Englewood Chargers & Claimers of the '70's

During the 1970's at Englewood Speedway, a couple of attempts were made to come up with an inexpensive division that any race fan could run and get experience in without having to build a high dollar Late Model, Modified or Figure 8 car.

Rich Codner came up with the Charger division in 1971 which had pretty much just stock rules for the low budget racer. Guys built cars by the hundreds which not only filled the pits, but filled the stands with fans clamoring to watch the excitement they brought.

At first, the Chargers ran with the other premier divisions on weekends, but by 1972 there were so many cars that they ran on Wednesday nights with a Mini Stock and Formula Ford show. Unfortunately, by the end of the 1972 season, Codner discontinued the class. The reason was rumored to be because some car owners began to put more money into the cars and wanted to change the rules every year, plus a lot of the more experienced veterans started to run them.

In my first post we'll take a look at the Charger division from '71 & '72, then I'll tell you more about Englewood's second attempt at low budget racing.

The Chargers....


(J.L. McGuire collection) 1971 Charger action at Englewood. Charger rules were open to
any American made car from 1955 - 1963, and the guys tore up a lot of these now "classic"
cars on the oval.




(J.L. McGuire collection) Larry Warner's '58 Ford from 1971.




(Darrell Smith collection) Darrell Smith took the 1971 Charger championship in this
four door '57 Ford sedan.




(J.L. McGuire collection) This 1972 action shot of the Chargers shows a lot of different
makes and models.




(J.L. McGuire collection) "Cowboy" Bob Warner hangs on to the front pillar with one
hand while steering with the other through the turn at Englewood in 1971.




(J.L. McGuire collection) Steve Vecherelli picked up a lot of wins in the Charger
division in 1971.



(J.L. McGuire collection) Harold Warner's Charger from 1971.