Stan Lomelino & Joe Hendricks Mural – The Story

Next yearRoute 66 celebrates its 100th anniversary. Everywhere towns, attractions, and historical sites are thinking of ways to celebrate. The town of Virden, Illinois has a unique Route 66 story, one of drag racing lure. But first, how did an idea of a mural come about?

The Mural Trail in Decatur, Alabama

Nothing adds to a town like art. Perhaps Pablo Picasso said it best when he stated, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” 

This is so true. I really realized the draw of the mural in March of 2021, when my husband Keith and I traveled to Decatur, Alabama. We were hosted by the Decatur Morgan County CVB who brought us to town to tell the story of art in Decatur. Here in Illinois, Murals abound in Marshall, Pontiac, Atlanta, and all-over central Illinois.

Murals along Route 66.

Now murals are popping up all over along Route 66 to draw visitors to the Mother Road. Girard, Illinois has a few new murals like the one below.

Many murals tell a story or depict unique history in a town. The Joe Hendricks’ Hotrod members like Randy Bridges, who was a driver, and my brother-in-law Wayne, who along with Randy were on the pit crew. They along with my husband Keith was excited about sharing this unique history. Randy and Wayne both were part of Joe’s pit crew and shared memories with Virden’s drag racing legends. With the two businesses Lomelino and Hendricks Home Furnishings only half a block apart, and divided by Route 66, with the upcoming Mother Road birthday, this mural only seemed fitting.

Stan Lomelino’s Story

Besides being a legendary drag racer, “Stan the Man Lomelino” was a blacksmith, and he and his two sons Dan and David, worked in his blacksmith shop along with Stan. They could weld, make, and repair darn near everything. Many times, Keith would take something into Lomelino’s and come back amazed by their talent. Keith cited that customers would come in with a piece of machinery twisted and bent. “A piece would start out with a cutting torch, and at the end, many times Stan would figure their bill with a slide rule,” Keith shared, adding, “I wonder how many projects began with a cutting torch, and ended with a slide rule?”

Stan’s agricultural connection.

Stan even created a downed corn rake that was used on a corn head. It helped pick up down corn, saving many a corn crop. We saw one as recently as last March, when my brother-in-law Wayne sold his at his retirement farm sale.

This agricultural side of Stan was important to also honor, so when it came time to find a partner to handle the funds North Mac FFA and their leader, Logan Runyen, who is also the ag teacher, turned out to be the perfect partner.

Stan came on my radar back in early 2006, when I interviewed him for an article for Senior News & Times.

The drag racing days

Over the years, Stan Lomelino won many awards, he was featured in the September 20, 1963, edition of Life Magazine. Racing wasn’t a typical sport back then for a farm boy like Stan, he learned about drag racing in the late 1940’s while in the Navy in California. When I interviewed him, Stan shared, “Kids were drag-racing on the streets and dry lakes. I couldn’t believe this could be going on at home.”

Returning home to Illinois after the service, Stan married Betty Garst in 1948 and worked midnights at Allis Chalmers, and half days at his Uncle, Bud Bowman’s, blacksmith shop. “I was a welder at Allis Chalmers,” Stan said. It was 1955 when he heard about racing in Lawrenceville, Illinois where they held the World Series of Drag Racing. This event was later moved to Cordova, Illinois. There he caught the fever. “I built my first car around 1955 or 1956. I really didn’t know how to put it together. My dad was a farmer, I wasn’t a mechanic, when I was a kid., I only knew how to drive and farm.”

The Wins.

One of Stan’s first race cars came from a Model T frame from Jenkins Junkyard. “The tires were off a Harley motorcycle and had Ford wheels. The engine was a flat head Ford and had a centrifugal super charger on it.”

Stan told me he liked to go fast and once got 800 horsepower out of an engine designed to produce 80. “They said no one would break the 150 mile per hour speed,” Stan added, “but if you aren’t all that smart, you don’t know it’s impossible, so you do it anyway.”

Over the years, Stan raced at Lawrenceville, Springfield, Alton and Belleville often on 1/8th mile tracks, he used alcohol for fuel until he said, “The NHRA made us change to gas. Eventually we went to nitro methane fuel. Buying nitro was hard to come by.”

Flathead Fords!

He raced for Knuckle Busters Hotrod Club. Stan liked Flathead Ford engines. Stories abound of Stan’s trips to races. He shared with me, “I’ve done everything you can do to an automobile by the side of the road, I have changed transmissions, done valve jobs and had friends run to town for parts.”

His last race car had a 1947 Mercury engine that ran 160 mph. He won many awards, but when I interviewed him was perhaps most proud of winning the Second Annual National Flathead Championships in Albuquerque New Mexico in 1967. In a race once he blew a piston. Unfazed, he filled the cylinder with shop towels and went on to win the race. It was this implementation of creativity that set him apart. Stan officially retired from racing in 1967 when he took over the blacksmith shop. There is a sign at the edge of town, “Home of Stan The Man Lomelino Drag Racing Legend 1965-1967, Two-Time National Record Holder”. Now along with the sign, there is a mural depicting his history. Stan passed on February 24, 2017.

