INDIANA SUMMER There’s no time to slow down. Real Hoosiers don’t spend their August weekends laying in the sand and soaking up the sun. We’d rather play in the dirt and kick up clouds of dust under the Saturday and Sunday night lights. SPF? Try RPM. And the only “beam” you see behind your visor is the guy from two towns over trying to pass you on the backstretch. Gender and age don’t matter, as long as you can get behind the wheel and put your foot on the gas. And whether your entry has a sharp color scheme with sponsor stickers or you’ve simply cobbled together a mess of steel and bare metal, with a little luck anyone can become a hometown racing hero for a summer night.

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The Speedrome
Indianapolis

At the Speedrome, the racers of tomorrow start in Junior Faskarts – go-karts with cages that resemble the Late Models for adults. But the joy of lifting a trophy – like Koehan West, sitting on the right in kart No. 33K – is the same regardless of age and is happily shared among friends.

Alexa and Kenzie Hughes accompany Koehan in his car.

Billy Pittman is buckled up, gloves on, and ready to drop the visor and hit the accelerator in his Junior Faskart.

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Paragon Racetrack
Example

The Saturday night lights in Morgan County are shrouded in dust kicked up by Sprint Cars, Bombers, Hornets, Late Models and Super Stocks at Paragon Speedway. The high-domed, 3/8-mile dirt oval can barely contain speedsters like Matt Freeman of Dayton, Ohio, in his No. 90 Hornet.

Kenny Fields of Clayton (with his daughter) in his Super Stock No. 11F.

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Anderson Speedway
Anderson

The tight turns of Anderson Speedway’s tiny 1/4-mile Bullring short track force drivers to lean on the steering wheel, tap the brakes and watch for traffic between the doors, so intense that even the most energetic young drivers are exhausted, like 12-year-old Ryder Van Alst, resting next to his No. 35 Late Model.

Small-town racetracks have their hands full tuning the car in the short time between qualifying and the late-night main race. Just ask driver Andrew Teepe’s daughter, who is tinkering with her dad’s stock car with a pacifier in her mouth.

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Lincoln Park Racetrack
Putnamville

Built in 1968, Lincoln Park Speedway is located in the heart of downtown Putnamville. It’s where racing fans come to watch 410 wingless sprint cars churn up the clay of Putnam County. Without the upper wing, these cars have less downforce and are therefore a little harder for the driver to control, especially when racing sideways through a turn in the sand. Roger Arthur (standing) and Jimmy Arthur (kneeling) know how important traction is on the dirt track.

Joe Boyll knows how important it is to let off steam between events.

Megan Cavaness, a local who has been racing here since she was 11, always has at least one hand on the wheel.

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District town race track
Indianapolis

A newcomer to Indiana’s racing scene, Circle City Raceway opened on October 1, 2020. It is the result of a partnership between the Marion County Fairgrounds and Speedrome owner Kevin Garrigus. Just because the 1/4-mile sand oval is new doesn’t mean drivers are afraid to rock it in front of 5,000 fans.

Mike Moody raced cars for 20 years before taking a break to study engineering. Now retired, he drives a souped-up Monte Carlo, “mostly for fun.”

BJ Shaw, a pre-20 veteran of local oval and dirt tracks, takes a break in his trailer before the race. Shaw dreams of one day racing in the Indianapolis 500.

Katie Grigsby, showing off her No. 54B car at Circle City Raceway, competes in both the Bomber and Super Stock races.

As the sun sets on another summer night, Mike Bechelli of Elizabethtown climbs into the cab of his Crate Late Model and is ready to drive for victory.

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Bloomington Racetrack
Bloomington

Opened in 1923, Bloomington Raceway has been entertaining fans for over a century. Drivers can’t help but get dirty in the pursuit of checkered glory, cutting the wheel, sliding sideways on every corner, and accelerating on the straightaway.

Logan Calderwood came all the way from Goodyear, Arizona, to watch the spectacle on a Hoosier tire between runs of his 410 Sprint. He will compete against Daylan Chambers (below) of Bowling Green, who isn’t afraid to get dirty.

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Kokomo Race Track
Kokomo

The Kokomo Speedway has been lighting up the summer Sunday evening sky since 1947. The 1/4-mile, semi-banked oval track is a stop on several national tours for Auto Racing Club of America sprint cars, late models, midgets and stock cars racing toward the coveted checkered flag.

Garrett Jameson (in his No. 0 car) and his brother Bradley (below) spend their summers chasing each other in their dirt car modifieds at race tracks across the region. They consider Kokomo their “home track” and enjoy racing in front of their hometown fans. While their cars roll out of the double-decker trailer looking shiny, they usually come back covered in mud from a tough battle.