Person:Earl Baltes (1)

A1: (teaser) Speedway Founder Dies Eldora Legend Earl Baltes was 93 Sports/C1

C1 and continued to C6: "Legend Fueled Sports' Growth" by Greg Billing.
Article includes thumbnail photograph.

In 1971 Baltes started the World 100.
Baltes was a huge part of the United States Auto Club (USAC).

http://www.eldoraspeedway.com/2015/03/24/earl-baltes-obituary-arrangements/

Earl Baltes Obituary & Arrangements

Earl1999Earl Baltes, 93, of New Weston, Ohio, passed away, Monday, March 23, 2015 at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.

He was born April 27, 1921 in Versailles, Ohio, son of the late Leroy and Ellie (Frantz) Baltes. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brothers, Nicholas, Ralph, and James Baltes; and sisters, Zelma Ernst, Rita Condon and Bertha Siegrist; and a brother-in-law David Moeller.

Earl was a well-known race promoter having started Eldora Speedway in Rossburg as well as promoted New Bremen Speedway, Limaland Speedway, Millstream Speedway at Findlay, Mansfield Speedway in Mansfield, Dayton Speedway all in Ohio, Pleasant Hill Speedway and Salem Speedway both in Indiana. He had started some of the highest paying short track races including The World 100, The Kings Royal, The Dirt Late Model Dream and The Four Crown Nationals.

He was inducted into many Hall of Fames, including National Sprint Car, National Dirt Late Model, USAC, Dayton Auto Racing Fans, Hoosier Auto Racing Fans and was named USAC Race Organizer of the Year in 1984 and 1997. He was named Auto Racing Promoter of the Year in 1993 and fellow iconic promoter H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler recognized him with the Charlotte Motor Speedway Promoter of the Year Award in 2001. The state of Ohio named Route 118 “Earl Baltes Highway” from Ansonia to the south to St. Henry to the north.

READ MORE: Eldora Founder Earl Baltes Passes at 93
Earl’s other passion was music. He had his own orchestra, The Earl Baltes Orchestra. He had owned several nightclubs including, Crystal Ballroom (with Leroy and Ellie), Eldora Ballroom, Bar E Club, and Shady Park in Celina, and had played at Wintergarden Nightclub in Piqua, St. Henry Night Club and St. Anthony. He also played several other weddings and events.

Earl was a veteran of US Army having served in the 21st ORD MM CO during WWII. He was a member of the St. Bernard Catholic Church in Burkettsville. He was a member of Greenville Elk’s, Celina Moose, American Legion, VFW and Eagles.

Earl is survived by the love of his life, his wife of 67 years, Berneice (Moeller) Baltes, whom he married April 26, 1947; his daughter, Starr (Joe) Schmitmeyer, and his son, Terry (Dee) Baltes; grandchildren, Chad, Tess, Joey, Josh, Kate, Tish; 13 great grandchildren; sister, Susie Barga; brother-in-law, Norman Moeller; sister-in-law, Jeanette Fullenkamp; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, March 28 at the St. Bernard Catholic Church in Burkettsville with Father Tom Hemm celebrating. Burial with full military honors will follow in the St. Bernard Catholic Church Cemetery.

The family will receive friends at the Oliver-Floyd Funeral Home, 1000 N. Broadway St., Greenville, OH on Friday, March 27, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, Earl requested that memorial contributions be given to the American Heart Association.

Condolences may be left for the family at www.oliverfloyd.com

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Monday, March 23, 2015
Eldora founder Earl Baltes dies at 93
By Bob Pockrass
ESPN.com

Eldora Speedway founder Earl Baltes, who took the land that came with the Eldora Ballroom he purchased and turned it into one of the most well-known and prestigious dirt tracks in the country, died Monday morning at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. He was 93.

Baltes built a quarter-mile dirt track on the rural site in Rossburg, Ohio, in 1954 and four years later had turned it into the banked half-mile dirt track that fans still go to today. One of his first big events was the World 100 dirt late model race that paid $4,000 to the winner in 1971 and remains one of its biggest events.

Eldora Speedway
Eldora Speedway was built in 1954 and has become of the country's most prestigious dirt tracks.

Three-time Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart bought the track from Baltes in 2004, and members of the Baltes family still work at the track, which has 17,782 seats plus a hillside.

Eldora continues to be known for big events with big purses, including the current $100,000-to-win dirt late model Dream and the $50,000-to-win sprint car Kings Royal. It also plays host to a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, the only NASCAR national series race on dirt.

"Earl Baltes was the yardstick other track promoters measured themselves by," Stewart said in a statement. "He constantly raised the bar, and he did it by creating events everyone else was afraid to promote. He did them himself, too. Not as a fair board, or a public company, or with major sponsors or millions of dollars in TV money. He put it all on the line with the support of his family.

"He and his wife, Berneice, created a happening at Eldora. They turned Eldora into more than just a racetrack. They made it a place to be. They were integral to the evolution of dirt track racing and the sport as a whole. Earl will be missed, but he won't ever be forgotten because of his devotion to auto racing."

