Terre Haute Action Track

Terre Haute Action Track

Turns 1 and 2 at the Action Track at the 2008 Hulman Classic
Location	Honey Creek Township, Vigo County, near Terre Haute, Indiana, United States
Time zone	EST/EDT (-0500/-0400)
Coordinates	39.420315, -87.420884
Owner	Brian Dorsett, Davey Hamilton, Chris Novotney and Mike King
Broke ground	1949
Opened	1952
Closed	1988-1989, 2007
Former names	The Action Track
Major events	USAC Hut Hundred (until 2009) USAC Tony Hulman Classic USAC Don Smith Classic USAC Sumar Classic
Surface	dirt
Length	0.5 mi (0.8 km)
Turns	4
Lap record	16.487 seconds (Danny Lasoski[1], , 1999, World of Outlaws)

Terre Haute Action Track (also The Action Track) is a half mile dirt track located at the Vigo County, Indiana fairgrounds on U.S. Route 41 along the south side of Terre Haute, Indiana. The track hosts annual United States Automobile Club (USAC) midget car, sprint car and Silver Crown events. Notable drivers that have competed at the track include A. J. Foyt, Jeff Gordon, Parnelli Jones, and Tony Stewart.^[2] The track has held events sanctioned by USAC, its predecessor American Automobile Association (AAA), and the World of Outlaws.^[3]

History

The track opened on June 15, 1952.^[4] It closed for a short period beginning in 1987 and reopened in 1990.^[4] It closed again in May 2007 for the rest of the season after it lost its race card because it broke a local curfew.^[5] The promoter had to stop the event early.^[3] As of the start of the 2008 season, Rich Vogler's 13 feature wins is the most in track history.^[6]

Promoters

The track was promoted by Don Smith in the 1960s.^[5] The track was more recently run by a series of promoters and attendance dwindled.^[3] Most sanctioning bodies holding events at the track dropped it from their schedule and only a few events were held in recent years.^[3] The track lost its United States Automobile Club (USAC) events in mid-2007.^[5] In 2008, the DHK Promotions LLC group took over running the track.^[5] DHK Promotions is owned by former Major League Baseball player Brian Dorsett, Indy Racing League driver Davey Hamilton and Indianapolis 500 radio announcer Mike King.^[5]

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.

As of January 2012, the track will be under the promotional guidance of Bob Sargent and Reece O'Connor who have teamed together to create Terre Haute Motorsports.

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 event since 1954.^[7] The 54th Hut Hundred was held in 2006.^[7] Event winners include AJ Foyt, Tony Bettenhausen, Don Branson, Tony Stewart, and 1990 winner Jeff Gordon.^[7] Rich Vogler won the event eight times, including six in the seven years between 1983 and 1989.^[7] Al Herman won the first event in 1954.^[7] In 2009 the event was not held and in 2010, it moved to the Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana. The Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana 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.

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

1975 Pancho Carter 1976 Gary Bettenhausen 1977 Bubby Jones 1978 Rich Vogler 1979 Johnny 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 1990 Jeff Gordon 1991 Stevie Reeves 1992 Steve Knepper 1993 Tony Stewart 1994 Kevin Doty 1995 Tony 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

Results References:^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]}

References

1. "Terre Haute Action Track". RacingOne. RacingOne. Retrieved 2008-06-21. Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. Taylor, Dave (2008-04-09). "Action Track sponsorship means opportunities for motorsports students". Indiana State University. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
3. O'Leary, Mike. "New Group Is Breathing Life Back Into Terre Haute". National Speed Sport News. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
4. "Terre Haute Action Track". na-motorsports. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
5. Pearson, Craig (2008-03-01). "Promoters rev up Action Track schedule". Tribune-Star. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
6. "The History of the Terre Haute Action Track". Official website. Archived from the original on 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
7. "Terre Haute Hut Hundred preview". Motorsports.com. 2006-09-04. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
8. http://www.ultimateracinghistory.com/racelist3.php?trackid=27 Ultimate Racing history Retrieved July 22, 2008
9. http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=138031&FS=USAC-M Motorsport.com Retrieved July 22, 2008
10. http://www.theautochannel.com/news/date/19990902/news029290.html TheAutoChannel.com Retrieved July 22, 2008
11. http://www.midgetmadness.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10262&pid=43692&mode=threaded&show=&st=&#entry43692 Midget Madness Forum Retrieved July 22, 2008
12. http://www.springsspeedway.com/default,776.sm Springspeedway.com Retrieved July 22, 2008
13. True Speed: My Racing Life by Tony Stewart, Bones Bourcier, Mark Bourcier; Publisher: New York : HarperEntertainment, ©2003.; ISBN 0-06-103166-6, ISBN 978-0-06-103166-3; Retrieved July 22, 2008

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 39°25′13″N 87°25′15″W / 39.420315°N 87.420884°W

How to manage this template's initial visibility

To manage this template's visibility when it first appears, add the parameter:

|state=collapsed to show the template in its collapsed state, i.e. hidden apart from its titlebar – e.g. {{Terre Haute Action Track |state=collapsed}}

|state=expanded to show the template in its expanded state, i.e. fully visible – e.g. {{Terre Haute Action Track |state=expanded}}

|state=autocollapse to show the template in its collapsed state but only if there is another template of the same type on the page – e.g. {{Terre Haute Action Track |state=autocollapse}}

Unless set otherwise (see the |state= parameter in the template's code), the template's default state is autocollapse.

How to manage this template's initial visibility
To manage this template's visibility when it first appears, add the parameter:

|state=collapsed to show the template in its collapsed state, i.e. hidden apart from its titlebar – e.g. {{Terre Haute Action Track |state=collapsed}}

|state=expanded to show the template in its expanded state, i.e. fully visible – e.g. {{Terre Haute Action Track |state=expanded}}

|state=autocollapse to show the template in its collapsed state but only if there is another template of the same type on the page – e.g. {{Terre Haute Action Track |state=autocollapse}}

Unless set otherwise (see the |state= parameter in the template's code), the template's default state is autocollapse.