In 1971, ’72 & ’73 Future Industries in Antioch, IL built several state of the art Modifieds. Herb Artelt and Ralph
Tieman owned the business. Future Ind. Was a machine shop that did machining, punch press work as well as tool
and die work for local industries including Charmglow Barbeques. That part of the business helped support Herb and
Ralph’s passion; building progressive race cars. Both of them were engineers with equal amounts of practical
knowledge and innovative spirit. Some of the employees and frequent visitors included; Bay and Danny Darnell,
Darrell Dodd, Roy Dodd, Scott Nelson, Harry Sperling and Tom Talbot. Don Collins was an honorary member of the
group while he served our country in the Air Force. I worked there during my senior year in high school from October
1971 until June 1972 and was privileged to work with this group of people that loved race cars and worked to
improve the sport.
Cars built at Future were some of the first in the area built completely from square and round tubing that did not start
with an old automotive frame. Ralph and Herb drew up designs and then built the cars with lines on the concreter
floor ad a plumb bob. In those days there were not many places to buy racing chassis parts. The machine shop side
of the business was put to use when special parts were needed. One of the places they did buy suspension parts
from was Nance Speed Equipment in Kansas City, MO. After a trip to Nance, Ralph and Herb came back with a
source for parts and ideas to improve their own designs.
One of the first cars they built was a tube frame car with independent front suspension for Jr. Dodd. The car was
built for the asphalt at Lake Geneva. Darrell Dodd remembers that the car was not very consistent and therefore
was not raced very much. After a few years of taking up space in their race shop, they cut the car up.
The next car they built was a tube frame car with a straight front axle for Roger Isles. Roger ran Quality Auto Body in
Waukegan, IL and he always kept the car looking sharp. It had a yellow frame and a deep metallic blue fiberglass
body, number 36. Roger raced the car for several years and had moderate success with it. In the fall of 1977 he sold
the car to Chuck Ostergard. Right after Chuck bought the car, he took it to Hartford, MI and raced it as a
Supermodified. Chucked raced it in 1978 and ’79. After a few wrecks with it, he cut the car up.
For the 1972 season, they built their most recognized car, the #7 sidewinder car for Tom Anderson. This car put the
driver between the left side tires and kept everything very low. One of the design criteria was a maximum height of
36”. It was powered by a fuel injected big block Chevy. It ran independent front suspension with coilover shocks on
the front and torsion bars on the rear. This car was built for the asphalt at Lake Geneva and special events at
Capitol Speedway in Madison, WI. It won some heat races and maybe a couple of features. In 1974 and ’75 after
Lake Geneva quit running Modifieds on Sunday nights, Tom raced it on the dirt at Wilmot. He ran a very narrow tire
on the left front and a mud deflector to minimize the dirt being slung in his face. On muddy tracks, vision was a real
problem. On dry slick tracks it did much better. Unfortunately, after a short racing career, this car too was cut up and
scrapped.
Ralph and Herb had many friends in the racing community. On any Saturday you never knew who would stop by.
One sunny spring day in March 1972, Jim Sullivan showed up with a modified he bought in Colorado. It had an in/out
box instead of a clutch and tranny. The car was unloaded and push started on Anita Street right in front of the
building. With the engine running and a cloud of dust, Jim brought the car around to the back of the shop to test the
engine. Very shortly afterward, the Antioch police stopped by and let us know in very clearly that driving race cars on
his city streets was not appreciated.
Herb had owned a 1968 Camaro Late Model for a few years and raced it at Waukegan Speedway. He bought the car
and its 1954 Studebaker Crew Cab hauler from a Chicagoland racer. Studebaker did not make a crew cab. It was
built by the resourceful racers that grafted two truck cabs together and made a very distinctive hauler. The Camaro
weighed 4300 pounds and had a big block Chevy engine. At Future Ind. they put it on a serious weight loss program
and got it down to 2500 pounds. This included changing to a small block Chevy, one of the first in that area. Herb
and crafted a seat from 1” thin walled tubing and aluminum sheet metal. In 1972 they raced it at Lake Geneva and
some special events. Herb sold the car after a season or two and lost track of it after that.
Although none of these cars exist any more, they were important in helping raise the level of car building and racing
in the southern Wisconsin area. I give thanks to all who helped build innovative race cars and great memories.
| Future Industries By Paul Toboldt |