Baltes is survived by Berneice, his wife of 67 years, daughter Starr, son Terry, six grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

Earl Baltes, the founder and longtime promoter of Eldora Speedway, has died. He was 93.

Speedway officials say Baltes died Monday at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.

Eldora owner and three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart says Baltes "was the yardstick other track promoters measured themselves by. He constantly raised the bar, and he did it by creating events everyone else was afraid to promote. He did them himself, too."

Stewart added it was a time without "major sponsors or millions of dollars in TV money."

Baltes built Eldora, nestled in rural west-central Ohio, in 1954 and slowly shaped it into a showplace for dirt motorsports. Eldora races were shown on ABC's "Wide World of Sports" with Keith Jackson and Al Michaels as broadcasters.

He is survived by Berneice, his wife of 67 years, and a son and daughter.

ELDORA SPEEDWAY FOUNDER EARL BALTES DIES
March 23, 2015, Staff report, NASCAR.com
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Eldora Speedway founder Earl Baltes dies
Longtime track promoter built Ohio track in 1954
RELATED: Big Bill's path to Talladega
Eldora Speedway founder and longtime promoter Earl Baltes died Monday morning at an Ohio hospital. He was 93.

Baltes built the rural Ohio dirt track in 1954, then switched its configuration four years later to the high-banked, half-mile oval that still exists today. In the decades that followed, Eldora became one of the premier dirt tracks in the United States. For the past two years, it has hosted NASCAR Camping World Truck Series events.

In addition to the eventual Truck Series races, the promoter had a relationship with NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., and assisted France in recruiting cars for the inaugural race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Following a 50-year run as owner, Baltes sold the track to NASCAR driver Tony Stewart in 2004. Stewart promptly erected statues of Baltes and his wife, Berneice -- who survives Baltes -- to honor the track's founder.

"Earl was the yardstick other track promoters measured themselves by," Stewart said in a track release. "He constantly raised the bar, and he did it by creating events everyone else was afraid to promote. He did them himself, too. Not as a fair board, or a public company, or with major sponsors or millions of dollars in TV money. He put it all on the line with the support of his family.

"He and his wife, Berneice, created a happening at Eldora. They turned Eldora into more than just a race track. They made it a place to be. They were integral to the evolution of dirt-track racing and the sport as a whole. Earl will be missed, but he won't ever be forgotten because of his devotion to auto racing."

Earl Baltes, the founder and longtime promoter of Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, passed away Monday morning at the Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. He was 93.
“Earl was the yardstick other track promoters measured themselves by,” said current track owner and three-time NASCAR Cup champion Tony Stewart. “He constantly raised the bar, and he did it by creating events everyone else was afraid to promote. He did them himself, too. Not as a fair board, or a public company, or with major sponsors or millions of dollars in TV money. He put it all on the line with the support of his family. He and his wife, Berneice, created a happening at Eldora. They turned Eldora into more than just a racetrack. They made it a place to be. They were integral to the evolution of dirt-track racing and the sport as a whole. Earl will be missed, but he won’t ever be forgotten because of his devotion to auto racing.”
When World War II veteran Baltes built Eldora in 1954, it was only a quarter-mile long. He later transformed it into the high-banked, half-mile configuration that it remains today.
Eldora Speedway began to see dirt late models and the World of Outlaws sprint cars kicking up the dirt on the Ohio half-mile, in front of upwards of 20,000 fans.
Baltes was beloved by many fans and has been inducted into many Halls of Fames, including National Sprint Car, National Dirt Late Model, USAC, Dayton Auto Racing Fans and Hoosier Auto Racing Fans. He was named USAC Race Organizer of the Year in 1984 and 1997. He was also named Auto Racing Promoter of the Year in 1993, and fellow promoter H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler recognized him with the Charlotte Motor Speedway Promoter of the Year Award in 2001. The state of Ohio has also named Route 118, the road that runs alongside Eldora Speedway, “Earl Baltes Highway.”
Baltes sold the racetrack to Tony Stewart in 2004 but continued to attend races at the circuit. Thanks to Stewart, there is a life-size statue of Baltes and his wife Berneice at the entrance to the speedway, which is now also host to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
He is survived by Berneice, his wife of 67 years; daughter, Starr, and her husband, Joe Schmitmeyer; son, Terry, and his wife, Dee; beloved sister, Susie Barga, and six grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.

BALTES HELPED MAKE ELDORA ONE OF THE TOP DIRT TRACKS IN AMERICA

Earl Baltes, the founder and longtime promoter of Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, died on Monday at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. He was 93.

Baltes built Eldora in 1954, first as a quarter-mile track before shaping the track into its popular high-banked, half-mile oval configuration in 1958. Since then, it has become the premier dirt track in the United States. Under Baltes, the facility began hosting the highly successful Famous World 100 for Dirt Late Models, now the largest dirt race in the world, and the Dirt Late Model Dream, the richest dirt Late Model race in the world. A fan of Sprint Car racing, Baltes took great pride in his fabled Kings Royal Weekend for World of Outlaws Sprint Cars and many United States Auto Club (USAC) events, including the Four Crown Nationals.

