The Vault
Pete Vercauteren
Posted on: Wednesday September 30, 2020
The following is one of the chapter’s from Joe Verdegan’s first book “Life In The Past Lane – a history of stock car racing in northeast Wisconsin from 1950-1980.”
This piece focuses on De Pere native Pete Vercauteren, his role (along with the rest of his family) covering the exploding late model, Tri-track half-mile circuit at tracks at De Pere, Shawano and Seymour in the 1970’s. This piece also covers Pete’s coverage in the late ’70’s and ’80’s of events the legendary Dick Trickle competed in.
“Rumblings near Dunning Drive”
Pete Vercauteren grew up within walking distance of the Brown County Fairgrounds in De Pere, their house on Dunning Drive just north of the track. When he was old enough to ride a bicycle he and his brother Gary would wheel their way around the fairgrounds, soaking up every bit of the stock car racing scene they could.
“Gary and I were maybe nine or ten years old,” recalled Vercauteren. “The coupes were running on basically a 1/5 mile paved oval at the time. The races were on Saturday nights during that era. There were even some old coaches that would race. Back then many of those guys towed their cars with tow bars to the races with their street cars.”
It was common to have a handful of rollovers each race night. Often, the cars would be so mangled the owners would have to come back and pick up the wrecks a few days later with a tow truck. “So there would often be at least two or three cars in the pits,” said Vercauteren. “We’d climb in the cars, jump in them, turn the key and start them up. The windshields would be cracked. We thought it was all pretty cool.”
The Vercauteren’s were bitten by the racing bug. It was a time when every gas station – whether it was in Green Bay, De Pere or the more rural areas in Luxemburg or Kewaunee, had a race car sitting out in front of their shop. Kids would ride their bikes to these gas stations. They’d hang around the stations. They would get to know the drivers and owners.
Next thing you know, kids are begging Mom and Dad to take them to the races. “I think it really helped build interest and fan support for the sport,” said Vercauteren.
It didn’t take long for the colorful characters to take center stage each night. While the men and their crew members wrenched on the cars, the girlfriends and wives sat in the covered grandstand, many of them nervously chain smoking while cheering on their drivers. John Marquis was the first promoter at De Pere. Rohr. Ness. John Marquis’ son, Bobby Marquis. Muenster. Ted Peters. Bob White Sr. Tom Brunette. “I remember at one time we counted 14 different drivers drove for Joe’s Auto Sales,” said Vercauteren. “The cars were always very nice looking. They were very well painted, and well maintained for coupes.”
It didn’t take long for the entire Vercauteren family to get involved with both feet in the water. Pete’s Dad Harold soon began peddling the Milwaukee-based racing trade paper the Midwest Racing News. “We went down to the races at Slinger one year and we picked up a copy of MRN and subscribed to it,” explained Vercauteren. “We noticed there wasn’t really any coverage of tracks up north of Milwaukee.”
Vercauteren’s talked to the MRN editor at the time, Phil Hall and that quickly changed. Pete and Gary would attend St. Norbert College in De Pere. “We’d take photos at the track and started writing race results at De Pere,” said Vercauteren. “Eventually that expanded to us also writing our own columns and driving profiles, too.”
Petes mother, Regina, began selling the photos at the track. “We’d always have the best drivers right at eye level,” joked Vercauteren. In their heyday, Vercauteren’s would sell between 1,200 to 1,500 copies of MRN on a weekend of a racing. “Later when we’d expand to other tracks, we’d sell 500 a night at both De Pere and Shawano. There was no internet. No Twitter. No instant communication back then. Everyone wanted their hands on those papers.”
Later, when the late models took over and the drivers began coming from other parts of Wisconsin and Illinois, Vercauteren’s typed up a drivers list with the drivers car numbers, names, hometowns and type of car and that really helped us sell a ton of papers.”
It didn’t take long for action to move to the half mile. “In the late 60’s (John) Marquis brought in some IMCA specials which were a pretty big deal at the time,” said Vercauteren. “Guys would come from Iowa and Illinois and come the night before and stay at the local hotels.”
Pete and Gary would ride their bikes to the Holiday Inn on Ashland Avenue in Green Bay to check out the out-of-towners haulers and cars. “Sometimes we’d get lucky and the guys would be outside and we’d talk to them,” said Vercauteren. “Then we’d head back to De Pere where there was a smaller hotel and there’d be even more guys there.”
