September 1st and 2nd, 2007 ~ A long standing tradition in the Midwest Region has been Speed Events hosted by Northern Illinois Corvette Club (NICC), Northern Rays, Ltd. (NRL) out of Itasca, IL and Windy City Corvettes (WCC) out of Orland Park, IL over Labor Day Weekend.  Each Club hosts 1 event each day for a total of 6 events for the weekend.  For years, the Events were held at Bennett Raceway in Utica, IL and would draw sometimes 100 drivers each day. The Events were held on Sunday and Monday and on Sunday evening there would be a Bring-A-Dish picnic with NICC's Marvin Henke roasting a pig. It was a festive way to end the racing season and there are many, many stories from the Utica Labor Day Weekends. After Bennett Raceway closed in 2000, the 3 Clubs were forced to look for a different place to hold the events. None of these following years have drawn the participation as the Bennett Raceway days but those that do attend still have a great time. In 2007, as in the past few years, the Events have been at the Tire Rack in South Bend, IN. The 2007 Events probably had the smallest crowd most likely due to high gas prices and high motel rates caused by Notre Dame having a home game Saturday night.
Six NICC Members ventured to the 2007 Events. Arnie and Nancy Bailey & Jim and Joan Thomas competed and all did very well. Dale and Carolyn Samuelson's car was not in racing form and chose not to compete in someone else's car. They did do the timing for the Events and Carolyn got some Fun Runs in with the Thomas car on Saturday and with the Bailey Car on Sunday. The weather was beautiful and the atmosphere was relaxing but invigorating. It was a great day to go racing....even if it was on the other side of Chicago!