Considered one of the most scenic speedways in the Midwest, the Warsaw Speedway opened its gates with much celebration on Saturday, June 11, 1949, in front of an estimated 4,000 spectators. The track, located on the shores of Winona Lake at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds, had been used for horse racing for several years, but in 1949, the fairgrounds decided to try this up-and-coming sport, auto racing. Phil Tyrrell was hired as the Warsaw Speedway Managing Driector, who saw to it that the initial races were full of exciting thrills, variety, and great media coverage! Tyrrell was not just a local racetrack promotor, but had a history of over 25 years of managing actors and actresses and helping many famous stars get their start in the entertainment business. Besides several local newspaper articles, the news of the racetrack spread rapidly through word-of-mouth to many other states, and by July of '49, the Speedway was hosting its first live broadcast of midget races on the Hoosier Radio Network which was also broadcast on Warsaw's local WRSW radio station.
The Warsaw Speedway continued in its huge popularity drawing drivers from all over the Midwest on a regular basis for the midget races sanctioned initially by the United Automobile Racing Association of Chicago. Hot Rod races were added also within the first year of racing which added the excitement of many local drivers getting into the act, and more variety for the speedway. Both types of racing were highly supported and attended.
Gene Detchemendy, from St. Louis, took over the management of the speedway in 1951 as part of the Tri-State Racing Association. The track was run in tandem with the New Paris Speedway with many drivers running both tracks. “Rollen” Joe Hamsher, who managed the New Paris Speedway for many years, was the flagman with Milo Clase and John Niccum as announcers. Hamsher was known for flagging from the track and then jumping over the guardrails to get away from the herd of stock cars headed towards him. The two tracks shared an end of year Souvenir Edition 1951 Stock Car Racing program that included many officials’ comments and listed several of the drivers, along with their car numbers and a paragraph about each of them personally. This was also the year WRSW AM & FM radio started airing 30 minutes of the racing action each Saturday night with Milo Clase behind the microphone.In 1953, my great-uncle, Claris "Hoot" Gibson, took over as the Promoter and General Manager for the Warsaw Speedway. Gibson, from Columbia City, lived with very modest means and although he didn't have the flamboyance of initial manager Tyrrell, he dedicated the next 25 years of his life to the week-in and week-out physical and managerial work at the speedway. The stock car racing at the racetrack thrived during the 1950's and produced many popular and talented drivers. The most successful of these was Freddie Boggs, of Warsaw. He won many feature races at Warsaw and throughout the Midwest in both the midge and hot-rod stock classes. His success also took him to the most famous stock car race of all, the Daytona 500 in 1957. He qualified and took the green flag to race against famous Lee Petty and company on what then included racing on the beach as part of the track.
Owner's races, Powder Puff Derbys for female racers, Midget races, and "jalopy" races were also featured during the 1950's era. The greatest change in car types came around 1957 with the emergence of the open wheel modified stock cars to the scene. They proved faster and exciting with many collisions and roll-overs, but yet relatively safe with the built in roll-bar construction. This second "Modified" class was added on a full-time basis along with the "Strickly Stock" class for even more Saturday night races and enjoyment.
The 1960's brought in even more speed as the modified class continued to improve which added a new concept to dirt track racing......broadsliding. As the 60's continued, so did the transformation of the modified class. For the first time wings were added to the tops of the cars giving them more downforce and control that allowed for even faster speeds and track times. They soon became known as "Super Modifieds" sharing the Saturday racing program with late model stock cars and hobby stocks. All three racing classes provided their own type of entertainment and all three were highly popular. In the late 60's another new high-tec breed of "modified" car had made it's way up to Warsaw and by 1969 many of the modifieds had transformed into full-blown sprint cars. Sporting both top wings and front wings, torsion bars, specially-staggered tires, and a more aerodynamic body, these cars ran up to 75mph on the straight-aways and nearly always had 1 to 2 inside tires off the track in the corners.
During the 1970's, all three classes of cars became more distinct and separated. The classes now looked totally different and all continued to improve in speed and competition. This speed created a major safety issue and in the early 1970's, a solid concrete wall replaced the wooden retaining wall that had surrounded the speedway since racing started. The biggest car change came in the late model class as they became "not so stock" anymore with enhanced racing engines and specialized tires as well.