Then the following morning track officials would open up some of the exhibition buildings in the fairgrounds where the teams would work on their cars. “Gary and I would there bright and early at nine o’ clock in the morning to soak it all in,” said Vercauteren. I remember guys like Ramo Stott, Norm Nelson, Gary Bettenhausen and Don White were there. Ernie Derr from Iowa won. Again it was just so cool and those big specials filled the grandstands from one end to the other.”
More full time racing expanded to the half mile with what Vercauteren called “quasi-late models. Driver would wheel ’55 to 58’ year models on the half mile, and for a time the coupes would run with them, but often would remain on the inner paved track.
Meanwhile just down the road at in Kaukauna they were running full sized late models weekly on a half-mile dirt track that was carved out. When the half mile was paved in 1968 a record 12,000 people showed up. “It was a legit 12,000 too,” said Vercauteren. The track public relations director at the time, Ron Leak, ran ads in a five state area leading up the paved track opener. The track was called KK Sports Arena. It was built by Joe Van Daalwyk and Connie DeLeuw.
It would later be renamed Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna. “It ran as a 1/4 mile paved to start,” said Vercauteren. Dick Trickle and a bunch of guys from the Twin Cities area and Chicago would run there weekly. “I recall one night Trickle lapped the entire field in a feature race. Vercauteren and his family began attending races there. For them it was their first time to see some new faces, as some of the WRRA drivers from Shawano and Seymour were also running WIR.
What happened in 1969 is what Vercauteren termed a true “revolution” of sorts. “The night Al Piette brought the number 29 Plymouth Hemi up from the Fox Valley to De Pere it literally changed the face of racing around here,” said Vercauteren. “That loud Hemi was so fast it would back off about halfway on the straightaways. They showed up out of the blue, unannounced. Jack Peters was running the track by then.”
The following day at his part time job at Red Owl in town, the buzz was all about that race car JJ Smith wheeled around the half mile. “More than half of the customers were talking about it,” explained Vercauteren. “At that moment the interest literally exploded and essentially a late model circuit was born.”
At De Pere, many of the neighbors would watch the races from the roofs of their homes or their garages. “There were probably four or five people who built actual bleachers on top of decks on their garages,” said Vercauteren. “People would stand on step ladders watching the races. They loved it. They got to watch the races for free.”
During Vercauteren’s younger days, he and buddy Tom Erdmann were watching the races in Erdmann’s backyard. “I remember it was a special at De Pere around 4th of July one night,” said Vercauteren. “They had a fireworks display at intermission. At the time there was a local farmer out where Ashwaubomay park is now located.
He had cows. The cows were fenced in. The fireworks went off. The cows get spooked. They get to marching down the street. They came walking down Dunning Drive. We were watching the races. We heard these noises behind us. Here were three cows are staring at us, giving us this dumb look.” The local police were called and the cows were herded up and returned to their owner.
Shawano was a key part of the equation as was Seymour. “Green Bay area drivers and Fox Valley drivers who were eventually running all these tracks,” said Vercauteren. “It was almost like overnight, a Tri-track circuit was created.”
What followed then was two more “waves” of sorts. A contingent of Sheboygan drivers began running at De Pere weekly. “Guys like Roger Johnson, Ernie Rathke and Dan Weycker would come up and race and they’d camp overnights at the fairgrounds often,” said Vercauteren. “It wasn’t long after that we had Milwaukee area guys coming up frequently. Guys like Frank Smith, Roger Pluatz, Ray Bolander, Russ Peterson and Don Mee.” Some of the Milwaukee area drivers were purchasing and driving old USAC cars. Rckford, Illinois driver Tom Greenlee began towing weekly up north.
As the tri-track circuit evolved, the Vercauteren family also expanded their coverage area, hawking the MRN, selling pictures and covering up to 5 different tracks. “Jim was more of the photographer so he’s shoot a lot of the pictures,” said Vercauteren. “At that time Gary was then P.R. director at WIR so that was a natural fit there. We’d eventually cover Shawano and Seymour too, and we even got down to Leo’s Speedway in Oshkosh.”
As the late model movement exploded at De Pere, Shawano and Seymour, crowds mushroomed and car counts swelled, filling the pit area. “You’d have between 50 to 70 cars some nights, and they were all vying for a 12 or sometimes 14 car feature,” explained Vercauteren. “And the fast guys always started in the back. Qualifying was a big deal. It was quite an accomplishment just to make the feature. The semi-features were usually just as exciting. “
Some nights at De Pere, fans were turned away because the 4,000 seat covered grandstand was filled to capacity.
