Allen Crowe 100


The Allen Crowe 100 is an ARCA Racing Series stock car race held annually on the Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack during the Illinois State Fair.

Allen Crowe

Born November 12, 1928, in Springfield, Illinois, Allen Crowe died in New Bremen, Ohio, on June 2, 1963, from injuries sustained in a Sprint Car race at New Bremen Speedway.
Allen cut his teeth at the now-defunct Springfield Speedway. He started in Stock cars and moved up fast. He soon became a first class racer, winning the Missouri-Illinois stock car title. He began racing in the USAC Championship Car Series, racing in the 1961 through 1963 seasons with 15 starts, including the 1962 and 1963 Indianapolis 500 races. He finished in the top ten six times, with his best finish of 5th in 1962 at Syracuse.

Race history

The first race was held August 25, 1963. That race was won by NASCAR driver Curtis Turner.

USAC era

USAC's Stock Car division sanctioned the race from the race's inception in 1963, until the series' demise in 1984.
1972's race was an odd occurrence, in that Al Unser won the USAC Stock car race on Saturday, and then won the USAC Championship Dirt Car race the following day. The feat has never been repeated in the years since.

Co-sanctioning

As USAC was downsizing its Stock car division, the 1983 and 1984 running of the Allen Crowe Memorial was co-sanctioned with ARCA.

ARCA era

ARCA took over as sole sanctioning body in 1985, with the race name having different variations during years when there was no sponsor title, such as "Allen Crowe Memorial", "Allen Crowe Memorial 100", "Allen Crowe Memorial ARCA 100", or simply "Allen Crowe 100". Beginning in 1989, the race was renamed the Coors Allen Crowe Memorial 100. In 1995, it took the name "Pabst Genuine Draft 100", then was known as the "Super Chevy Dealers 100" for 1996, before returning to the original name for 1997. From 1999 to 2001, the race was known as the "Par-A-Dice 100", due to a new sponsor agreement. The race reverted to the "Allen Crowe Memorial 100" moniker in 2002 and kept it until being renamed the "SuperChevyStores.com 100" for 2014.

Race winners

YearWinner
1963Curtis Turner
1964Bobby Marshman†
1965Bobby Isaac
1966Don White
1967Don White
1968Norm Nelson
1969Butch Hartman
1970Norm Nelson
1971Jack Bowsher
1972Al Unser
1973Jack Bowsher
1974Roger McCluskey
1975Butch Hartman
1976Ramo Stott
1977Ramo Stott
1978Sal Tovella
1979A. J. Foyt
1980Terry Ryan
1981Dean Roper
1982Bay Darnell
1983Dean Roper
1984Bobby Jacks
1985Dean Roper
1986Dean Roper

YearWinner
1987Bob Keselowski
1988Bob Keselowski
1989Bob Keselowski
1990Bob Brevak
1991Bobby Bowsher
1992Bobby Bowsher
1993Billy Thomas
1994Bob Hill
1995Billy Thomas
1996Tim Steele
1997Tim Steele
1998Ken Schrader
1999Bill Baird
2000Frank Kimmel
2001Frank Kimmel
2002Frank Kimmel
2003Frank Kimmel
2004Bill Baird
2005Frank Kimmel
2006Justin Allgaier
2007Frank Kimmel
2008Frank Kimmel
2009Parker Kligerman
2010Patrick Sheltra

YearWinner
2011Chad McCumbee
2012Frank Kimmel
2013Brennan Poole
2014Kevin Swindell
2015A. J. Fike
2016Justin Haley
2017Grant Enfinger
2018Christian Eckes
2019Michael Self

† – Record for a 100-mile race.
There have been no deaths in the race attributed to crashes; however, four-time Allen Crowe Memorial 100 winner Dean Roper, whose son Tony Roper was killed in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race 10 months earlier, suffered a heart attack on lap 17 of the 2001 race. Roper's car slowed on the frontstretch, then hit the inside retaining wall. He was unconscious when medical help arrived and later pronounced dead at Springfield Memorial Hospital.