Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
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I'm heading out for the 500 on Friday morning. Does anybody know what tracks race sprints Friday or Saturday night, and which is the best?

Friday - Bloomington, Gas City

Saturday - Putnamville(Lincoln Park), Anderson(Little 500)

Tons of races to go to Indy, check out www.Indianaopenwheel.com

Chuck.....

Friday night, May 22nd the USAC Silver Crowns are at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.Saturday night you can choose either the Night Before the 500 midgets at ORP or the Little 500 sprints at Anderson.

I'm sure there are numerous other 'local' sprint shows taking place on Friday and Saturday nights as well.

.

Damn - must be a long walk from where you are if it's going to take 5 months to get there...

Phil Taylor

home-theater-systems-advice.com

The Friday BEFORE the 500. Thanks for your help!

I am a dirt fan but I highly recommend the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway. Shane Cottle won it last year. Ask anyone who has been you will hear the same. You have never seen anything like this race.

It always seemed to me that a 500 lap SPRINT car race is an oxymoron.

Although I've never been to the Little 500 so I cannot be too critical. I've always opted for the Midgets at ORP.

.

Fremont (OH) Speedway - Kear's Speed Shop Night, Saturday, May 23 - The O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions.

9th Annual Northern Ohio Sprint Car Show
March 18-20, 2011
Featuring the FAST sprint cars
NOSCS Hall of Fame, and much more...
At the Tiffin Mall in Tiffin, Ohio
Official home of the Hoserville Ohio Benefit Auction

In addition to the other Saturday options listed above, KISS (King of Indiana Sprint Series) is at Lawrenceburg the night before the 500 this year.

I went to the Little 500 last year for the first time (first time I'd ever seen the joint) and it was pretty cool (minus the poor guy that got hit & killed... RIP). It's a lot different than any other race I've ever been to, or probably will ever go to - but that is kind of what made it fun/interesting.

I did Terre Haute, Bloomington (Gas City when Bloomington rained out), Little 500, and Haubstadt (Sunday night, after the 500) last year. I hope to do Terre Haute, Bloomington (stay away rain!), Lawrenceburg, and maybe Kokomo this year - although Haubstadt was pretty awesome last year.

I'd really like to see some good wingless 410's, since we don't get that in PA, so the Little 500 is out. So Gas City or Bloomington on Friday?

Paragon on Saturdays! It is an AWESOME track and I've never seen bad racing there. It's REALLY fun to run on (so Beef tells me)! We went there a couple of times even though a win won't even cover the gas money to get there and back.

Just boycot the car wash and the laundromat. The old broad isn't very racer friendly.

The Mermaid

Chilly W. didnt tell you the other reasons to come early and make a weekend of it.

Despite rising fuel costs and costs in general, Chilly W was able to spend a couple nights in a 5 star apartment close to all racing things going on around Indy. This 5 star accommodation included getting his ass out of bed early on Saturday morning (no easy feat) to go sightseeing to various shops on Gasoline Alley,meet former Indy 500 drivers, and others associated with the sport for many years,including a former USAC boss in his street rod.

Jason Holt told me about many shops in Brownsburg had open houses there,so we had to have a look in Brownsburg. Even stopped at Jasons house for a look at his sprint car operation. Many of the shops in Brownsburg were drag race shops,but let me tell you John Force's shop is impressive on the inside.

Luckily,despite rising costs,I was able to keep this tour usually reserved for friends like Chilly W. at a very reasonable cost,despite having to increase my price by double earlier in the year.

Come a day early for Terre Haute. And if everything else rains out on Saturday but Paragon,go there. I go to Paragon at least once a year to remind myself why I dont like the place.

Stay a day later to go to either Haubstadt or Kokomo. No disappointments racing wise at either place.

ASQ is correct - checking out the open houses was way cool... as well as stopping at various places along Gasoline Alley.

Side note ASQ - I'm currently reading the new Langhorne book (Langhorne - No Man's Land) - and it is interesting to read what Bob Harkey's take was on running the joint - since I know who he is now!! The book is pretty awesome in general... worth the money!!

Gas City or Bloomington is a tough choice. If the weather is threatening at one (or the other) - it is an easy choice... go where it is dry! If the weather is good at both, flip a coin.

Up until last year, I did the same. I made my first Little 500 this past May and I will certainly be back.

www.manvelmotorsports.com

I went to lunch with Bob Harkey a few weeks ago Chilly W. Mainly by chance,cause I stopped into Van Craft,but Van wasnt there. Bob was and wanted to go to lunch. We ended up at Charlie Browns on Main St in Speedway. I was asking Bob how he got interested in midgets coming from North Carolina,and in walks Robin Miller. Bob says have a seat,cant theres more people coming. A few minutes later Bill Vukovich II comes walking in. Then Johnny Parsons Jr,then Larry Rice. So on a nondescript Friday at lunchtime in Speeday Indiana we had a good start on 2 rows from the Speedway.

After lunch we went to the Museum at the Speedway cause Bob was looking for a photo of him and Emil Andres. I had asked Bob what he did during the years he raced,and he told me he worked for Champion Spark Plug going all across the country giving tlks about safe driving. Showed me some posters of him in his Roadster and then the rear engine Indy cars telling the dates that Bob would be in town for his talks. While he was showing me all that stuff,he shows me photos of him and Paul Newman. Bob was Paul Newmans stand in and also stunt driver in the movie "winning" He just happened to have some of this stuff with him,and he showed me it while we were sitting in the parking lot at the Speedway.

At the photo shop Bob had Don Davidson looking for this photo,people in the shop were asking Don other questions,they were looking at Bob wondering who he was,and Bob was telling stories as we found pictures on the computer. He even signed an autograph for the lady selling photos.

Pretty cool day for a day that I hadnt planned on turning out the way it did.

Bob Harkey is still the only Indy 500 driver I have taken to lunch one day,then was riding with him a couple weeks later and got pulled over cause he wasnt wearing a seatbelt!

That's funny you say that about Paul Newman. His little blurb in the Langhorne book talks about that. Harkey got nailed in the face with a rock racing there (it happened to a lot of guys apparently!), and his face was all black & blue. When Newman saw his face and found out what happened, he thought he was a crazy son of a bitch - or something to that effect. Harkey's quote on Langhorne was that it was a lot of fun when it was dirt. It's pretty crazy - guys either loved or hated the place. The book goes in order of years since the late '20's. I'm up to 1947. The more I read, the more I read about guys I've heard of (Ted Horn, Mike Nazaruk, etc) - so it keeps getting better and better. Like I said, it's an awesome book! Lots of photos and cool stories about guys that were certifiably insane!!