“They’d have people sitting in the aisles sometimes,” said Vercauteren. “(Jack) Peters added those bleachers and those were filled up. Same thing at Shawano and Seymour. Fans couldn’t get enough of it, and it got even better when the rivalries began to develop.”
Perhaps the rivalries were the strongest initially at Shawano. “The WRRA guys wanted to defend their turf and for awhile in the early days it was pretty vicious,” said Vercauteren. “I remember one night Jerry Schultz and Medina Smith were going into turn three. Schultz was inside. Schultz never turned. They both went straight through guardrail. I thought they’d end up on Highway 29. There was this huge hole.”
The fans got wound up. The locals would feud with the Fox Valley fans. It created much interest. The purses went up and the car counts soared. “It got so big that fans would actually cheer loudly just when their favorite drivers would roll through the pit gates,” said Vercauteren. “Whether it was Roger Paul, Roger Regeth, MJ (McBride) or JJ, it didn’t matter. Cars weren’t even off the trailers and races hadn’t started but the fans were already getting revved up.” In his travels to more than 125 race tracks across the country Vercauteren, to this day, has not seen that happen anywhere but De Pere and Seymour. A college-football type atmosphere had evolved on the northeast Wisconsin racing scene.
The quick growth was not without its headaches however. At De Pere in the early 70’s, drivers felt they weren’t being paid enough compared to other tracks like Shawano. The drivers parked their cars on the track, refusing to race. “Yeah, the drivers strike was all about the drivers purse,” said Vercauteren. “Soon the fans started hurling beer cans and beer bottles on the track. It got pretty ugly and at that time it seemed like the fans supported (Jack) Peters, the promoter, moreso than they did the drivers. “Drivers saw these packed grandstands and their pay wasn’t bumped up the same I guess. Fans sided with Peters for the most part. They just wanted to see some racing.”
All of the success at De Pere drew a surprise visitor one Sunday afternoon in the early 70’s. “I was standing around one day at the track and this very distinguished looking gentlemen comes up to me and says “how are things going here?” said Vercauteren. “I replied “great, look at this crowd.” The man was Hugh Deery, promoter of Rockford (IL) Speedway. “He spent his day off coming up to De Pere to see what the buzz was all about. We thought that spoke volumes about what was happening up here. De Pere’s race track was most definitely on the map.”
Eventually the drivers came to a compromise with Peters, the issue was resolved and racing resumed. But in the pit area, the rivalries remained. “You had the Fox Valley guys who’d pit altogether,” said Vercauteren. “You had the Green Bay-based teams who stuck together and then you had the Shawano-area WRRA guys who were tight.” Eventually the Milwaukee/Sheboygan area clan would pit together as well.
At Shawano, the rowdy crowd got whipped into a frenzy with brothers John and Jerry Schultz from Underhill. “The announcer (Jerry Rhode) would get the “Yeah-Shultz, Boo-Schultz thing going,” said Vercauteren. “Roger Regeth quickly became a villain back then. And he’s a guy who pretty much enjoyed playing the role of the bad guy. He did it well. And truthfully outside of the race car, I thought Roger was a nice guy.”
A Regeth story. In 1974 Regeth teamed with car owner Jerry Schultz and veteran car builder Mike Randerson. He was on a hot streak, winning pretty much anywhere he went. And Regeth wasn’t afraid to “muscle” his way to get to the front. “At De Pere one night Roger got into in a tangle – not surprisingly,” said Vercauteren. “There was a yellow flag.
The minute his car stops on the frontstretch the beer cans start flying onto the track. They were bouncing off the windshield of his car . Some of them were full of beer. He stayed in the car and kept his helmet on. Some were half full. geysers. The crowd was that worked up.” Earlier in his career Regeth was used to battling at times 100-120 sportsman car fields in the Milwaukee area. “So to me that really is where he honed his skills down there and made him battle tested for the racing scene up here,” said Vercauteren. “It was a great opportunity for him. He came up here at the right time.”
