Schweigert, McMillan join racing hall of fame

The Daily Inter Lake

Two well-known names associated with auto racing in the Flathead Valley - Bob Schweigert and Vance McMillan - were inducted into the Northwest Montana Stock Car Racing Association (NWMSCRA) Hall of Fame last Saturday night at Montana Raceway Park.

Schweigert's racing career began on dirt tracks in the early 1970s, mainly at Pablo and at old Miller Creek Speedway in Missoula. He won a couple season championships with the Stock Car Racing Association of Montana (SCRAM).

Schweigert started racing on asphalt in the mid 1970s when Big Sky Speedway was built in Kalispell. He has won over 100 races in his career.

Schweigert helped put Kalispell on the map in the racing world with three victories in the Apple Cup, which is an open race for late models held yearly at Yakima Speedway in Washington.

McMillan's racing career took off at Big Sky Speedway in Kalispell in the late 1970s. In the early 1980s he became Dave McManus' crew chief and helped him to a season championship. Next it was Randy Vickhammer that he crew chiefed to a championship and in between built racing motors for many of the contenders.

McMillan was also involved in developing rules for the NWMSCRA. He can still be found out at the track working on the tech crew and with a new generation of winners like Alex Lessor, who finished third this year in the Montana 200.

McMillan also did some drag racing in the early 1980s and for a time held a world record at Spokane Raceway Park.

Previous hall of fame inductees are: Lum Owens, Harold Little, Bert Seymore, Clem Wisher, Wilbur Rohrbach, Bob Eacker and Gary Gudmundson.