The Vault
MEMORIES OF RED STEFFEN VIA 5-10-32 MCBRIDE, PARKER & ANVELINK
Posted on: Monday March 31, 2025
Red Steffen, shown here at Shawano Speedway in 1975 in the Frank Mooney’s Tavern sponsored car. (Vercauteren family photo)
The racing world recently lost Eau Claire-area dirt track standout Red Steffen.
Red was one of the western Wisconsin invaders who often headed east beginning in the mid-1970’s to take on the N.E. Wisconsin powerhouse of dirt trackers in the high-dollar specials put up by brash promoter Paul Kaczrowski.
Red was kind enough to share some stories for the 2021 release “5-10-32 McBride, Parker & Anvelink. Here are some of those stories.
This book is available for purchase at this website by clicking on the “books” link. RIP Red
Red on M.J. McBride – “I always got along well with M.J. and actually first raced against him at those special events at the Wausau fair. When he came over to race at Menominee for the Punky Manor race he’d ask me about what gears to run and I’d tell him.
We used to battle against one another at Colby. That was a tough track because the pay wasn’t as good as the other tracks. We’d use Colby basically as a night to try different setups and stuff. For quite a few years in the mid to late 70s it seemed like us western guys were heading over to race on the eastern side of the state. Those guys wouldn’t come over as much, but they started to come over our way when they were WISSOTA sanctioned in the mid-80s again.”
Red Steffen on Pete Parker – “I remember one night we had traveled east to race at De Pere for one of the special events that Paul Kaczrowski was promoting. We were having some beers with Pete at the Drift Inn across from the track after the races that Sunday night.
A fight broke out in the bar between Scott Hansen and Tom Stueding. A few punches were thrown, and it was Pete who stepped in and broke the fight up. Those guys were tough on the half miles and Kaczrowski was very good at luring western Wisconsin drivers like myself, (Leon) Plank and Stueding and Iowa guys like Ed Sanger and Kenny Walton to come and race at his specials.
I always got along with Pete. Parker was real good friends with Tom Nesbitt. Tom nicknamed him “Peter The Car Parker.”
Red Steffen
Eau Claire, WI
If you enjoy this content you can purchase this book at this website by clicking on the “books” tab.