Column: A crash artist? Never. East Hazel Crest’s Larry Middleton Sr. was picture of prominence wherever he raced.

If he said it once, he said it almost every time I saw him during the past handful of summers at Grundy County Speedway.

Larry Middleton Sr. and I would be talking about the grand old days of Raceway Park — which for me was the middle and late 1970s. Middleton was a Raceway standout then, a two-time track champion.

Our conversations, while brief, were always entertaining. He would end most of them with “stop on over for a visit sometime.”

I wish I had.

The East Hazel Crest native died on Jan. 10 at age 80. On Tuesday, dozens of those whose lives he impacted — many from the racing community — gathered to celebrate his life and tell tales.

There were many stories, befitting a real racing legend.

My first chance to watch Middleton compete was in 1973. He was one of the youngest top drivers in a star-studded late model class.

There was 1973 track champion Ray Young. Bud Koehler, the“King of Raceway.” Other late model standouts like Paul Bauer, Stash Kullman, Jerry Kemperman, Danny Colyer aka James Bond, Roger Eriksen, Woody Church and Johnny McPartlin.

Middleton won three features that season, including the first of his career in a 50-lap Memorial Day special. He would win 65 late model features during his career at Raceway, including 37 in back-to-back championship seasons in 1977 and ‘78.

After that, he won a late model title at Illiana Speedway, was a top competitor at Grundy, and drove at tracks all around the Midwest.

Midwest star Tom Jones raced alongside him at many a venue.

“Larry was a great guy,” Jones said. “He always made time to talk to people. He and I signed autographs together just a couple of years ago at a Hall of Fame event.

“We raced together really well at Illiana, Raceway, Grundy, some of the ARTGO shows, everywhere we went. He wasn’t a crash artist like a lot of guys are.”

Middleton usually found his way to the front.

“He finished in front of me a lot,” Colyer said, smiling. “Larry was one of the guys to beat. But he was always a nice fellow. I never had any complaints about the way he drove.”

Middleton built good cars as well.

Colyer drove and eventually purchased one that Middleton built in 1968. He had it for eight seasons.

“It was a Chevelle first, then for four years it was a Cutlass,” Colyer said. “Then we made a Monte Carlo out of it for the last three years. By then, I don’t know if Larry knew that it was the car he built.”

Middleton drove his own car in 1977 at Raceway Park and won 20 features. The following season he drove for Joe D’Ambrose and Ted Kerner. He won 17 features and his second straight title.

“When Larry jumped in the car, right off the bat, he was in the trophy dash and winning features,” D’Ambrose said. “The hardest part was Larry worked night and day. He led a crew that did water towers and things like that.

“His wife would drive him to the track, he’d get in the car and run the races, and five minutes after the race, his wife would be in the parking lot picking him up. Off he went, back to work.”

Middleton’s son, Larry Jr., followed in his dad’s tire tracks. He won a street stock championship in 1988 at Illiana and still drives a late model today at Grundy.

“You look back and think, ‘Man, the stuff he taught me,’” Middleton Jr. said. “He took me everywhere. I can never remember not wanting to race. He would preach about being smooth and having patience, which I did not have.

“You finally get a little wiser when you get older and realize things you did. His words of wisdom really come into play.”