Dirt-racing a main attraction in community.
By Craig pearson
In the mid-1960s, the late Jim Hurtubise dueled with A.J. Foyt before winning a 30-lap U.S. Auto Club midget-car race on Terre Haute's half-mile dirt oval at the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds.
The pair's exploits were enough for the race announcer to declare "This is the Action Track." That announcer kept with that name when writing his story for a racing publication, and the moniker stuck, said one of the race track's founders, Don Smith.
The Action Track and Hulman Mini Speedway at 13th Street and Lockport Road are the two longtime, popular dirt-racing tracks of Terre Haute.
Among their famous users are NASCAR star Jeff Gordon and Indy car racer Pancho Carter (quarter-midgets as children) and Foyt, Mario Andretti and Nextel Cup points leader Tony Stewart (Action Track).
The fairgrounds track opened in 1952 and initially was used for horse racing back in the days when that sport flourished in Indiana. The land had been leased to the quarter midget association by Terre Haute native and former Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Anton "Tony" Hulman. The Fraternal Order of Police operated the track for its first 20 years of racing.
Smith, who has continued to sponsor both tracks, directed operations at the Action Track until 1980. The track has had its ups and downs since.
"I'm bragging a little bit, but I'd say we reached our heyday in the 1960s, '70s, even in the '50s," Smith said.
The popularity of quarter-midget racing is evident from the 860 entries into this weekend's Dirt Grand Nationals - one of the Quarter Midgets of America's three national events and its fifth visit to Terre Haute. The track has district races nearly every weekend in the summer.
"Years ago, you know, if you had 10 cars in a class and 23 in a night, you were doing good," said former Terre Haute Quarter Midget Association board member Tom King. "Now there's 80 to 100 there in a night. What changed all that was probably 10 years ago, the quarter midget's sanctioning body allowed a Honda motor to be used. It brought tons of people into the sport because they're relatively simple engines and at $350 apiece, most anyone can afford one."
The Action Track used to stage its first race each season two weeks after the Indy 500, and fans turned out in droves to see the 500 winner race there and many other of racing's big names for a $2 ticket price.
"All the felllas that drove Indy cars came," Smith said. "They didn't have it like they had it today. They had to race to make a living. [The drivers] competed in anything that had wheels. We had some thrilling races."
The track's "Tony Hulman Classic" for USAC was broadcast on ABC's Wide World of Sports throughout the 1970s. That race moved to Indianapolis before Bill Hopton led a group that brought the race back to Terre Haute in 1992. Hopton led T.H.A.T. Racing Inc. from 1992 through 1998. His group also made several aesthetic changes to the track, including adding lights in May 1993.
The Action Track is still a mainstay for some of USAC's big events, UMP modifieds - including a semi-annual NASCAR Night - midgets and AMA motorcycle racing. To many racing fans, the red, white and blue rails at the Action Track make it a recognizable and memorable place.
"I have people that come there just to see the Action Track," said Brad Anderson, president of the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds. "They came there as a child. We have people drive from New York and they stop there and take pictures of the track or go up on the grandstands and look at it.
"Racing was a very big portion of things to do in this community. It's a very historical place," said Anderson, who said about $600,000 has been spent on improvements in the past five years at the Action Track. "There's not very many half-mile dirt tracks. That's why it's so rare."
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Tribune-Star/File Photo |
| Two Wheelin': Steve Kinser races at the Terre Haute action track on Aug.8, 1982 |
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TERRE HAUTE ACTION TRACK FAST FACTS
A race to remember: On Oct. 1, 1961, A.J. Foyt came from starting last to win the Terre Haute Hut Hundred.
As described by Terre Haute Tribune reporter David Overpeck:
"In one of the greatest driving performances ever witnessed on this fabled track, he picked up 10 places in the first three laps, took sixth on the 15th lap, third on the 32nd, second on the 35th and finally passed pole winner Bob Wente of St. Louis, Mo., to take the lead in the second turn of the 39th circuit."
Stewart apologizes: In one of several visits to the Action Track, 2005 Brickyard 500 winner Tony Stewart visited with and signed autographs for fans Aug. 6, 2002, the same day he was fined $10,000 by NASCAR for punching a photographer after the Brickyard 400.
" I need to do something to make it to where I can control my anger better," Stewart told fans after signing autographs for more than an hour at the track. "It's obvious over three and a half years, I can't do it on my own, so I'm going to seek professional help and get somebody that can help me learn how to control my emotions."
From Action Track to Brickyard: Seven of the 36 starters in last Sunday's Brickyard 400 have raced at the Terre Haute Action Track, including the top two finishers - Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne.
The others: Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Dave Blaney, Ken Schrader and Mike Bliss.
HULMAN MINI SPEEDWAY FAST FACTS
Long standing: The 120-mile dirt oval has been a home for the Terre Haute Quarter Midget Association since 1956, making it the country's oldest continuously operating dirt track for quarter-midgets.
For youth: Quarter-midget racing is for kids ages 5-16.
About the cars: Quarter midgets are quarter-sized versions of full-fledged midget racers. They run on four-cycle engines that generate 212 to 4 horsepower.
On the Net: www.quartermidgets.org