Terre Haute Action Track (also The Action Track) is a half-mile dirt racetrack located at the

Vigo County, Indiana Vigo County ( ) is a county on the western border of the U.S. state of Indiana. According to the 2020 United States Census, it had a population of 105,994 . Its county seat is Terre Haute. Vigo County is included in the Terre Haute metropolitan ...

, fairgrounds on

U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...

along the south side of

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

. The track hosts annual

United States Automobile Club The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...

(USAC)

midget car Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on most ...

sprint car Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...

and Silver Crown events. Notable drivers that have competed at the track include

A. J. Foyt Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

Parnelli Jones Rufus Parnell Jones (born August 12, 1933) is an American former professional racing driver and racing team owner. He is notable for his accomplishments while competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Baja 1000 desert race. In 1962, he became the ...

, and

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...

. The track has held events sanctioned by USAC, its predecessor

American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA – commonly pronounced as "Triple A") is a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. AAA is a privately held not-for-profit national member association and service organization with over 60 m ...

(AAA), and the

World of Outlaws The World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American motorsports sanctioning body. The body sanctions two major national touring series. It is best known for sanctioning the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late ...

History

The track opened on June 15, 1952. It closed for a short period beginning in 1987 and reopened in 1990. It closed again in May 2007 for the rest of the season after it lost its race card because it broke a local curfew. The promoter had to stop the event early. As of the start of the 2008 season,

Rich Vogler Richard Frank Vogler (July 26, 1950 – July 21, 1990) was an American champion sprint car and midget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich".

's 13 feature wins is the most in track history.

Promoters

The track was promoted by Don Smith in the 1960s. By 2008, the track had been run by a series of promoters and attendance dwindled. Most sanctioning bodies holding events at the track dropped it from their schedule and only a few events were held in recent years. The track lost its

(USAC) events in mid-2007. In 2008, the DHK Promotions LLC group took over running the track. DHK Promotions was named for its founders: then-retired

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player

Brian Dorsett Brian Richard Dorsett (born April 9, 1961) is an American former professional baseball player who played eight seasons for the Cleveland Indians, California Angels, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago Cubs of Major ...

, then-active (later retired)

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

driver

Davey Hamilton David Jay "Davey" Hamilton (born June 13, 1962 in Nampa, Idaho) is a race car driver who competed in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series and Stadium Super Trucks. He has made 56 series starts and while never winning a race, finished second three ...

and then-active (later retired)

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

radio announcer Mike King. In 2009 DHK Promotions added a new partner, changed its name to Action Promotions, LLC and announced a schedule of six special events that took place at the historic half-mile clay oval starting Saturday, May 2. Chris Novotney, a Wabash Valley native who grew up attending sprint car races at the famed track, spent 2008 overseeing the reconstruction of the track surface and the installation of a new track drainage system. Novotney joins Brian Dorsett, Davey Hamilton and Mike King in the group that is now known as Action Promotions, LLC. Since 2012, the track is operated by Terre Haute Motorsports, a partnership between Bob Sargent and Reece O'Connor. As of 2018, the track is still under the operation of Track Enterprises and company owner Bob Sargent. Adam Mackey, who is a co-promoter at the facility, announced a more extensive schedule for the 2018 season which features 10 events, significantly more than in recent years.

Media

Track events are no longer broadcast as Crossroads Communications is no longer affiliated with the Track. In 2009 WTHI Hi-99 became the official track station, though the races were not broadcast.

Hut Hundred

The track held the major

midget car racing Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on mos ...

event since 1954. Event winners include AJ Foyt,

Tony Bettenhausen Melvin Eugene "Tony" Bettenhausen (September 12, 1916 – May 12, 1961) was an American racing driver, who won the National Championship in 1951 and 1958. Bettenhausen was nicknamed the "Tinley Park Express" in honor of his hometown. He was n ...

, Don Branson,

, and 1990 winner

Rich Vogler Richard Frank Vogler (July 26, 1950 – July 21, 1990) was an American champion sprint car and midget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich".

won the event eight times, including six in the seven years between 1983 and 1989. Al Herman won the first event in 1954. In 2009 the event was not held and in 2010, it moved to the Tri-State Speedway in

Haubstadt, Indiana Haubstadt is the second largest town, after Fort Branch, and fourth largest community in Gibson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,577 at the 2010 census. Haubstadt has recently become a bedroom community of Evansville and such, ...

