Bloomington Speedway set for 100th year of racing

Bloomington Speedway will celebrate it’s 100th anniversary in 2023. The season opener is slated for April 7.

Submitted photo

One hundred years is a long time. When the first wheels turned in anger at Bloomington Speedway, the country was just five years removed from World War I. By now, Indiana was a leader in the automotive industry. In 1909, the state ranked second only to Michigan in the number of cars produced. Ten years later, there were 172 companies within the borders building cars or parts. Not surprisingly, racing became embedded in the genetic code of Hoosiers.

In May 1923, Tommy Milton became the first man to win the Indianapolis 500 twice. It was also the year Bloomington Speedway was born. The individuals who made it happen were an interesting lot. They were both entrepreneurial and adventurous. Among those who brought the speedway to life included Nat Hill Jr. His father was the President of the 1st National Bank in Bloomington, an Indiana State Treasure, an Indiana University benefactor and trustee and a county chairman of the Republican Party. Needless to say, he was a pillar of the community. Nat Jr. was born in 1881 and would follow his father as the President of the Bank. He was also at the helm of College Avenue Motor Sales, a Chevrolet dealership. Nat would organize the Bloomington Home guards during WWI and also was active with the Empire Stone Company.He would see the speedway project come to fruition, but passed one year after the track opened.

Any venture of this nature is risky, but those who sought to bring racing to Bloomington were not on a thin branch all alone. Short track racing was alive and well in Indiana in the 1920s. By then, famous tracks like Winchester Speedway were in operation but there were a host of others up and running. Two facilities were active near Brazil, including Sunflower Speedway. Another forgotten venue was a one-mile track near Terre Haute ominously named Black Demon Speedway. George Rogers Clark Speedway near Vincennes hosted many of the contemporary stars of the sport, and just up the road Sullivan had a track of its own. Then, there was the notorious and legendary Jungle Park Speedway north of Rockville. That track is still visible for all to see.

All auto racing was halted during World War II, and when the action, resumed fans and participants were treated to a reworked Bloomington Speedway. The contours of the original five-eighths-mile track are easy to trace today. Stepping in to revamp the facility was 1948 Midwest Dirt Track Champion Wayne Padgett and the irrepressible Ennis “Dizz” Wilson. Wilson, who was one of sport’s most colorful figures, forged a long and successful Hall of Fame career. Dizz provided rides for a laundry list of the all-time greats in his own unique racecars. By the time Padgett and Wilson put their tools away, a new ¼-mile track was ready.

As some of these organizations faded away other stepped in to sanction races and create a circuit that would entertain fans. One such group was the South Central Indiana Racing Association, established on March 31, 1961. The SCIRA began as a three-track circuit consisting of the 25th Street Fairgrounds Raceway in Columbus, as well as Bloomington and Paragon Speedways. Some of the original officers included Bloomington’s Roscoe Brewington who served as President, Bloomfield’s Johnny Johnson was the vice President, with Bloomington residents Frank Knight serving as Treasure with Attorney Ron Hughes also prepared to serve as counsel. The Board of Directors included Pete Brewer, Dizz Wilson, James Maxwell, Harry Hollars and Rex Mitchell. How tough was this group? Supermodified/Sprint car champs included Sheldon Kinser, Dick Gaines, Butch Wilkerson, Bob Kinser, and in 1976 a kid named Steve Kinser. Stock cars were also represented with titles falling to the likes of Steve Bowlen and Bob Fleetwood.

By the late 1970s, the landscape of sprint car racing had changed dramatically. For years, USAC would not allow sprint cars to compete on tracks smaller than ½-mile. That changed. In the late 1970s, the World of Outlaws were launched, and soon, the All Star Circuit of Champions gained steam. These three national groups would compete at Bloomington and only add to the future Hall of Fame drivers who would take on the red clay. From the glory days of Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell and Doug Wolfgang to the battles of Frankie Kerr and Kevin Huntley, the new wave in wing sprint cars arrived in Bloomington.

USAC also brought stars in the midget and sprint car ranks from Bob Tattersall, Rich Vogler and JackHewitt, Jeff Gordon (the 1988 track champion), to Tony Stewart, Dave Darland, Tracy Hines, Tony Elliott and then new aspirants including Bryan Clauson, Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson. Simply put, so many who have put their name on the winners list at Bloomington Speedway are now household names among race fans.

While it is always exciting when the circus comes to town, the backbone of this speedway has been the weekly program. In each class, fans come to see family members, neighbors and coworkers compete. It is a story several generations deep as the baton is consistently passed to the next in line who is eager to give it a go. No one has won more sprint car championships at Bloomington than Brady Short, while Kevin Briscoe, Randy Kinser and Derek Scheffel took their share.

It is that history that makes wearing the crown so important to transplanted Californian Geoff Ensign. In the modifieds, drivers like Dale DuBois, the late Buddy Cunningham, A.J. Bowlen, Kent Robinson and Shelby Miles established a foundation for young Bloomington driver Jordan Wever to build upon. Stock cars in various forms have been a staple back to SCIRA and standouts like Russ Petro, Ernie Barrow, Denny Campbell, Scott Patman and Jeremy Hines set the stage for Zach Sasser and Austin Phelps to shine. While the class known has hornets has a shorter history, drivers Luke Bland and Matt Hamilton approached their craft with pride, and when Chad Taylor grabbed the winner’s trophy in 2022, it was as important a moment to him as any driver who has landed at the head of the season standings.

As we look back 100 years, it is impossible to list all of those who were instrumental as leaders of this racetrack. Yet among those people are David Mitchell, Roscoe Brewington, Zach Becthel, Bob Taylor, Clyde Lawrence Jim Mitchell, Ted Collins, Kenny Woods and Bob Deschamps, as well as Lawrence Fox. We salute Karl Kinser, Denny Richardson and Jerry Shields, who all contributed money to reopen the race track when it was fallow. Denny Richardson and Mike Miles worked as a team. Then, Mike and Judy Miles oversaw the facility and helped it prosper for years. Later, promoters included Dan and Brenda Roberts, Bruce Leer and Dale Dillon. USAC and Levi Jones stepped in for a year, and today, Joe and Jill Spiker serve as caretakers.

Upcoming local race schedule:

Today: Weather Permitting, Brownstown Speedway–Season Opener, Spring Meltdown for 410 sprints, plus modifieds and MMSA mini-sprints. For more info, visit brownstownspeedway.com

Today: Weather Permitting, Florence Speedway–Season Opener, Super Late Models $5000 to win, plus crate late models, modifieds, and sport mods. For more info, visit florencespeedway.com

April 1: Lawrenceburg Speedway–Season Opener, USAC National Sprint Cars, plus modifieds and hornets. For more info, visit lawrenceburgspeedway.com

April 1: Brownstown Speedway–Opening Points Night, Pro late models, pure stocks, super stocks, hornets and crown vics.

April 1: Florence Speedway-47 th Annual Spring 50 for late models, $10,000 to win, plus crate late models, modifieds and hornets.

April 7: Circle City Raceway–Season Opener, crate late models, modifieds, pro legends, mod lites and super stocks. For more info, visit circlecityraceway.com

April 7: Bloomington Speedway–Season opener for 100th year of racing, 410 sprints, modifieds, super stocks and hornets.

April 8: Brownstown Speedway–Inaugural Ira Bastin Memorial for the Northern Allstars Late Model Dirt Series, plus pro late models, super stocks, pure stocks and hornets.

James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected]