The Vault
1986 – CHUCK GRALL WINS THE IMCA LAKESHORE NATIONALS ON THE TAR AT 141
Posted on: Friday January 21, 2022
(This article is pulled from the 2017 release “Life In The Past Lane – The Next Generation”)
Chuck Grall dug this home-built IMCA modified out of the mothballs and beat Mark Martin and others in the 1986 IMCA Lakeshore Nationals race at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek, Wisconsin. The track was a quarter-mile, paved oval at the time. (Joe Slack photo)
The Night Chuck Grall Beat Mark Martin
Reprinted from the 141 Speedway 1999 souvenir program
Written by Joe Verdegan
You’re not seeing a misprint here. Most of you know Mark Martin. No. 6, Winston Cup. Roush Racing. Valvoline. Hard charger? Yeah, that’s the guy.
What? You mean he actually raced here? Yes. It was an event called the Lakeshore Nationals. Although the car count and attendance were meager (16 IMCA mods and roughly 500 paid adults), the young gun from Batesville, Arkansas, puttered around the quarter-mile paved oval in a lemon of a modified.
Martin had moved back to Franklin, Wisconsin, after going broke racing on his own dime on NASCAR’s Winston Cup circuit. When he competed at 141, he was racing for Jerry Gunderman’s All Star Racing team in ASA and ARTGO competition. Perhaps the big story of that Wednesday evening in the summer of 1986 was the race winner, Chuck Grall.
The Seymour veteran dug an old Gremlin out of mothballs and checked out early – besting the field en route to the 40-lap feature win.
Chuck Grall holds framed photos of cars from his career of racing IMCA modifieds and northern sportmods.
“I went there by myself because I didn’t have a pit crew,” Grall recalled. “A friend of mine, Dean Reeck, was working at the track and helped me out when he learned I was on my own. And another guy I knew, Dale Flavian, showed up at the last minute to help, too.”
Grall was well-known for getting the most out of his equipment. He scrimped, saved, and cut corners whenever and wherever he could. “The body from my Gremlin included pieces of my old swimming pool,” Grall laughed. “You could even see the ripples on the car if you looked close up.”
Sponsorship of race cars wasn’t real big then. Some drivers scooped up $50 or $100 from their local watering hole. Grall took his sponsorship search pretty seriously. “I always took days off from work in the winter and went out and sold advertising for my car. By the time the season rolled around, I was usually able to cover the costs of building my car. I was financially even when opening night came. In fact, one year in the eighties, I rounded up $2,400 in sponsor money, which was pretty big back then.”
Grall had competed the previous season on the dirt at Seymour Speedway. The IMCA modified was in its infancy as less than one dozen drivers locally fielded cars. “I had run 141 a few years back in my sportsman car. I raced against guys like Gary Stankevitz and Michigan’s Donny Anderson, so I knew what the track was like.”
Grall said Martin shook hands with him after the race, saying, “It’s awful tough to beat someone on their home track. You beat me fair and square.” He had no idea I didn’t race there every week. He was so young back then, but he had already built up an incredible reputation on the short tracks.”
The hat Chuck Grall won for winning this event at 141 Speedway in 1986.
After the feature, Grall took on Martin in a 10-lap grudge race in which Grall again emerged triumphant. “Afterwards, Keith Knaack (IMCA founder) came up and congratulated me. He wanted me to compete in this traveling series they had started. Problem was the motor I had was an old junk 400 cubic-inch engine that had 100,000 miles on it. It was the only one I had.”
Grall continued to race IMCA modifieds sparingly for a few more seasons before hanging up his helmet. After that, the fifty-six-year old Fort James paper company employee began building IMCA modifieds. He still builds them to this day. “I’m not nearly as gung-ho as I used to be. I build one a year. In fact, I’ve got one in the garage right now that I’m working on.”
With retirement from “The Fort” coming soon, Grall can claim something that very few people in this area can – that they beat the great Mark Martin.
“That’s how I gauge my professional career is how Mark Martin performs every Sunday,” Grall quipped.
Grall would return many years later to race at 141 Speedway in 2009 in the IMCA northern sportmod division. It was the final year the track remained a paved oval as it was converted to dirt for the 2010 season. (danlewisphoto.net)
(This book is available for purchase at this website. simply click on the “books” tab on the upper left corner of the website.)