The track opened on June 15, 1952.[3] It closed for a short period beginning in 1987 and reopened in 1990.[3] It closed again in May 2007 for the rest of the season after it lost its race card because it broke a local curfew.[4] The promoter had to stop the event early.[2] As of the start of the 2008 season, Rich Vogler's 13 feature wins is the most in track history.[5]
Promoters
The track was promoted by Don Smith in the 1960s.[4] By 2008, the track had been run by a series of promoters and attendance dwindled.[2] Most sanctioning bodies holding events at the track dropped it from their schedule and only a few events were held in recent years.[2] The track lost its United States Automobile Club (USAC) events in mid-2007.[4] In 2008, the DHK Promotions LLC group took over running the track.[4] DHK Promotions was named for its founders: then-retired Major League Baseball player Brian Dorsett, then-active (later retired) Indy Racing League driver Davey Hamilton and then-active (later retired) Indianapolis 500 radio announcer Mike King.[4]
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. [citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
Since 2012, the track is operated by Terre Haute Motorsports, a partnership between Bob Sargent and Reece O'Connor.[citation needed]
As of 2018, the track was still under the operation of Track Enterprises and company owner Bob Sargent. Adam Mackey, who is a co-promoter at the facility, announced a more extensive schedule for the 2018 season which features 10 events, significantly more than in recent years.[citation needed]
In 2023. Bill Rose of BR Promotions became the next Promoter to help keep the facility alive; otherwise no promoter would have been in charge for the 2023 race season.
Media
Track events are no longer broadcast as Crossroads Communications is no longer affiliated with the Track.[citation needed] In 2009 WTHI Hi-99 became the official track station, though the races were not broadcast.[citation needed]
One of USAC non-wing sprint car racing's biggest races had its inaugural running at the Terre Haute Action Track in 1971. Named the Hulman Classic in honor of Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman (who was still alive at the time), the race falls during the week of the Indianapolis 500. In its inaugural year, the race paid a total purse of $28,538 ($214,700 today) and was televised on ABC's Wide World of Sports, becoming the first televised sprint car race in history.[13] In its early years, it was not uncommon for drivers to race both the Hulman Classic and the Indianapolis 500 in the same week.[14] As of May 2017, the Hulman Classic was USAC's longest annually-contested event, and had been held at the Terre Haute Action Track every year except for a brief interruption from 1988 to 1991, when the event was held at Indianapolis Raceway Park.[15]
The USAC Silver Crown Series first visited Terre Haute in 1980. The series returned in 1995, with the race named Sumar Classic 100, after the local-based 1950s USAC racing team Sumar Racing. Trademark Sumar Classic Owned by BR Promotions.