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User:Guy1989/The Louie Vermeil Classic

The Louie Vermeil Classic This non-wing sprint car/midget race gets it's name from the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Louie Vermeil. The race is held at the Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, California, and is the only race where one can see traditional non-wing sprint car racing in California. The annual event, which is held on Labor Day Weekend every year, started running in 2008 and had its third race this past September.


Jean Louie Vermeil

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Louie Vermeil was born on January 11, 1906 in San Fransisco. When he was 26 years old he married Alice Winston. They had 4 children together Laura, Dick, Stan and Al. Dick Vermeil went on to coach in the NFL and won Superbowl XXXIV with the St. Louis Rams, Stan raced cars for years and Stan was a strength and conditioning coach for the San Fransisco 49ers and the Chicago Bulls. Louie Vermeil passed away on March 19, 1987 after battling cancer. Walter T. Ross, who was the Northern Auto Racing Club president after Vermeil once said, "He really had Calistoga, NARC and sprint car racing in his heart."

Sprint Car Racing

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When Louie Vermeil was 20 years old he made a decision that would define for the rest of his life; he moved to Calistoga, California. It is here where he married Alice Wilson, opened the Owl Garage and bought his first race car. In 1938 he was a participant in the Calistoga Speedways first races. It was at this time that a race promoter needed help with improving the image and appeal of racing to the public and Louie Vermeil helped him create the American Racing Association in order to sanction events. The ARA didn't have many cars, but it sent the cars they had out every weekend to race all over California. In 1950, Vermeil won the ARA Championship with his driver Mike Riley. By 1955 Vermeil was named and American Racing Associations official and began work to repair the obsolete ARA. With trying to rebuild the ARA, Louie Vermeil helped form the Northern Auto Racing Club(NARC) in 1960. Since the 1970's the NARC has been one of the more important sprint car racing sanctioning bodies in the U.S. The NARC led to the creation of the Golden State Challenge Series.

The Owl Garage

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Louie Vermeil also ran the local mechanic shop in Calistoga called The Owl Garage. It got its name from the 24 hour towing service that Louie ran. This is where Louie kept his race cars and also prepped them for races. If there was a race at the Calistoga Speedway that weekend, the home of Alice and Louie Vermeil would be packed with race car trailers, Louie would be fixing racers' cars and Alice would be cooking for anyone and everyone. The Vermeil hospitality was also extended to strangers he towed off the road.


Calistoga Speedway

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The Calistoga Speedway was originally a horse racing track on the Napa Valley Fair Grounds in the small Napa Valley town of Calistoga. A race promoter came to the town and convinced the town leaders to host a high speed car race on the horse track, and Calistoga Speedway became the staple of Northern California sprint car racing. It is still in operation today and is one of the oldest active tracks in the U.S. The half mile track is widely considered the fastest track in the Western United States.




References

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