. The

Indiana State Fairgrounds The Indiana State Fair is an annual state fair that spans 18 days in July and August in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. The Indiana State Fair debuted in 1852 at Military Park in Indianapolis and is the sixth oldest state fair in the U.S. It is the ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

hosted the race in 1987. The 1989 race was held at the Lawrenceburg Speedway. In 1988, 2000 and 2001, the Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana hosted the race. ; Winners *1954

Al Herman Al Herman (March 15, 1926 – June 18, 1960) was an American racecar driver. Born in Topton, Pennsylvania, Herman died in West Haven, Connecticut as a result of injuries sustained in a midget car crash at the West Haven Speedway. Herman was in ...

*1955

*1956

*1957

Gene Hartley Leslie Eugene "Gene" Hartley (January 28, 1926 – March 13, 1993) was an American racecar driver. He was born and died in Roanoke, Indiana. Hartley was the son of midget car driver Ted Hartley, who competed into his 60s.

*1958

Don Branson Donald L. Branson (June 2, 1920 – November 12, 1966) was an American racecar driver. Career Born in Rantoul, Illinois, Branson drove in the USAC Championship Car series and also in sprint cars, racing champ cars in the 1956–1966 seasons w ...

*1959

*1960 Bob McLean *1961

*1962 Ronnie Duman *1963 Bob Wente *1964 Bob Tattersall *1965

*1966

*1967

Mel Kenyon Mel Kenyon (born April 15, 1933 in DeKalb, Illinois) is a former midget car driver. He is known as the "King of the Midgets", "Miraculous Mel"< ...

*1968 Mike McGreevy *1969 Bob Tattersall *1970

Larry Rice Larry Rice (24 March 1946 – 20 May 2009) was an American racing driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series. He was the 1973 USAC National midget driver's champion and won the USAC Silver Crown series in 1977 and 1981. He was inducted i ...

*1971 Jerry McClung *1972

Pancho Carter Duane C. Carter Jr. (born June 11, 1950), nicknamed "Pancho", is a retired American race car driver. He is most famous for his participation in CART Indy car races. He won the pole position for the 1985 Indianapolis 500, finished third in the ...

*1973 Bill Englehart *1974 Bobby Olivero *1975

*1976

Gary Bettenhausen Gary Bettenhausen (November 18, 1941 – March 16, 2014) was an American auto racing driver. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, raised in Tinley Park, Illinois, graduated in the class of 1962 from Bremen High School (Midlothian, Illinois) in ...

*1977

Bubby Jones Norman Jones (June 4, 1941 – January 18, 2020), known as Bubby Jones, was a driver in the USAC Sprint Car series, with 22 victories, and a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, inducted in 1998. He also raced in the USAC Championshi ...

*1978

Rich Vogler Richard Frank Vogler (July 26, 1950 – July 21, 1990) was an American champion sprint car and midget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich".

*1979

Johnny Parsons John Wayne Parsons1975 Indianapolis 500 Radio Broadcast - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network (May 25, 1975) (born August 26, 1944 in Van Nuys, California) is an American race car driver. He is the son of 1950 Indianapolis 500 winner John ...

*1980 Rich Vogler *1981 Warren Mockler *1982 Ron Shuman *1983 Rich Vogler *1984 Rich Vogler *1985 Rich Vogler *1986 Rich Vogler *1987 Johnny Heydenreich *1988 Rich Vogler *1989 Rich Vogler *1990

*1991 Stevie Reeves *1992 Steve Knepper *1993

*1994 Kevin Doty *1995

*1996 Kevin Olson *1997

Jason Leffler Jason Charles Leffler (September 16, 1975 – June 12, 2013) was an American professional open-wheel and stock car racing driver. Leffler began racing in the open-wheel ranks, competing in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 before moving to primaril ...

*1998

Donnie Beechler Donnie Beechler (born May 18, 1961), is a former driver in the Indy Racing League. He was born in Springfield, Illinois. Beechler raced in the 1998–2001 seasons with 36 career starts, including 4 Indianapolis 500 showings. His best career fin ...

*1999

Dave Darland David Lee Darland (born September 4, 1966) is an American auto racing driver from Kokomo, Indiana. He was the 1997 USAC Silver Crown Champion, 1999 USAC National Sprint Car Champion, and 2001 and 2002 USAC National Midget Champion, making him ...