In 1978, several racers became frustrated with the management, track operations, and race pay-offs and boycotted the races on July 8, 1978. After a month of discussions and deliberation, the Fairboard gave track manager, Gibson, a vote of confidence less than 12 hours after the striking drivers presented their case. That decision didn't last long though as four drivers went together and bought out the remaining 2 years of Gibson's contract for $4,000 and took over the operations of the speedway on July 24. Racing resumed on July 29 with Jim Bucher, from Akron, as Track President and Manager.
Although Bucher only ran the speedway for 2 1/2 yrs., he added highly entertaining attractions such as Spectator Races, "Hot Dog" races and Watermelon races where the drivers raced 3 laps, stopped to eat a hot dog or slice of watermelon, and then drove backwards around the track for 2 laps. He also had the first $1,000 demolition derby and brought in the world famous World of Outlaws to compete on August 25, 1978. It was the one and only time that they competed in Warsaw with Bobby Allen the feature winner and Steve Kinser finishing second.
Sprints, late models, and street stock classes all continued into the 1980's with many drivers making a name for themselves as the ones to beat. Bobby Grindle was hired as Speedway Promoter for the 1981 season and continued throughout the end of 1982 bringing in Hoosier Tire’s, Irish Saunders, as the track announcer. Bobby brought many interesting happenings to the track including a track clown, city official and school bus driver races, and even a color-lighted pond complete with 3 fountains in the center of the track. The Grindle years were definitely known as highly entertaining and fun for the whole family.
Monty Miller, from Huntington, became Speedway Manager/Promoter in 1983 and for the next six years, showed more profit on paper for the speedway than any other time in history. Many track improvements were also made during the 1980 years including moving the scorer's pagoda in the middle of the track to an actual scorer's tower on the grandstand side of the track, moving the speedway lighting from the infield to the outside of the track, adding new and additional grandstand seating, new safety fencing and track clay, and extending the track's 3rd and 4th turns out to make the speedway a true 1/4 mile. The speedway held an Opening Night for the newly improved track on May 17, 1986 with winged sprints, limited late models, and roadrunners. Special events were periodically added including several S.O.D. Sprint, All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint, Late Model and Winged Sprint Invitationals that brought drivers from as far as Australia and New Zealand to compete.
At the end of the 1988 season, the Fairgrounds was offered and accepted a lease agreement for the 1989 season. Prominent engine builder, Earl Gaerte, and local businessman, Dee Chapman, went together to lease, manage, and promote the speedway with high hopes and big plans. To the fair board the deal sounded great giving them more than twice the profit generated for the entire ’88 racing season.
In hindsight, this was the wave that broke the pontoon’s back as Winona lakeside residents read the front page article in late fall 1988 promising more race shows, special events, and improvements to the track and racing facilities. Although in reality the season was very much the same as ’88, the article was what put the disgruntled lake residents over the edge and suit was filed to discontinue all racing in June 1989, only one month into the racing season.
Warsaw racers in all classes were known around the Midwest as the guys to beat and racing went on as normal, full of excitement that included weekly racing of winged sprints, late models, and street stocks with special event visits from the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprints, Hurryin’ Hoosier Sprint Series, and the 6th Annual Warsaw Fall Classic. No one thought with the 40-year history and vast majority of local residents supporting the speedway that there was any way the track could be shut down.
After the suit was filed during the 1989 season, the fairgrounds took back the management of the speedway for the final year of racing with Don Prater as the promoter and manager. W.A.S.P. (Warsaw Auto Speedway Patrons), a group of Warsaw race fans and supporters of the track, attempted to raise funds along with several private individuals who ended up with extensive monetary support to fight the lawsuit, but despite all efforts, the fair board decided to sign an agreement with the Winona Lake plaintiffs to stop racing and the lawsuit was dropped.
Although the vast majority of the community supported the speedway and hundreds of “Letters to the Editor” were written, the signed agreement called for racing to come to an end on Saturday night, August 11, 1990 during the last night of the county fair. Even with the decision to close looming, the racing for the shortened season was full of excitement and great competition. The final night was filled with emotion, drawing an estimated 4,000 fans including television news crews, local media and national racing reporters. Racing went into the early morning with all mufflers being removed as the racers form of protest. The light signals from each turn were removed as souvenirs and drivers and fans visited in the pits until nearly 4am. Many drivers went on to race at other speedways and some never raced again. Many never stepped foot on the fairgrounds again after that day no matter what the event.
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