Jim used to announce at Baer Field on Fridays, Warsaw on Saturdays, and Kokomo on Sundays, but in 1998 got a great job offer and moved to Iowa. Following is a portion of his email to me......
    "The job I have as Race Director of Hawkeye Downs Speedway is really neat. Its quite a nice facility, despite its age. We have seating for about 7500, TV lights, and its the only paved track in Iowa. When I took over at the end of the 1998 season, it had just been a stock car track, at least since it was paved in 1988. At the end of the 1999 season, I brought in USAC Sprint Cars. A lot of people thought it wouldn't work, but we had a good crowd. It was fun to see Dave Darland and his wife, Tony Elliott, Jimmy Elliott, and Jeff Walker. We all agreed, they running USAC Sprints and me managing a track like Hawkeye Downs is a long way from Warsaw and Kokomo!"

Memories - Regarding Warsaw Speedway, Sue (Jim's wife) and I agree that was the most fun we've had in racing. Its certainly a job now, but it was fun then. The people, especially you and your family, were great. It seemed like the same drivers who would be tense Sunday night at Kokomo were a lot more laid back Saturday night at Warsaw.
    I have many great memories of Warsaw Speedway. Like getting there early for the Fish Frys, then announcing the races. Or how about the great Fireworks, and Monty Miller getting on the P.A., scolding those on the lake watching for free in their boats, considering they were the ones trying to close the place down. I'll also never forget getting sick in the tower, and Monty taking over. I had to get back up to the tower for the features come hell or high water when I heard Monty repeatedly say on the P.A., "Jim threw up, so I'm the announcer tonight, folks."

Milo Clase - Announcer For Nearly 30 Years

Milo was the voice of the racing action at the Warsaw Speedway back in it's Hey-Day from the early 1950's through the late-1970's. Using two microphones, he announced not only for the crowd on hand, but also announced a half-hour of the competition on our local WRSW radion station each and every Saturday night. Milo also wrote all of the results printed in the Times-Union during the time that he announced. In speaking with him in a wonderful phone interview, one of Milo's most interesting accomplishments was that in nearly 30 years of announcing, he NEVER missed a race! He said that he went no matter what and thoroughly enjoyed just being there each week.
Milo took over the responsibilites from Bill Lipkey, who was the track's first announcer. Milo recalled that Joe Hampsher was the flagman and it was just after my great uncle, Hoot Gibson, took over the track, that he had the opportunity to be the announcer. From there, he took the opportunity in 1953 to travel down to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, meet Tony Hulman and Wilber Shaw, and take about 5 pace car laps around the brickyard. While going around the track, he recorded on tape the experience of what it was like and that recording can still be played today.

Milo, now 84, lives in Ft. Myers, Florida, with his wife of 63 years, Maxine. His voice still has that great control and emphasis that made him one of racing's greatest announcers.

Memories - "The memory that stands out in my mind the most is, of course, seeing the gentleman get ran over back in 1958 during the last night of the fair. It was the worst experience. My best memories are just getting there early before the races started and helping wait concessions, and mostly just being there and being a part of that place week after week."


Monty Miller - Manager 1983 to 1988
Although Monty "tells it like it is" and has pretty strong opinions on some subjects, he has a heart of gold and a love for racing that still shines through. Monty took over the management of the speedway in 1983, and although his years were spent fighting for special shows, hard work on the track 3-4 days a week, and defending his position with Winona Lake residents and fair board members, he had 6 very successful years. He started out racing non-winged sprints because he felt that non-winged cars made for better competition, better drivers, and made the winged shows something special, but the fair board stepped in and forced Monty to fun the wings full-time in 1986. Monty states that from then on, the fair board basically ran the show and after two years of it, he had had enough. All in all, Monty says, "It was a lot of fun. The crew that worked there helping me every week was like a family. They all stepped in wherever they were needed to make those Saturday night shows work."
    Monty still stays close to the sprint car action by helping out with the Pennzoil Outlaw Winged Sprints that travel around Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, and still has that dream of having his own track again.

Memories - "I remember early on, Oscar Cook winning the feature while he was rolling or broadsliding his car across the finish line. Also how all of the drivers were ready to fight when Olan Frier came in from one of the Ft. Wayne Racing Associations and beat all of the locals.
As a manager, I mostly enjoyed working with the drivers. I remember discussing a near photo-finish with Denny England after he and DeWayne Barker came across the line side-by-side and working out scoring problems with Tom Patterson. I just wanted to be fair to all of the drivers and tried to settle things the way that I thought was right."


1988 Track Personnel

John Crum - Safety Inspector (Hoot Gibson era)
In talking with John, he told me that looking back over his 82 years of life, his nearly 30 years out at the Warsaw Speedway were the best! He was the the Safety Inspector for many years working for manager, Hoot Gibson, and continued attending the races clear up to the last one. John still leads a very busy life working with Workforce Development in helping teens prepare for and achieve success in the workplace, and has a successful business presenting Success Management Seminars. When he can, he still enjoys attending sprint car races and being around that race atmosphere.

Memories - "It wasn't the best memory, but the most memorable was the night that John Davis's dad passed away at the track. It was at the start of a race that had both John and Sam in it. They red-flagged it right away so that the boys could be with their dad.

Another moment was when Bob Jonas was racing neck and neck with John (Davis) for the whole race. They came around the fourth turn and Bob bumped John a little and went on to win the race. Bob pulled into the infield and wouldn't accept the checkered flag. We told him to take it and he said, "No way! This is John's home track and if I take it after bumping him, I'll be hated here forever!"

In general, the racing at Warsaw was just a part of life for nearly 30 years. If you had to ban someone for a month or not allow a driver to race, when they came back, they understood and were still friends. I miss it a lot!"