "It only made money one year, but it didn't close. After that, anybody could race there."

That included people driving snowmobiles and motorcycles.

The owner, Leonard Besinger, wasn't about to let his track close because the crowds went to tracks in other states. He built it to show off good race cars and drivers -- as well as the town he was building, with homes and the famed Meadowdale Shopping Center, along Route 25, the Streamwood resident said.

After Meadowdale International Raceway closed in 1969, Leonard Besinger thought of other uses for the hilly property, including hosting a Woodstock-style rock concert.

Pohnan is making sure Meadowdale's memories won't be hidden in the overgrown weeds.

He's spent five years talking to people and collecting photos for a book he has written about the race track, "And Then There Was Meadowdale. He's searching for a publisher to print it.

He'll talk about some of the items in his research when he meets with members of the Dundee Township Historical Society at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The meeting will be at the society's museum, 426 Highland Ave. in West Dundee.

Members have asked Pohnan to speak because this year is the 50th anniversary since the track's opening.

Leonard Besinger's Woodstock rock-concert dreams never happened for the raceway. People in the neighborhood fought against it.

Eventually, he gave up and it sat idle until Dundee Township Board and Kane County Board members bought it about five years ago.

Raceway Woods has become a place where people can take leisurely strolls or ride horses and bikes among the trees, along the paths that once held crowds and roaring cars.

For more information the former raceway and Raceway Woods, visit meadowdale raceway.homestead.com/

If you go

What: Dundee Township Historical Museum season opening, with a program on the 50th anniversary of Meadowdale International Raceway's opening

When: 2 p.m. Sunday

Where: 426 Highland Ave., West Dundee

Info: (847) 428-6996; meadowdale raceway.homestead.com/