Upper Midwest Special Event Archive

Hales Open

When the Points Ended, the Rulebook Opened Up

After the regular Hales Corners Speedway point season ended, the fall Open invited local stars and outside challengers to try something different on the third-mile clay oval. Liberal rules, wedge bodies, wings and experimental bodywork became part of the event's identity.

View the Lineage Hales Corners Speedway

Lineage Traced

1976–1993

Core Hales Open Era

1977–1991

Surface

Clay

Archive Source

MRN OCR

The Post-Season Idea

The points were over, but the racing was not.

MRN repeatedly described the Hales Open as the open-competition program that followed the championship season. Outside drivers were invited, the purse was boosted, and the usual rulebook was loosened. In some years the late model rules remained fairly controlled while the sportsman cars were allowed especially radical bodywork.

The 1976 Precursor

The Wally Jors Benefit established the open-competition fall formula.

The Sept. 18, 1976 season finale drew nearly 4,000 fans and used open rules for a 44-lap late model feature honoring Wally Jors. Aaron Solsrud won. The Hales Open name is documented the following season, and the annual numbering used in later MRN advertising grows from this period.

What Made It Different

Open Competition at Hales

A fall laboratory for dirt-track racers and builders.

Outside Invaders

Regional field

Drivers from other Wisconsin and northern Illinois tracks regularly challenged the Hales regulars.

Liberal Bodies

Wedges & wings

Open rules encouraged unusual aerodynamic bodywork, especially in the sportsman class.

Big Purse

Fall payoff

MRN repeatedly promoted the Open as one of the richest Hales programs of the season.

1986

15.908 sec.

Bill Prietzel became the first late model driver under 16 seconds at Hales, then won the 50-lap feature.

Core-Era Multiple Winners

1977–1991 Hales Open Late Model Winners

The 1993 twin-feature winners are shown separately below and are not folded into these core-era totals.

4 wins

Mike Melius

1977 • 1980 • 1985 • 1991

3 wins

Whitey Harris

1979 • 1984 • 1987

2 wins

Bill Prietzel

1981 • 1986

2 wins

Brian Leslie

1982 • 1983

Museum Research Note

The late-model Hales Open changed shape near the end of the lineage.

The traditional late model Open continued in 1992, when Russ Scheffler won the 16th annual Miller High Life Open 50. MRN also advertised a separate IMCA-style Modified race using the Hales Open name later that September. In 1993 the late models used twin 30-lap features won by Russ Scheffler and Whitey Harris.

Year-by-Year Lineage

1976–1993

Open-competition precursor, core late model years, and the later-format editions.

YearWinnerNote

1976Aaron SolsrudWally Jors Benefit — open-competition precursor

1977Mike MeliusHales Open late model feature

1978Al SchillHales Open late model feature

1979Whitey HarrisHales Open late model feature

1980Mike MeliusHales Open late model feature

1981Bill PrietzelTrack-record qualifying run and feature win

1982Brian LeslieHales Open late model feature

1983Brian LeslieHales Open late model feature

1984Whitey HarrisHales Open late model feature

1985Mike MeliusHales Open late model feature

1986Bill PrietzelClean sweep; first Hales late model lap under 16 seconds

1987Whitey HarrisHales Open late model feature

1988M.J. McBrideHales Open late model feature

1989Ted DolhunHales Open late model feature

1990Russ SchefflerRain-postponed to Sept. 22

1991Mike MeliusMiller High Life Open 50

1992Russ Scheffler16th annual Miller High Life Open; 50-lap late model feature

1993Russ Scheffler / Whitey HarrisTwin 30-lap late model features

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