Photo used with permission from Angell Park SpeedwayRepublished with permission from Angell Park Speedway

1973 Badger Midget champion John Hartwig, had a racing career that spanned some 25 years. He started out in stock cars, but "All they did was crash," according to Hartwig. He had watched the midgets run at Sun Prairie and liked their style of racing, so in 1957 he bought his first open wheeler at the age of 20. He notes the first car was the number 73, McGovern’s Spec., previously driven by Al Fredenberg. In his rookie year he did not crack the top 25 in points. Then the service called for a couple of seasons and Hartwig could not race. Taking his place in the cockpit of that car was Hall of Famer Tom Bigelow. Hartwig’s next car was a Hillegas, with a tired motor. He upgraded to one of the first Chey II engines and his racing took off.

Hartwig is proud to note he was the first winner of the big Horstmeyer Memorial Trophy. This is the award we recognize today as the hardware given to the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association Champion. But in those days it was the award for winning one particular race. He went on to win it two more times.

Some of Hartwig’s other accomplishments include his 1973 championship won by the largest point total in Badger history. Ironically the next year he lost the same championship by the smallest amount ever, four points. What the record books don’t tell us is that he missed one race in that 1974 season due to injuries sustained in a midget crash. Almost certainly, had he taken the green on the day he could not race, he would have had another Badger crown.

Racing was a hobby to Hartwig and he missed some races through the years, but he was often maintaining his own equipment. Further he took some years off after several of his counterparts were killed in midget crashes. "Before cages it was kind of dangerous," he notes as a simple matter of fact. But once roll bars came into vogue, he was back at it.

Guys like Keith Thomas were the ones Hartwig looked up to as a young racer. He thought how he’d like to beat them some day. "But by the time you got good enough, they retired." Which to Hartwig shows how long it takes to get good at this sport.

While he does not have as many championships as Billy Wood or Thomas, his numbers are still impressive. He currently holds the record as the only one to win 5 features to start the Badger season. For two summers in a row he won every 50 lapper Badger had to offer.

Near the end, in a scenario we sometimes think is unique only to our current state of affairs, it got expensive to race and the purse was not covering the bills. Plus, "It was time," he says knowingly. "Now all you see are young, little kids (in midget racing)," the likes of a Scott Hatton or Kurt Mayhew are getting scarce in his estimation. And he should know, as he can usually be spotted perched on the top row of Angell Park’s bleachers, just over the flagman’s shoulder.

If you travel westbound on I94 and look down to your right as you take the overpass just past Johnson Creek, you’ll see Hartwig’s current endeavor. It’s John Hartwig Motor Sports. If you are looking of an ATV or snowmobile it’s a place to consider. "I don’t work that hard at it," he notes, as he does not in any way ask for a plug. Being, semi-retired, he leaves most of the work to his son, John Jr. But the elder Hartwig does enjoy testing out the Polaris machines during any season.