Greetings from Terre Haute, Indiana
From the travels and adventures of the
“World’s #1 Trackchaser”
The Action Track
Dirt oval
Lifetime track #133
Track first seen on Sunday, June 19, 1983.
THE CLASSIC TRACKCHASER REPORT
Editor’s note: This is a CLASSIC Trackchaser Report. What the heck does “Classic” mean? It’s simply a Trackchaser Report that comes from my trackchasing archives. Typically these will be stories from tracks I visited five years or ten years or more ago.
For whatever reason (usually not enough time) this trackchasing adventure didn’t get posted to my website when I first made the track visit. Often a classic TR will not have a video and/or photo album attached. I didn’t begin producing my YouTube videos until 2009 (YouTube channel: RANLAY). I didn’t begin writing a complete Trackchaser Report until I had seen about 425 tracks. This was during the 2000 trackchasing season. Photo albums were sort of hit or miss during the early years of my trackchasing. Additionally, if you see a website link know that link worked when the TR was originally written. Will it work now? Your guess is as good as mine! Nevertheless, this CLASSIC Trackchaser Report has finally bubbled to the surface and is now available for everyone to see at www.randylewis.org. I hope you enjoy it.
I AM A TRACKCHASER.
My name is Randy Lewis (above with the Canadian Shirton brothers at an indoor show in Syracuse, New York). I hail from the sleepy little village by the sea, San Clemente, California. I am a “trackchaser”. I trackchase. Have you ever in your life heard of “trackchasing”? I didn’t think so.
I live in southern California. That’s probably the most inconvenient location in the country for seeing tracks in the U.S. Most of the racetracks in the U.S. are located well over 1,000 miles from where I live. My average trip covers 5,000 miles and more. I take 35-40 of those trips each season. In any given year I will travel well over 200,000 miles, rent more than 50 cars, and stay in more than 150 hotel rooms.
I get the chance to meet people from all over the world. With trackchasing trips to 85 countries and counting just getting the chance to experience so many unique cultures, spend time in the homes of my friends and meet so many people is a huge reward for being in this hobby. I am indebted to several of these folks for their help and friendship.
Once you begin researching my trip itineraries from my website, yes you will want to do that, you will be surprised. One day I’ll be in Tucson, the next in maybe Tuscaloosa and the following day in Syracuse. I do that kind of thing all the time. Figuring out the logistics of a trip like that is as much fun for me as watching a figure 8 race.
Now you know a little bit about my trackchasing addiction. When you receive one of my Trackchaser Reports or find one on my website at www.randylewis.org I hope you will take the time to imagine in your mind what it took to make this trip from SoCal and understand the fun I had doing it.
There you have it. That’s trackchasing…the way I do it. Do others trackchase? Absolutely. Do they share their experiences? Sorry. They don’t. If you want to see the true “essence” of trackchasing you’ve come to the right place.
Today’s adventure was one more of the 2,000 trips that have taken me up, down and around the proverbial long and dusty trackchasing trail. If you would like to see where I’ve been and experience those adventures here’s the link:
Randy’s Complete Track List
If you’ve got a question, comment or whatever please leave it at the bottom of this report. It’s very easy to do. Or you can visit me on Facebook. Thanks!
Randy on Facebook
FOREWORD
Sunday, June 19, 1983.
My visit to The Action Track was far in advance of when I began writing my famous Trackchaser Reports. Therefore, my memories of the visit are limited to just a couple of notes.
I know that Rich Vogler in #51 was the feature winner in a daytime show. My one-sentence note from that visit was “not as good as expected”.
The Action Track is a famous racing venue. I was there to see racing on just one day a very long time ago. Maybe I need to get back there to either reconfirm or negate my one and only experience.
I gathered some historical information about The Action Track from Wikipedia. I use Wiki all the time. Tonight I donated ten bucks to their fundraiser to keep them going. Maybe you would like to do something like that as well.
“The track opened on June 15, 1952. The above photo shows horse racing from 1907. 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’s 13 feature wins is the most in track history.
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 United States Automobile Club (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 player Brian Dorsett, then-active (later retired) Indy Racing League driver Davey Hamilton and then-active (later retired) Indianapolis 500 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 joined 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.”
By the way, I had the chance to have lunch with Bob Sargent and others at the Race Track Business Conference that was part of the PRI show in Indianapolis, Indiana. Buddy Tim Frost (above) runs the RTBC. I found Bob Sargent to be a truly nice guy and an excellent listener to everyone’s contributions. He asked a lot of thoughtful questions. I’ve seen a couple of his promotions and they were head and shoulders above most other race promotions.
Here’s a list of the famous drivers who had won in Terre Haute.
