Indiana's Lost Speedways and Legendary Drivers
Indiana's Lost Speedways and Legendary Drivers

Author: David Humphrey with the Indiana Racing Memorial Association

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 146710664X

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From the Indianapolis 500 Motor Speedway to the dirt oval tracks in small Indiana towns, thousands of Hoosiers frequent the raceway of their choice each year. Today, there are an estimated 40 asphalt, clay, and dirt-covered oval tracks in Indiana where race fans cheer local drivers, often navigating jalopies pieced together from junkyard parts, to victory lane. Though many racetracks remain in operation throughout the state, dozens have fallen to the wayside over the past 100 years. Forever in remembrance are the famous and not so famous Indiana-born drivers who thrilled fans at those now defunct tracks. Evansville native Charlie Wiggins won the Gold and Glory Sweepstakes four times. Bob Kinser from Bloomington raced over 40 years and is an inductee of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, and Tom Cherry of Muncie won the Little 500 four times.

Lost Race Tracks
Lost Race Tracks

Author: Gordon Eliot White

Publisher: Enthusiast Books

Published: 2003-06-02

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781583880845

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Americans have raced on more than 6,000 racetracks, road courses and drag strips, at home and abroad, since an American Duryea and a German Benz met in the snow in Chicago in 1895. A few more than 1,200 still exist or are still used today. The rest have disappeared under shopping centers, airports and housing developments - or simply into the mists of time.Included here are the best remembered, the most important and the most interesting of those tracks, along with some that are remembered only by local historians. Come along for the ride and rediscover the heritage of automobile racing.

Auto Racing Comes of Age
Auto Racing Comes of Age

Author: Robert Dick

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2013-05-04

Total Pages: 684

ISBN-13: 0786488115

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The first quarter of the 20th century was a time of dramatic change in auto racing, marked by the move from the horseless carriage to the supercharged Grand Prix racer, from the gentleman driver to the well-publicized professional, and from the dusty road course to the autodrome. This history of the evolution of European and American auto racing from 1900 to 1925 examines transatlantic influences, early dirt track racing, and the birth of the twin-cam engine and the straight-eight. It also explores the origins of the Bennett and Vanderbilt races, the early career of "America's Speed King" Barney Oldfield, the rise of the speedway specials from Marmon, Mercer, Stutz and Duesenberg, and developments from Peugeot, Delage, Ballot, Fiat, and Bugatti. This informative work provides welcome insight into a defining period in motorsports.

The Historic Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix
The Historic Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix

Author: Larry Upton

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9780738585178

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Phoenix's Manzanita Speedway, the last of the big dirt tracks located near the central corridor of a major metropolitan area, is now gone. The track opened in the early 1950s when Jack Holloway, president of the Arizona Jalopy Racing Association, along with Avery Doyle and Gene Gunn, set about convincing Rudy Everett and Larry Meskimen to convert their unprofitable dog-racing operation into a quarter-mile dirt track. On August 25, 1951, Everett and Meskimen beamed with excitement as Manzy opened to an overflowing crowd. They had tapped into America's post-World War II craze for automobiles and found their own Lost Dutchman Gold Mine in the process. Manzanita Speedway dominated dirt-track racing in Phoenix and was heralded as one of the top five dirt tracks in the United States. Manzy became an integral part of the racing culture in Phoenix, and its sale and closure in 2009 created a sense of lingering disappointment.