In 1974 Seymour promoter Paul Kaczrowski began hosting “Invitational” races, drawing big guns from Western Wisconsin in the Eau Claire area, as well as down in Iowa. “I”ll give Paul (Kaczrowski) credit because when he ran those bigger paying invitational races, it amped up the competition even more,” said Vercauteren. Kaczrowski had put together a mini series hosting races at tracks out west at Neilsville at the Clark County Fairgrounds. The specials drew the “best of the best” as Eau Claire area aces Harold Mueller, Red Steffen, Phil Prusak, Tom Steuding and Leon Plank “raised the bar” at area ovals. “The competition to get into the features was tough enough as it was but then to throw those Eau Claire guys into it was even tougher,” Vercauteren pointed out.
A “tiff” of sorts brewed between Vercauteren and fellow MRN columnist Steve Sorenson from the Eau Claire area.
“Basically he’d write a column boasting about how great the Eau Claire guys were one week, and I’d come back with something stating why I thought our drivers were tops,” explained Vercauteren. “One year it went on all season and quite frankly, it helped us sell a ton of papers.” Vercauteren’s Dad Harold helped the cause, hawking the fishwrap at the front gate as people made there way past the ticket booth at the respective tracks. “Dad was great at that because he was a very personable guy and knew the fans well. Many of them picked up their papers like clockwork every week.”
A story. In a time when true “characters” were evolving on the racing scene, much like that of professional wrestling, Red BeDell stood out. “Red had his big hauler and his confederate flag waving,” said Vercauteren. “On his way through to the Shawano races, before the four lane highway, whenever Red would pull through Bonduel there were always about nine of ten little kids waving American flags everytime he’d pull through. He said it was like clockwork. Red was a true showman who was great with the fans.”
When the Vercauteren family traveled to Oshkosh on Tuesday nights, they’d be welcomed with another full grandstands and an equally full pit area. “It was weird because at Leo’s Regeth was still the man to beat, but they had their top drivers there too like Dave Conger and the Kleinschmidts,” said Vercauteren. “Mike Melius and others would be there from Milwaukee weekly so it was sort of like a who’s who.”
Vercauteren recalled that one season every single feature winner came from the front row. The track, which was narrow, was a third mile. “Maybe that’s why they held demolition derbies after the races there because honestly the racing itself at Leo’s wasn’t overly exciting,” admitted Vercauteren.
It was a time when, on any given night at the track you just never knew what driver was going to pull through the gates to race. “I remember one night Tiny Lund, who was a real big deal in both NASCAR and USAC at that time, popped in to race a regular race at De Pere with his USAC car,” recalled Vercauteren. “He was in the area because they were at Shawano for a USAC race a day later. I mean that was usually unheard of anywhere else. Tiny Lund at De Pere. For a regular show. Pretty neat stuff.”
In 1975 the battle waged between Seymour and De Pere and the crowds and cars were split. “In that feud in my opinion nobody won,” said Vercauteren. “Shawano was the only track to stay open years later. It spoiled the racing.”
Peters would surrender running the track in 1976 and it was BeDell, who tried to keep things afloat by switching back to a Wednesday night program and renaming it “Speedway USA.” “I really think by then the damage was already done with the feud and the noise complaints really started to grow, especially across the river in Allouez,” said Vercauteren. “The noise seemed to bounce off the river.”
From 1977 to 1979 Kaczrowski took over the reins promoting De Pere. “I think Paul’s big purses overall probably hurt him more than helped him looking back,” said Vercauteren. “Again I still think the damage from the feud on 7 over Sunday night supremecy still lingered and in the long run, that helped kill racing at De Pere.”
After De Pere closed Vercauteren began traveling to other tracks and began chasing the American Speed Association (ASA) series. His job forced him to move to a few different cities. He was able to follow his all time favorite driver, Dick Trickle, as he ran ARTGO, ASA and the Central Wisconsin Racing Association (CWRA). “Dick was a legend, no doubt,” said Vercauteren. “I remember after Dick won $50,000 in the World Cup 300 at I 70 Speedway in Odessa, Missouri. He said “Dick Trickle has taken more money out of the state of Missouri than Jesse James has.”
Pete is retired and lives with his wife Donna in De Pere. His parents Harold and Regina had passed away year ago and were honored for years in a Vercauteren Memorial race for the Mid American Stock Car series which Pete helped Gary form in 1993. Gary passed away in 2005 at the age of 55 after returning from coaching a high school football game in Door County. “I feel truly blessed to have a part of that era,” said Vercauteren. “I mean the excitement, the rivalries, the colorful characters and the raw energy from the fans is what I’ll remember the most.”