*2000 Jay Drake *2001

Tracy Hines Tracy Lee Hines (born May 1, 1972) is an American professional stunt driver. He was the 2000 USAC Silver Crown Champion and 2002 USAC National Sprint Car Champion. He currently does not have a full-time ride in NASCAR as he competes for Tony Stew ...

*2002 Mike Hess *2003

*2004 Bobby East *2005 Johnny Rodriguez *2006 Darren Hagen *2007 No race *2008

Cole Whitt Cole Daniel Whitt (born June 22, 1991) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. After advancing his way through Kart racing, Whitt moved up to sprint cars and became a development driver for Team Red Bull. After running in the K ...

*2009 No race *2010

Bryan Clauson Bryan Clauson (June 15, 1989 – August 7, 2016) was an American professional auto racing driver. Best known for his achievements in dirt track open-wheel racing, such as USAC Silver Crown, Midget and Sprint cars. Bryan was seen more and more co ...

*2011 Zach Daum *2012

Brady Bacon Brady Bacon (born January 26, 1990) is an American racecar driver. Nicknamed 'Macho Man', he currently drives in the United States Auto Club, USAC Sprint car racing, Sprint Car Series. He won the 2014, 2016, and 2020 national championships. He pre ...

Results References:

Hulman Classic

One of USAC non-wing

racing's biggest races had its inaugural running at the Terre Haute Action Track in 1971. Named the Hulman Classic in honor of

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an automobile racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Verizon 200, and and formerly the home of the United State ...

owner

Tony Hulman Anton "Tony" Hulman Jr. (February 11, 1901 – October 27, 1977) was an American businessman from Terre Haute, Indiana, who bought the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1945 and brought racing back to the famous race course after a four-year hiatus ...

(who was still alive at the time), the race falls during the week of the Indianapolis 500. In its inaugural year, the race paid a total purse of $28,538 ($ today) and was televised on ABC's Wide World of Sports, becoming the first televised sprint car race in history. In its early years, it was not uncommon for drivers to race both the Hulman Classic and the Indianapolis 500 in the same week. As of May 2017, the Hulman Classic was USAC's longest annually-contested event, and had been held at the Terre Haute Action Track every year except for a brief interruption from 1988 to 1991, when the event was held at Indianapolis Raceway Park. ; Winners

Sumar Classic

The

USAC Silver Crown Series The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapol ...

first visited Terre Haute in 1980. The series returned in 1995, with the race named Sumar Classic 100, after the local-based 1950s USAC racing team Sumar Racing. ; Winners * 1980

* 1995 Donnie Beechler * 1996 Kevin Thomas * 1997 Donnie Beechler * 1998 Tony Elliott * 1999

Jack Hewitt Jack Hewitt (born July 8, 1951, Troy, Ohio), is a former racecar driver who was prolific in various open wheel and sprint car series. He was a two-time champion in the USAC Silver Crown Series in 1986 and 1987 and is second all-time in Silver C ...

* 2002 Tony Elliott * 2003

J. J. Yeley Christopher Beltram Hernandez "J. J." Yeley (born October 5, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 13 and 66 cars for MBM Motorsports and part-time in ...

* 2004 Brian Tyler * 2005

Josh Wise Joshua Wise (born February 7, 1983) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and currently an athletic trainer for Chip Ganassi Racing. He began racing in open wheel cars. Wise won the 1999 USAC 3/4 Midget Division, 2005 USAC Na ...

* 2006 Bud Kaeding * 2008 Dave Darland * 2010 Levi Jones * 2011 Levi Jones * 2012 Bobby East * 2014 Kody Swanson * 2015 Shane Cockrum * 2016 C.J. Leary * 2017

Chris Windom Christopher R. Windom (born December 24, 1990) is an American professional racing driver. Windom was the seventh driver to complete a United States Auto Club (USAC) Triple Crown by winning titles in sprint cars, midget cars, and Silver Crown. US ...

* 2018

Justin Grant Justin Grant (born November 12, 1990) is an American racing driver from Ione, California. Grant is the 2020 USAC Silver Crown National Champion and the 2022 USAC National Sprint Car Champion. Racing career Midget Racing Grant spent his early ca ...

* 2022

References

External links

Official website
{{ASCS Sprint Car Series race venues Motorsport venues in Indiana Buildings and structures in Terre Haute, Indiana Tourist attractions in Terre Haute, Indiana Midget car racing