Much as a bridge spanning the Illinois River helps connect Mazon and Morris, Frank Welch helped bridge auto racing between the communities and between two different eras.
Welch, who passed away June 14 at the age of 89, is known for serving as the race promoter at the Grundy County Speedway, located just north of Morris. While Welch served in that capacity for most of his later life, his start in racing came at the now-defunct Mazon Speed Bowl. He was an inductee into that facility's hall of fame the year it opened.
From the time the Grundy Speedway opened in 1971, Welch served on its management team before retiring prior to the 2009 season, when one of his two sons, Jim Welch, took over. He also spent more than 50 years on the Grundy County Agricultural District Fair Board, and more than 30 of those years were spent as its president.
"Dad was a race driver himself at the Mazon Speed Bowl," said Jim Welch. "He drove the car No. 94. There got to be a certain time in his life, I'm not sure the exact age he was, where he decided he was too old to race anymore, and he decided to get into management.
"Wayne Carter was the promoter at the Mazon Speed Bowl for a number of years, and Dad became friends with him, as he did with a lot of people. Wayne took him under his wing and trained him about being a promoter. Dad enjoyed his ideas, and they worked well together. Wayne got sick back shortly after 1980, and at that time, (Welch) became promoter of the Grundy County Speedway. He had been president of the (Grundy County) fair board for years before that."
According to former Grundy Speedway announcer Stan Kowalski, Welch won the 1952 season championship at the Mazon Speed Bowl while driving a 1939 Ford. His retirement from driving came after he suffered an automobile accident in the mid-1950s.
Tom "The Turtle" Weckler of Gary, Ind.-based Tom's Tire Service first became associated with Welch in 1979, when he began selling tires in the Grundy Speedway pit area
"I knew him for a very long time and it was tough to see him go," said Weckler. "What a lot of people don't realize is that he kept everything going when it looked like it was going under. The fair board wasn't too happy with things and were looking at going into horse racing. Frank, being a racer himself, was the one that kept it racing. Not only did he race, but he was a good racer. He won championships and stuff like that. A lot of people that didn't get close with him didn't understand just how good of a man he was."
When the Grundy Speedway was initially being planned, Carter and Welch had different ideas. Their differences resulted in a track larger than the Mazon Speed Bowl, which had been one-fourth of a mile around ... though not by much.
"He was instrumental in the construction of the new track and the moving from Mazon to what's now the Grundy County Speedway ... How many third-mile race tracks do you see?" said Jim Welch. "You'll almost always see a quarter-mile or a half-mile, but never a third. The reason why it ended up being a third was that Wayne Carter, who was Dad's boss at the time, thought that a quarter-mile was big enough. Dad, being a young man at the time, wanted to see the cars be faster and wanted to build it a half-mile. Eventually they settled on a third-mile track because they compromised."
Upon taking over for Carter, Welch handled day-to-day ... or at least Friday-to-Friday ... duties for the speedway.
"I knew him very well," said Jim Goodlet, who serves as flagman at the Grundy Speedway. "He always treated us good. Everybody knew their job and what they were supposed to do. He expected you to know the job you do and how to do it. He was also a guy who didn't have a problem joking around with you. He was a good, good guy. In my 24 years working with him, he always treated me good. He was very respectful of the people who worked for him. He was an overall good guy."
According to Jim Welch, no duty was too small for his father.
"He solid tickets," said Jim Welch. "He would go inside the beer stand and sell beer, or sell popcorn. Where he was needed, he would jump in, which is what a good manager does. Sitting behind a desk and pencil-pushing was not my dad."
Frank Welch occasionally showed a knack for uncanny judgment.
"He'd always say things like, 'I checked the weather, and at 7:15, it's going to start raining,' said Weckler. "Sure enough, at right about 7:15 it'd start to rain. He'd look out for everybody. A lot of us had to travel and long way, and he'd call you before and tell you if he thought we'd end up rained out. He'd call me just before I'd leave the shop and say, 'It's going to rain at about 6:15. We have to cancel.' I'd say, 'Frank, it's beautiful out. How can you cancel?' And then, sure enough, by 6:15 it'd be raining. That way, we didn't have to make the trip and spend extra money on gas and fight the traffic, which was always terrible coming down."
Even as the economy in the U.S. weakened, Welch kept the Grundy Speedway expanding, rather than contracting. The record for most cars in attendance was broken in the past few years. The speedway also added a fourth class of stock car. Four cylinders are now part of its weekly racing program, joining late models, Mid-Americans and street stocks.
"He tried to treat drivers good," said Goodlet. "If you don't have that support and don't have cars coming out, you don't do very well. He tried to give them a fair shake so they'd want to come back and race. He's also let the people who worked for him know that he appreciated what they did. He always let you know where you stood. There was no gray area. Like I said, he treated me good, but he did expect you to be professional."
Born in Pontiac in 1920, Welch graduated from Dwight High School in 1938. He served as a flight instructor for the U.S. Army during World War II. Upon returning from the war, Welch worked with Kroger Grocery and Baking Company and E.I. Dupont prior to becoming a partner with Kindelspire's Auto Supply in downtown Morris in 1947. He retired from Kindelspire's in 1989.
Welch is survived by wife Marjorie E. Welch, sons Dick and Jim and daughters Becky A. Morfey and Peggy Kraus. He was a 65-year member of the Morris American Legion Post 294.