Race winners
| · 1954 Al Herman
· 1955 Tony Bettenhausen · 1956 Tony Bettenhausen · 1957 Gene Hartley · 1958 Don Branson · 1959 Gene Hartley · 1960 Bob McLean · 1961 A. J. Foyt · 1962 Ronnie Duman · 1963 Bob Wente · 1964 Bob Tattersall · 1965 A. J. Foyt · 1966 Don Branson · 1967 Mel Kenyon · 1968 Mike McGreevy · 1969 Bob Tattersall · 1970 Larry Rice · 1971 Jerry McClung · 1972 Pancho Carter · 1973 Bill Englehart · 1974 Bobby Olivero |
- 1975Pancho Carter
- 1976Gary Bettenhausen
- 1977Bubby Jones
- 1978Rich Vogler
- 1979Johnny Parsons
- 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
- 1990Jeff Gordon
- 1991Stevie Reeves
- 1992 Steve Knepper
- 1993Tony Stewart
- 1994 Kevin Doty
- 1995Tony Stewart
- 1996 Kevin Olson
- 1997 Jason Leffler
- 1998 Donnie Beechler
- 1999 Dave Darland
- 2000 Jay Drake
- 2001 Tracy Hines
- 2002 Mike Hess
- 2003 Dave Darland
- 2004 Bobby East
- 2005 Johnny Rodriguez
- 2006 Darren Hagen
- 2007 No race
- 2008 Cole Whitt
- 2009 No race
- 2010 Bryan Clauson
- 2011 Zach Daum
- 2012 Brady Bacon
Hulman Classic
One of USAC non-wing sprint car 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 owner Tony Hulman (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 ($180,200 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.
Race Winners
| Year | Driver | Car # | Team |
| 1971 | George Snider | 29 | Louis Seymour |
| 1972 | Bruce Walkup | 29 | |
| 1973 | Joe Saldana | 25 | |
| 1974 | Gary Bettenhausen | 24 | |
| 1975 | Pancho Carter | 4 | |
| 1976 | Jan Opperman | 64 | Bill Smith |
| 1977 | James McElreath | 8 | |
| 1978 | Dick Tobias | 17 | |
| 1979 | Pancho Carter | 44 | |
| 1980 | Eddie Leavitt | 7 | |
| 1981 | Sheldon Kinser | 6 | Ben Leyba |
| 1982 | Chet Johnson | ||
| 1983 | Jack Hewitt | 51 | |
| 1984 | Rick Hood | ||
| 1985 | Ron Shuman | ||
| 1986 | Rich Vogler | ||
| 1987 | Steve Butler | 1 | |
| 1988 | Steve Butler | ||
| 1989 | Rich Vogler | 69 | Hoffman |
| 1990 | Jeff Bloom | ||
| 1991 | Eric Gordon | ||
| 1992 | Cary Faas | ||
| 1993 | Dave Darland | ||
| 1994 | Cary Faas | Steve Chrisman | |
| 1995 | Jack Hewitt | 63 | Bob Hampshire |
| 1996 | Doug Kalitta | ||
| 1997 | J. J. Yeley | ||
| 1998 | Cary Faas | ||
| 1999 | Terry Pletch | ||
| 2000 | Jay Drake | ||
| 2001 | Tracy Hines | ||
| 2002 | Jon Stanbrough | 57H | Paul Hazen |
| 2003 | J. J. Yeley | ||
| 2004 | Cory Kruseman | 21 | Tony Stewart |
| 2005 | Levi Jones | 2B | Scott Benic |
| 2006 | Daron Clayton | 92 | Clayton |
| 2007 | Jon Stanbrough | 53 | Fox |
| 2008 | Levi Jones | 20 | Tony Stewart |
| 2009 | Levi Jones | 20 | Tony Stewart |
| 2010 | Jerry Coons Jr. | 69 | Hoffman |
| 2011 | Chris Windom | 5x | Baldwin |
| 2012 | Bud Kaeding | 29k | BK |
| 2013 | Jerry Coons Jr. | 10E | Monte Edison |
| 2014 | Dave Darland | 71p | Steve Phillips |
| 2015 | Robert Ballou | 12 | Ballou |
| 2016 | Robert Ballou | 1 | Ballou |
| 2017 | Kevin Thomas Jr. | 9K | KT Motorsports |
On a personal note, my Uncle Bill and Aunt Lucille both lived in Terre Haute. I would only see these folks during our family reunions on Memorial Day in Oakland, Illinois.
They were characters! Uncle Bill and Aunt Lucille were both large people. They commonly rode just one motorcycle cross country. Uncle Bill worked as a prison guard at the Terre Haute prison, a U.S. penitentiary. He used to regale me with stories of being a prison guard. Aunt Lucile was the best baker of cinnamon rolls of anyone I knew. Rest in peace Uncle Bill and Aunt Lucile.
You might have remembrances about this track. If so, please feel free to share your memories in the comments section below. If you have any photos from back in the day, send them to me at Ranlay@yahoo.com. I’ll try to include them here.
Thanks for reading about my trackchasing,
Randy Lewis
World’s #1 Trackchaser
Peoria Old Timers Racing Club (P.O.R.C.) Hall of Fame Member
That’s all folks! Official end of the RLR – Randy Lewis Racing Trackchaser Report