Since at least 1961, there has been a McCarty racing at the Kankakee County Speedway.

For the past 12 years, one of those drivers has been Austin McCarty, 27, of Bourbonnais.

Backed by a pit crew of his family members and close family friends, Austin tallied seven feature wins for 834 points this season to earn the Pro Late Model class champion title for the second year in a row on Sept. 19, driving his number 10M race car.

The win also marked the 10th title earned by a McCarty since his grandfather, Wayne McCarty, first put tires on the track.

“I have to take a step back sometimes and realize what I’ve done,” Austin, a 2016 Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School grad, said of his accomplishments after the final night of racing on Sept. 26.

“Carrying on the family name is cool. And I know my grandparents are watching, so it makes it special.”

A bittersweet season

About halfway through the season, the McCarty family experienced the tragic loss of three family members.

Patricia and Wayne McCarty, 88 and 89 years old, of Bradley, were shot and killed by their 61-year-old son, Michael, who then died by suicide, on June 30, 2025.

The incident was the beginning of a complex journey filled with complicated emotions for the whole family.

Still, they continued with the thing that brought them all together and honored the memory of their late patriarch - spending Friday nights at the racetrack.

“It was a good distraction. I told Austin if at any time you got to stop, then stop,” Austin’s father, Steve McCarty, said. “It just became a good distraction with everything, and I’m very proud that he was able to concentrate in the car and accomplish that.

“It makes it even more bittersweet,” he paused, looking out at the dust still settling over the track on Friday. “It’s still hard.”

Wayne was there to see Austin snag one last win for the family on June 27 before he passed away, Steve said.

“Austin got fastest time, won the heat and won the feature … that’s the only time he’s done that, and it was with my dad [Wayne] out here. So, that was a special moment."

The week after the tragedy, on July 4, Austin and family returned to the track. And though his car was falling apart – a bolt completely dropped out of the left rear – he made it across the finish line, picking up another win in the Pro Late Model feature, his fourth in a row.

Austin believes Wayne was there in spirit, helping him hold it together, both literally and figuratively.

“You just know someone’s watching over you,” Austin’s mother, Julie McCarty, said. “His grandma and grandpa ... Grandpa was watching over him. After everything we’ve been through, that’s why this is so special.”

Racing future

The racing season at the Kankakee County Speedway wrapped up Friday with a night of friendly feature races and a bonfire to celebrate the track champions after the point totals were finalized in the Friday, Sept. 19 races.

Last year, Austin finished with six feature wins, tallying 910 points to edge out Kankakee’s Chase Osterhoff by 31 points and Bourbonnais’ Matt Hammond by 40 points for the Pro Late Model title.

Watching Austin persevere and secure this year’s win was a moment Steve, who has four track titles to his name, will always remember.

“It’s a really proud moment,” Steve said. “He’s come so far as a driver. It’s nice to be able to still have the family tradition going.”

But the McCarty family, and many other generational racing families in the area, may not get to continue their traditions in Kankakee next year.

Currently, there is a bit of uncertainty surrounding the future of the races at the Kankakee County Speedway, which has been a staple of Illinois dirt track racing since the 1940s.

Four-year track promoter Billy Knippenberg announced his departure in August and is seeking a buyer for the business operations and equipment.

As of now, there is no promoter set to take over the racetrack for 2026.

Knippenberg urged in his Facebook post for anyone interested to reach out to him at 815-955-1291.

Located at the Kankakee County Fairgrounds, the quarter-mile clay oval track has hosted generations of racers and fans.

“It’s a long time my family has been out here racing ... hopefully it comes back and carries on that tradition [in Kankakee],” Austin said. “No matter what happens ... I can’t be mad about it, you know. I drove the wheels off it tonight.”