Rodney Allums Sr., 59, of Crown Point, Ind., passed away on Jan. 1, 2025, at Hospice of the Calumet Area, in Munster, Ind., of natural causes.
Born Dec. 29, 1965, in East Chicago, Ind., to Aaron Eugene "Gene" and Iva J. (née O'Dell), Mr. Allums was a star basketball player in high school. His love of Standardbred racing ultimately lured him away from the hardwood, and he drove his first horse at the age of 16.
Per USTA statistics, Mr. Allums accumulated 106 driving wins and 507 training wins while racing throughout the Great Lakes region, primarily on the Chicagoland circuit. His stable enjoyed its greatest success from 2001 to 2003, recording 234 wins and earning $1.38 million in purses from 1,017 starts in that span. Of all the horses Mr. Allums trained and drove, his favourite was Logic Man p,3,1:58.1 ($116,697), a hard-knocking raceway horse who gave him his first-ever driving win over the Hawthorne Race Course mile oval. He harnessed his final starter on Nov. 24, 2020, when FGs Little Girl went to post at Northfield Park.
Away from the racetrack, Mr. Allums was an avid fisherman, and he was a lifelong fan of the Chicago Cubs and Indiana Hoosiers basketball.
Mr. Allums is survived by two sons, Rodney Jr. (Jayme Weller) and Colton "C.J."; a brother, Sean (Jennifer); sister, Tracy; grandchildren, Aaron and Ava; and several nieces, nephews and cousins. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a son, Andrew; brother, Eugene "Tim"; and nephew, Sam.
Per Mr. Allums' request, no services will be held.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Rodney Allums Sr.
sympathy
I knew the Allums family from when they trained their horses at the LaPorte, Indiana fairgrounds in the same barn as us, My sympathy to Tracy & the rest of the family