Joe Hendricks story

The Hendricks name is well known in Virden and central Illinois for their quality home furnishings. Like Stan, Joe too has passed, he died December 20, 2017, just a few months after Stan. Jeff Hendricks with Joe’s daughter Elizabeth shared a bit of Joe’s story. “Joe started hanging around Lomelino’s welding in the mid 1950’s (across Route 66 from the furniture store.) Joe’s dad told Stanley that he could take Joe to the races with him, but he absolutely had to take him to church.”

Stanley stayed true to his word. “Stanley would drop Joe off at church, and wait for him. They would then go to the races.”

A local boy, Joe graduated in 1959 and attended SIU at Carbondale. “His dad died in 1962, and Joe returned to Virden to work in the furniture store with his brother Jim, and mother Elinor.”

Racing days

“Even with both of them having responsibilities” Jeff said, “they (Stan and Joe) ran around winning races several nights a week in Alton, “Springfield” (Rochester), Assumption, Whitehall, Wentzville Missouri, and St. Louis.”

Jeff added, “They would go to Denver, Great Bend Kansas, and many, many more tracks. They were true racers and had real grit.”

Jeff recalled a story where an engine blew up in Denver and they built an engine from the “tow car” parts, raced, won, and put the engine back in the Mercury tow car so they could tow back home!

Joe’s cars

Jeff thinks Joe built his first race car, a 1932 Ford 3 window coupe with a Ford flathead V8. “The car ran very well, and Joe was afraid he would outrun his mentor Stanley, so he built a front engine dragster with a Ford 300 inline 6 on Nitro that would run in a different class so they wouldn’t have to race against each other. Joe had a couple of those.

The 2nd round of racing.

When his youngest daughter Victoria was a baby, he stopped racing in the early 70’s. However, he caught the racing bug again in 1988 and gathered parts to build another car. “I was 11,” Jeff said, “and the car was at Jeff Sr’s shop and we raced “Nostalgia” drags 4-5 times a year, again with a Ford 300 inline 6 on Nitro. It took a couple of years to get it ironed out, but it was VERY competitive in the Midwest.“

“Around 1993, Joe and Randy Bridges (son-in-law) built the first of 2 “Jr. Fuel” front engine dragsters.”

The stories continue with him racing in the “Nostalgia” races then he put together a new car in 1998-1999 and achieved his ultimate goal of reaching 200 miles per hour. “I think we were in Oklahoma when it happened. We were running three cars for a while. Jeff Sr. in the 6-cylinder car, Randy in the Jr. Fueler, and Joe in the Top fueler. After the 200-mph benchmark was achieved Joe handed the driving duties over to Randy with great success.

The Fire

A fire at the shop was a big setback, but they repaired the shop and tried to work on the car, but it never returned to the racetrack. Joe passed away at the age of 76. His daughter Elizabeth still has the Jr. Fuel Car, Jeff Sr. the 6-cylinder car, and Randy the Top Fuel car.

Stan and Joe’s stories are intertwined so when coming up with a mural, it only made sense to include the two together.

Bernie Gietl’s Vision

Using a picture Bernie said it is a process, to create the mural. Bernie Gietl and his wife DL completed the first history mural on the side of the Savmor Building in town along Virden’s busy highway, on Route 66. Several locations were looked at after the Virden Chamber of Commerce, and business leaders, FFA members, and community leaders along with Casey Claypool, owner of Docs Just off 66, in Girard and director of Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway made suggestions. It was decided that the Savmor building offered the most visual opportunity. Bookstore owner, John Alexander of Books on the Square in Virden, said this location right between the two businesses was perfect for the mural, and Savmor owner, Dave Falk agreed.

The Process

We met with Bernie to discuss the mural sharing the two original pictures that he combined. Bernie soon made a mockup of the mural. The draft was approved, and Bernie said it would cost $7500 to complete the mural. There would also be an FFA section added to the mural as well. Letters and social media notices went out asking for donations to help support the project. Casey Claypool shared the information with her sources spreading the news in the Route 66 pipeline.

Per conversation with Mayor George Murphy, and checking with city ordinances, barricades were set up around the area where the mural would be placed. The City of Virden worked with the planners and Bernie to make this all come together.

Bernie started work during the hot summer days. He was assisted by his wife, DL Whitlock Gietl, Noella Martinez-Voigt, (who did detailed work on Stan and Joe) Bernie’s son, Peter Gietl, and daughter Hannah Gietl.

At the end of summer, the mural was complete!

Fund raising and dedication!

Donations came in all amounts and from a variety of sources. Dave Lomelino, Dave Falk Sav-mor Pharmacy, Hendricks Home Furnishings, Scenic Route 66, Brandt Consolidated, Iron Sleds SMC, Bob Bolton “Cobber”, Bob Smith, Bill Berry, Ruth Dambacher, Betty Elliott, Mary Ellen Hulcher, Ladage Farms (Pat and Wayne Ladage), Keith and Cindy Ladage, Greg and Barbara Sue King, Michael Woodruff, Jack Stones, and White Hall Drag Racing. Thank you so much for making this dream of so many a reality! The $7500 amount was reached all through private donations. Any donations forthcoming will be used by the NorthMac FFA .

While the mural has been up since late summer, a ribbon cutting is planned the evening of the Christmas Parade on December 5th, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.. Everyone is invited to this exciting event to dedicate this historic mural that represents this amazing drag racing history right here in Macoupin County along Route 66.

Note: Thanks to Randy Bridges, Jeff Hendricks and Wayne Ladage for their help with this story.