'Big' cars, bigger history

The light turns green and the race is on. Engines revved, the pace cars explode off the starting line. \nIt's not the Brickyard 400, whose cars rocked the Indianapolis area yesterday.\nIt is an event that has been vibrating the trees, which have cradled the track of Bloomington Speedway -- Bloomington's own high-speed concourse -- since 1923. \nAt the first race to be documented at Bloomington Speedway, a picture was taken presenting a "big" car lineup. "Big" cars, which are now known as sprint cars, are purpose made and light weight. \n"It's a different breed of cat to drive this thing," said Bob Royer, the Bloomington Speedway historian whose father attended the first race when he was 10 years old in October of 1923.\nEach racer anxiously eyed the photographer, wearing neckties with no protection to keep their frail bodies safe inside the car. Though these pioneers of racing wore goggles on the track, their heads were otherwise uncovered, a far cry from the fire mandated suits, gloves and helmets racers wear today.\n"They just got in the car and went," Royer said. \nThe concrete of the 83-year-old grandstands still sit here today, but the roof has since been removed, and races are now held in the evening. \nAttending a race in 1923 cost 75 cents, a deal compared to today's $10 general admission and $20 for the pits.\nThese races and the large crowds made Bloomington Speedway a popular destination, but the stress of the Great Depression proved too harsh for the track to continue. \nAfter 10 years of successful "big" car racing the track sat empty.\nIt was not until 1949 that the track received a makeover by a man who left racing to fight in the Pacific Theater during World War II.\nEnnis D. Wilson refurbished the track single handedly, according to a timeline provided by the Speedway.\nHe dug his nails into the dirt and cleaned up the half mile track, then took it a step further. The result of one summer's hard work was not only a refurbished half-mile track, but a new quarter-mile clay track carved in the infield of the half mile. \nThe Bloomington Speedway re-opened its gates on Memorial Day 1950.\nNot only did Wilson provide the opportunity for this new era of the Bloomington Speedway, he even took the step to replace the powerful Offenhauser engines with Ranger (aircraft) engines which added more speed to make each of the cars consistently running toward first.\nBut more than a decade later, the waning popularity of the track lead to another round of renovations in 1962.\nTen years later the South Central Indiana Racing Association took over the Speedway, bringing several changes to the cars to make them faster, and creating the World of Outlaws in 1978.\nThe World of Outlaws was a large sanctioning body that toured the entire country while producing many great racers. The most successful of the World of Outlaws was Bloomington native Steve Kinser. \nKinser, a 20-time national champion, is still racing for the National Sprint Tour. He won 513 World of Outlaw features with 14 World of Outlaw championships and has been selected to the Auto Racing All American team 21 times. \nHe had a short stint with NASCAR with an under-funded team, only to leave the league to form his own team which went on to win six World of Outlaw titles.\n"His talent was truly a gift from God," Royer said. \nThe World of Outlaws fractured in 2005.\nAt the end of the 70s the Bloomington Speedway was shut down once again, but returned in 1982. \nThis is how Bloomington Speedway currently sits, with Mike Miles, who currently owns the Speedway, running the track. \n"You'll never see a bad race at Bloomington," Royer said. "Mike Miles makes the track down to a science." \nThe cars raced at Bloomington Speedway until about 1952 were almost precisely the same cars that were ran at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and were commonly built by hand from scratch. Now, cars are created in speedshops, where all the proper parts are modified and ready to be assembled. \nFrom the infield of the track the sunset becomes visible as it settles over the grandstands in the west. The trees to the east protect the 83-year history of the Bloomington Speedway. \nWhat was once the half-mile track is now the pit area, inviting newcomers to the track. \nThe feature race begins just as the sun disappears from the skies and the pace car makes its lap as everyone waves; the engines roar and the crowd honks their horns. The green light flashes, while another feature Bloomington Speedway race adds to its already rich history.