Races at Eldora were shown on ABC TV’s “Wide World of Sports” with Keith Jackson and Al Michaels as broadcasters. ESPN, CBS and TNN also televised events that helped put Eldora on the map. Despite the track’s growing popularity, Baltes kept ticket prices affordable and concessions costs low, which continued to attract fans from around the world.

“Earl was the yardstick other track promoters measured themselves by," said Eldora Speedway owner and NASCAR champion Tony Stewart. "He constantly raised the bar, and he did it by creating events everyone else was afraid to promote. He did them himself, too. Not as a fair board or a public company or with major sponsors or millions of dollars in TV money. He put it all on the line with the support of his family. He and his wife, Berneice, created a happening at Eldora. They turned Eldora into more than just a racetrack. They made it a place to be. They were integral to the evolution of dirt-track racing and the sport as a whole. Earl will be missed, but he won’t ever be forgotten because of his devotion to auto racing.”

Baltes built the track in rural west-central Ohio off Route 118 into a showplace for dirt motorsports, increasing the seating capacity to more than 20,000. He hosted three Sprint Car races in the 1960s that featured 33 cars and 500 laps. Ever the promotor, he once ran a season-long promotion featuring a series of skits with a family of randomly appearing apes eventually married in a ceremony presided over by legendary driver Duane “Pancho” Carter.

In 2001, Baltes posted a $1 million payout to the winner of the “Eldora Million” Dirt Late Model race and followed that with the “Mopar Million” in 2003, which had a purse of $1 million and paid $200,000 to the winner of a non-winged Sprint Car race.

The pioneering promoter developed a relationship with the late Bill France Sr., assisting the founder of NASCAR with recruiting cars for the inaugural event at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Baltes and Eldora also maintained close ties with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. IndyCar legends, whose barnstorming schedules at fearsome tracks like Eldora earned them their shot at the Brickyard, and Tony George, former Speedway president and CEO, were frequent visitors during Baltes’ tenure.

Fond of saying “If we could sell just one more hot dog, we’d break even,” Baltes worked on all measures of Eldora during his time. He also promoted other speedways in Ohio, including those in Dayton, New Bremen, Limaland, Millstream, Mansfield, Pleasant Hill and Powell, while also promoting one in Salem, Ind. He also promoted World of Outlaws events in Florida and founded Ohio Sprint Speedweek for the All Star Circuit of Champions.

He was inducted into many Halls of Fame, including National Sprint Car, National Dirt Late Model, USAC, Dayton Auto Racing Fans and Hoosier Auto Racing Fans, and was named USAC Race Organizer of the Year in 1984 and 1997. He was named Auto Racing Promoter of the Year in 1993, and fellow legendary promoter H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler recognized him with the Charlotte Motor Speedway Promoter of the Year Award in 2001. The state of Ohio named Route 118 “Earl Baltes Highway” from Ansonia to the south to St. Henry to the north.

In 2004, Baltes began to think about selling Eldora. Despite several suitors, he reached out to a driver whose style he had always admired, three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion and former Eldora driver Stewart. The sale was completed in the fall of 2004.

Baltes continued attending Eldora’s events with Berneice, often receiving the loudest ovation of the evening when introduced to the crowd. Thanks to Stewart, there is a life-size statue of the two founders at the entrance of the facility.

Baltes was much more than a race promoter. He was born in Versailles, Ohio, and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Before he started in racing, he was big into the music business. Before WWII, he formed and led the Melody Makers, a 16-piece band that rose to regional prominence. And then in the later 1940s, he built Crystal Ballroom near Versailles while continuing to perform.

The purchase of Ma Shoe’s by Baltes in the early 1940s got Eldora started. He bought the dance hall before he even saw an auto race. One day he caught a race at New Bremen and, without any knowledge of the sport, decided he was going to build a track in the natural amphitheater that separated the dance hall and the Wabash River. The now-named Eldora Ballroom is still there, while the racetrack has grown into a national treasure.

Baltes and author Dave Argabright documented Baltes' memoirs in the book “Earl!” published in 2004.

He is survived by Berneice, his wife of 67 years; daughter, Starr, and her husband, Joe Schmitmeyer; son, Terry, and his wife, Dee; sister, Susie Barga; and six grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.



By Autoweek Staff

Ancestry
U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946

Name: Earl Baltes
Birth Year: 1921
Race: White, citizen
Nativity State or Country: Ohio
State of Residence: Ohio
Enlistment Date: 9 Apr 1945
Enlistment State: Ohio
Enlistment City: Fort Hayes Columbus
Branch Code: No branch assignment
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source: Civil Life
Education: Grammar school
Civil Occupation: General farmers
Marital Status: Single, without dependents
Height: 00
Weight: 000
Source Information:
National Archives and Records Administration. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
Original Data: Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946 [Archival Database]; ARC: 1263923. World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.