Hawkeye Racing News columnist Karl Haglund reminds us that its not just people that have interesting stories...old race tracks have them too. In this installment, Haglund profiles the old Midway Downs speed plant that located near Charles City, Iowa.
Not much is left of Midway Downs Speedway just south of Charles City. A person could drive by the remnants at Midway Rd and 240th street, just off the Avenue of the Saints, every day and never notice the old “wheel-fence” or the light poles among the trees or the old cement block steps that run up and down the hill. None of it stands out anymore.
Instead of a parking lot, there is a log cabin. In place of the fast ¼ mile dirt track and lively infield is an empty field overgrown with grass and weeds. The front stretch wall is gone, the earth now thick with trees. Most people have long forgotten the old ¼ mile. To some, however, the memory remains.
As a recent immigrant to Charles City I decided to make the 5-minute pilgrimage south to hear some of the stories and witness the history first hand.
“My dad was just crazy about racing.” – Benny Goddard
Midway Downs was built sort of out of spite. A group of racers were unhappy with operations at the Nashua Fairgrounds race track and complained to the right person. That person was Leon Goddard who wasn’t all that crazy about the racing in Nashua either.
According to Leon’s son Benny Goddard, who lives in a log cabin on the old parking lot grounds, Leon was a racing fanatic.
“My dad was just crazy about racing. A lot of guys weren’t happy with Nashua and they wanted another track, so my dad told them he’d build them one.”
As well as Benny could recall, his dad started construction in the fall of 1963 and worked on it through 1964. It opened in 1965. Midway Downs was born, but it would be short lived.
Benny remembered that era well. “It opened up in 1965 and the very next year my dad got cancer and passed away. He just got started and got cancer. We tried to run it after that and we did until 1968 when the tornado hit Charles City. We lost so much of our crowd that it wouldn’t go, so we closed it up.”
Midway Downs would not stay closed for good. The following article appeared in the April 8th issue of Hawkeye Racing News in 1976.
“Charles City, Iowa — Midway Downs Speedway will be opening this year for the first time since 1969 under the management of Rick Baker of Shell Rock and John Dumer of Waverly. Midway Downs is a quarter mile banked dirt track located midway between Nashua and Charles City and will open for weekly stock car racing Saturday night, May 29th.”
According to John Dumer part of the agreement between the new promoters and the Goddard’s was that the cows that had made the grandstand area home would not be displaced. “The first year we ran it they left the cows in there. They just took them out on race day.”
As I am sure you can imagine the facilities at Midway Downs could probably be best described as primitive. The “bleachers” or “grandstands” were nothing more than boards stretched between cement blocks placed on cut-outs in the side of the hill.
“… there were no stop-lights or caution-lights on the track. No 2-way radios. None of that luxury stuff.” – Merlin Benning
In front of the bleachers was an old fence that they referred to as a wheel-fence because its purpose was to stop a wheel from flying in to the seating area. Beyond the fence was a steep drop-off lined with boards that served as the front stretch wall.
Former flagman Merlin Benning recalled a few cars that tried to climb that wall. “We used to stand on the bank and flag. We had a little plank to walk back on. A couple cars got on top of that fence and knocked in to the flag stand. Back in the day there were no stop lights or caution lights on the track. No 2-way radios. None of that luxury stuff.”
Merlin recalled a particularly alarming night at Midway Downs. “I can remember one time I was riding on the water truck when Rich Lewerke’s dad Jerry Lewerke came tearing out of the pits. He didn’t see us and ran right in to the side of us. We had to jump in the air to keep from getting hit. It swung the water truck around.”
In the infield the word “facilities” did not exist. Merlin reminisced, “I remember my one daughter worked in the infield, we had a little food shack almost like a glorified dog house. It was just a little square building.”
Aside from the food shack there wasn’t much else in the infield. If you are wondering about bathroom facilities in the infield or in the stands, keep wondering. How can I put it? Hmmm… The grass was a lot greener around Midway Downs than just across the road. And it wasn’t just the cows.
