Kalamazoo Speedway will go back to its roots this Saturday night when the might supermodifieds return for their first visit in nearly a decade. The open wheeled machines are like no other in short track racing today, with big block Chevy motors, moveable wings and sleek designs with the motor shoved far to the left for high speed cornering.
Supers as they are known weren’t always so radical. "Back in the late ‘50s guys here in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio began cutting their jalopy coupes up," says Lee A. Booze, president of the Midwest Supermodified Association, and auto racing historian. "At first they called them modified stock cars and super-modified stock cars. Eventually the name "supermodified" stuck. Kalamazoo Speedway was an important proving ground in those early days. Names like Sam Sessions, Art Bennett, John Logan, Nellie Ward and Gordon Johncock were top dogs at the track."
Today’s supermodified drivers still exhibit the same spirit that created the class of racers almost fifty years ago. Supermodifieds are all homemade; they are not built by a company or business. "Most drivers in the Midwest Supermodified Association own and work on their own cars. Not only do these guys like to race and win, but they pride themselves on building a better mousetrap," says Booze.
"I think its fitting that we’re dedicating this weekend’s race to Dion Parish, he really represented what MSA is all about," Booze added. Parish was a shoe string racer that got bit by the supermodified bug. Although money was tight, he was dedicated to becoming a supermodified racer. Unfortunately Parish lost his life testing a new car at Kalamazoo in 2002.
"Dion was a man that lived by the motto ‘Never Give Up.’ He was always determined to follow his dream of racing supermodifieds," says Marc Times Racing News columnist Bob Gangwer, who was instrumental in naming the event for Parish.
"I believe it’s a motto befitting the entire organization. The men and the machines they build are a testament to the staying addiction of supermodified racing. In an era of cookie cutter cars and drivers, we hope to bring back some that history and nostalgia to tracks like Kalamazoo," Booze said finally. "In the process we like to shake the grandstands and make the fans’ hair stand on end too!"