Written by: Brett Bowman
The Kokomo Speedway had its inaugural season in 1947 after partners Albert Miller and John Rose had a vision of a dirt track geared towards midget racing.
Now, 82 years later the track is going stronger than ever although many fans don’t realize just how close the facility, now tabbed as “Indiana’s Baddest Bullring” was to shutting its doors completely.
In 1952 Bill Lipkey purchased the speedway from Miller and Rose and the Lipkey family was at the helm until 1994 when Kent Evans and the Evans family purchased the famed bullring. Evans, who owned liquor stores in Kokomo and was a track champion sprint car owner as well as a being a key contributor to the birth of Indiana Sprint Week along with other track owners in the state.
Evans first order of business upon taking the reigns was putting in what at the time was a state of the art lighting system. Under his reign the track hosted the first running of the Vince Osman Memorial, at that time the highest paying one day show in the country.
Following a series of bad weather and rainouts, Evans relinquished the track and it was purchased by local DJ Dick Bronson and Mark Owsley. Dave Duncan then leased the track for two seasons before the O’Conner family took possession in 2004.
Following the 2004 campaign the family changed the configuration from a tight, flat track to a wide, semi-banked ¼-mile bullring. Improvements are still ongoing however since taking over there has been new bleachers installed on both the front and back stretch as well as sparkling new restrooms, gift shop and concession areas. In 2017 Musco Sports Lighting was installed.
Over the years a who’s who of drivers have showed up and walked through the pit gates including the likes of Johnny Rutherford, A.J. Foyt, Johnny Parsons, Mario Andretti, Lloyd Ruby, Troy Ruttman, John Andretti, Pancho Carter, Steve Butler, Steve Kinser, Tony Stewart, Al Unser, Jr., Jack Hewitt and the late Bryan Clauson are among the many heroes to have raced in the Indianapolis 500 as well as at the track.
Clauson, a former Rookie of the Year at the track, was so enamored with the speedway that he would pull double-duty, racing the 500 during the day, then trekking north to the track to race that night. In addition, he had a GYATK decal adorn his Indy car as a tribute to his favorite race track.
Following a midget race that claimed his life in 2016, the track renamed its Victory Lane to “BC’s Parked It Victory Lane”, referencing his standard quote following a win.
The track has also seen NASCAR greats like Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Ken Schrader, Kenny Wallace, Dave Blaney and Kasey Kahne to mention a few who have turned laps at the track.
The late Bob Kinser has more track championships (8) than any other driver while the late Tony Elliott claimed seven track titles before hanging up his helmet. Shane Cottle and Dave Darland each have won four track titles. Darland still has the most feature wins in the track history.
The track now annually hosts arguably the biggest event in non-wing sprint car racing each August with the running of the Sprint Car Smackdown. No longer a weekly program, however the quality of events trumps quantity as the track is recognized as one of the best in the country.
Sprint Car Track Champions
1963- Don Fisher
1972- Bob Kinser
1973- Bob Kinser
1974- Bob Kinser
1975- Bob Kinser
1976- Bob Kinser
1977- Allen Barr
1978- Bob Kinser
1979- Bob Kinser
1980- Bob Kinser
1981- Kerry Norris
1982- Kelly Kinser
1983- Kelly Kinser
1984- Randy Kinser
1985- Randy Kinser & Tony Elliott
1986- Gary Fisher
1987- Tony Elliott, Terry Shepherd & Dave Darland
1988- Tony Elliott
1989- Tony Elliott
1990- Tony Elliott
1991- Dave Darland
1992- Gary Fisher
1993- Dave Darland, Kevin Thomas & Gary Fisher
1994- Dave Darland
1995- Tony Elliott
1996- Kevin Thomas
1997- Mike Mann
1998- Tony Elliott
1999- Tony Elliott
2000- Tony Jarrett
2001- A.J. Anderson
2002- Dustin Smith
2003- Jon Stanbrough
2004- Shane Cottle
2005- Shane Cottle
2006- Jon Stanbrough
2007- Shane Cottle
2008- Scotty Weir
2009- Cole Whitt
2010- Chris Windom
2011- Shane Cottle
2012- Scotty Weir
2013-Wes McIntyre
2014- Bryan Clauson
2015-CJ Leary
2016-Kevin Thomas jr.
2017-Justin Grant
2018- Chris Windom
2019- Justin Grant
2020- Brady Bacon
2021- Justin Grant
2022- Kyle Cummins
2023- CJ Leary
2024- Robert Ballou