Born in Clarks, Nebraska, Bill Rice built his first car, a 1944 coup, which he raced in Grand Island, Nebraska and Julesburg, Colorado. In 1965, he teamed up with Pete Dudden to field a Mark Williams front engine AA fuel dragster with a Ron Bement body and a...
The Codner family truly entered motor sports in the year 1950 when they purchased a speedway in southwest Denver, known as Englewood Speedway. The family’s dad did not tell them he had bought the track. His wife found out about it when she read it in the newspaper....
Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Steven Streeter is now a longtime resident of Denver. He is now CEO of Steel Lock General Fence Contractors. His racing career really got started in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s, when he raced snowmobiles for Team Polaris. In 1979 through...
Jerry Van Dyke was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1934 and never lived anywhere else. His uncle took him to a midget race at Lakeside Speedway in 1946, and he was hooked on racing. His hero became Johnny Tolan. He sat in the bleachers on the south east side of the track...
Ade Butler graduated from North High School, where he competed in both basketball and baseball. He witnessed his first midget race in 1937 at Merchants Park, and then began working on midget race cars in 1937 for owner/driver Burton Spickler. He served as a gunner and...
Alan Bockla was one of the best top fuel dragster owners and drivers to come from Colorado. In his teens, Bockla started drag racing a Chevy-powered 1940 Ford Coupe. By 1960, he was driving a Chevy-powered T-Roadster at local drag strips. Then, in 1962 he started...
A graduate of University of Colorado, Buzz Calkins started racing go-carts at age 15, winning the Colorado Junior Go-Cart Championship in 1987. He then ran Formula Fords in 1989 and 1990, when his father ran the same series and was the Midwest Division SCCA Formula...
Frank Peterson graduated from Alameda High School. While there he met a cheerleader by the name of Kaye, who would later become his wife, and from that point on, auto racing became a family affair. The couple first went to the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 1955 and they...
A Colorado native, Joe Umphenour became involved with building straight-line Chevy engines in 1952, which led him to help form the Chevruns of Denver Car Club that same year. In 1961, Umphenour built and drove an in-line GMC-powered Chevy Coupe and then moved up to...
Larry Dechant began driving race cars in the late 1950’s. Over the years, he drove modified coupes, super modifieds, late models and figure eights. On several occasions he also drove in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. During his career, Dechant won at least...
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