Published: Oct. 29, 2014
AUTO RACING: SOUTHEASTERN WISCONSIN SHORT-TRACK HALL OF FAME
New group of inductees
Hall of Fame in Hartford to open its doors to 10 members
Saturday
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
TOWN OF THERESA — Glenn Haddy will tell you his cars looked
fast only because of the people sitting behind the wheel and putting the foot
to the pedal.
Others will disagree.
While it helps to have a savvy driver behind the wheel, a
driver is not going to win without a car. Putting together race cars was
Haddy’s specialty, his passion. It’s why he is being inducted into the
Southeastern Wisconsin Short-Track Hall of Fame at 7 p.m. Saturday in Hartford.
“It means a lot,” Haddy said. “It’s an honor; it’s really
something special.
“It’s something I never expecting in the early years that it
would get this big.”
Haddy, a car owner/builder for more than 50 years, will be
joined in the Class of 2014 with nine people — Bill Bohn, Bay Darnell, Gary
Dye, Woody Klug, Randy Markwardt, Joe Roe, Russ Scheffler and Al Tietyen.
Also being inducted is Allenton’s Robbie Reiser, vice
president for Roush-Fenway Racing and former NASCAR crew chief, who helped lead
Matt Kenseth to a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in 2003. Reiser is also
a former late model track champion at Slinger Superspeedway.
It’s a celebrated group of contributors to local short-track
racing. In addition to Reiser, Darnell is a former IndyCar driver, Roe holds
the all-time record for most championships in the Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw
Sprint Car Series and retired as the series’ winningest driver, and Scheffler
is one of the most successful dirt late model drivers in state history with 14
track championships, plus two sportsman track championships.
The Hall of Fame inducted its first class in 2007. Since
then, 98 drivers, car owners/builders, promoters, officials and announcers have
been inducted into the Hall of Fame, which is at the Wisconsin Automotive
Museum, 147 N. Rural St., Hartford.
“It is an honor to go with all these people that had more
exciting things than me,” Haddy said with a smile.
For Haddy, it has been a special year for the 75-year-old
Theresa native.
This year, he won his first career track championship with
his son, Tim, driving a 360 sprint car at Manitowoc. The father-son duo have
been partners since 1993, first in a modified until 1995, then a winged sprint
car.
“It was pretty special,” Tim Haddy said. “I’ve been hoping
for one for a long time, because I knew he deserved one.”
Just because Glenn Haddy waited more than 50 years to win
his first track championship doesn’t mean he wasn’t successful. It was just a
testament to the caliber of drivers during the 1960s and 1970s, which is
considered by the Hall of Fame to be the greatest years in Wisconsin modified
racing history.
His cars were competitive, a threat to win every night.
Among drivers to strap into one of his cars were Ron
Luedtke, Ron Enderle, Pedro Roehl, Fred Zack and Paul Feldner — all members of
the Hall of Fame.
“If I had good drivers, I always said they made me look
good,” Haddy said.
Glenn Haddy remembers the savoring feeling when one of his
cars won a feature. He only waited a couple years to experience it. Luedtke won
a feature at Hales Corners in 1965 which gave Haddy is first victory as a car
builder. Once he experienced it, he wanted more and that’s what kept him going
for more than 50 years.
But when Tim did it, that feeling was tough to describe.
Starting out was rough for Glenn Haddy. He knew little to
nothing about cars, let alone how to build one fast enough to challenge for a
feature victory. But he was observant and listened.
He started in 1959 when he helped his friend Norm Giese
build a car, a 1948 Chevy. At the time, Haddy was working at a cheese factory.
“A lot of it was trial and error,” he said about his early
years in car building.
One person he attributed to being an influence was Dennis
Frings, a fellow Hall of Fame car builder.
“I always just tried to get the best things out of each
car,” Haddy said.
By 1963, Haddy was turning the wrench and twisting the
screwdriver himself, building cars drivers wanted. One of his big innovations
was creating an adjustable half leaf helper spring for the right rear tire,
which strengthened the suspension and improved cornering speed.
By 1972, Haddy was the one everyone wanted to build his race
car. That year, he was “Mechanic of the Year.”
“He would build anything from scratch,” Tim Haddy, 40, said.
“It was fantastic to see that happen. It’s incredible that he did that.”
“He could make what he had good,” he added.
“I would say I improved (as a car builder),” Glenn Haddy
said.
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