Former Midway racer Dave Swale recalled that they watered the track with water sucked from the Cedar River which floated by just off turns 1 and 2. He seemed to remember at least one time seeing a fish flopping around that had made the journey by mistake.
Dave remembered when the track opened. “Everybody kind of wondered how it would do against Independence. They were trying to draw the Waterloo cars up there to make it go.”
Back in the late 70’s Midway Downs ran two classes of cars which was pretty characteristic for the era. They ran street stocks and pro stocks. John Dumer recalled maybe an average car count of around 30-40 for the night, also pretty typical for the time.
“Back in them days the cars were heavy and the wheel bearings weren’t up to it.” – Lynn Idler
One of Midways fiercest competitors was Lynn Idler from Ionia. Lynn recalled his days on the ¼ mile. “By today’s standards it wasn’t very well lit. Back then I guess it was adequate. … It was a pretty heavy track right there by the river. It always stayed pretty tacky.”
One of the funniest/interesting stories that surround Midway Downs happened to Lynn.
“Back in them days the cars were heavy and the wheel bearings weren’t up to it. They weren’t racing wheels, just whatever you could put together. We lost the right front wheel off our car and it went down and went in the river. They fished it out down at the Nashua damn and 2 or 3 weeks later a guy brought it back to us.”
The Cedar River is partly the reason Midway Downs eventually closed its doors for good. In 1979 it had rained heavily up stream and the river spilled over on to the race track. The water was bad enough that they ended the season early that year. Flooding and a few other reasons lead to the permanent closure of the north Iowa track.
After Midway Downs closed, a new bridge was built and much of the race track dirt was used in the construction. The land was farmed for a few years after that until finally being placed in the Government Conservation Reserve Program.
Today it is very difficult to make out a race track. You can see the old stairs that cut through the grandstands and you can still see where the hill was cut out for the board/block bleachers. A few light poles also remain along the front stretch along with the wheel-fence. The descendants of those old “race-cows” still spend their summers rummaging through the grandstands to this day.
Standing in the remnants of what was once Midway Downs I felt an almost reverence for the place. The research of this old track had consumed so much of my time that I was speechless almost as I walked around. I never thought of myself as much of a history buff, but to be among the ruins of this old track it almost felt alive again. It felt like I had pried back the top on a time-capsule.
I walked across the big field and stood where the old front stretch was and imagined the sounds of engines as cars went roaring past me followed by the sound of crunching metal as the cars banged through the turns. And I imagined the sounds of high-spirited fans cheering and booing. I imagined the old run-down field filled with crew members and race officials and race car haulers and old race cars. Everything I have come to love about the sport of racing had taken place in that empty field at one time. It was a great feeling to wonder what it must have been like.
All I really heard, though, was the rustling of grass and trees as the fall wind blew through me. And I heard the sounds of tractors working in the fields harvesting corn. And from way off in the distance, as if from beyond, I heard the sound of a cow mooing. It seemed to say in its ghostly cow-voice “Watch where you step, Karl.”
I’d like to start by thanking Mike Hall at R&M Auto in Charles City. Mike gave me some great leads and if you ever need auto help in Chuck City, Mike is your man. Benny and Shirley Goddard welcomed me in to their home and shared some great stories. They allowed me access to the old Midway grounds and I am grateful. They are a great couple!
Meeting me at the Goddard’s cabin that Saturday afternoon were Dave and Rachel Swale. I enjoyed walking the grounds with them and enjoyed the old articles and pictures Dave brought. I’d also like to thank John Dumer, Lynn Idler, and Merlin Benning for letting me bother them by phone. I had a great time talking with everyone involved. Thank you all!
If you have any comments or ideas feel free to email me at whatsyourstory@mchsi.com. Happy Holidays to everybody I know and don’t know. I will see you in the Spring!
