Local Speedway makes small-town racing a big deal

Off of Fairfax Road on the south side of town sits a quarter mile dirt track where, in the summer, local history is made each week. Over one thousand people gathered Friday at the Bloomington Speedway, where for 85 years auto racing has been center stage.\nThe crowd is made up of many weekly spectators who have been attending races for decades, such as Chris Kearns of Bloomington.\n“I’m here pretty much every week as long as it doesn’t rain,” Kearns said.\nHe explained that he uses the weekly races as an opportunity to have a good time and bond with his family.\nHarold Sanders, 64, of Ellettsville is a diehard racing fan and has experienced the Bloomington Speedway from both on the track and as a fan. \n“I’ve been coming down here for 40 years now,” Sanders said, who raced at the speedway in the mid-’70’s. “I wasn’t really that good but I won a few races.” \nHis racing experience gives him the knowledge on what it takes to win.\n“You got to have a car that’s going to run good or you’ll end up off the track somewhere,” he said.\nThree types of cars tear up the track at Bloomington Speedway: Sprint cars, United Midwestern Promoters (UMP) modified cars and UMP super stock cars. \nSprint cars are the fastest of the three. They are smaller and can make tighter turns than the modifieds and super stock cars.\nModified cars are larger than sprint cars and appear to be similar to stock cars only without a front end, \nSanders said.\nStock cars are full sized and look similar to the stock cars used in NASCAR races.\nSeventeen-year-old Todd Kimmel races sprint cars, and he’s the proud owner of his own team, Todd Kimmel Racing. Kimmel is going into his junior year at Avon High School in Indianapolis.\n“I’ve been racing since I was 5 years old,” Kimmel said. “It’s never really been something in the family but I love it and I’m the first to do it. I race about 40 races a season but it’s cool racing here in Bloomington. It’s got a lot of history.”\nSome of NASCAR’s stars of past and present including Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Jason Leffler have raced at Bloomington Speedway. The track is one-fourth mile long and made of dirt. The steep banks on the track force drivers to make hard turns to avoid catapulting over the edge. \nMany drivers are nervous at first, but if drivers want to be noticed they must bring their A-game, as teenage driver and Alabama native Kevin Thomas preaches.\n“This is the start of my second year and it’s better than anything else I’ve ever done,” Thomas said. “Though the track can be intimidating, I feel that way every time. I’ve flipped over three times before.”\nTo put in perspective what a wreck might be like, Thomas pointed to a flag pole in the center of the track. \n“You see that flag pole? I’ve gone up that high in the air,” Thomas said.\nThomas is not afraid of the danger the Bloomington Speedway brings, and neither is Kimmel.\n“I broke my back racing here,” Kimmel said. “Doctors told me that if I got surgery I’d be out a long time. I was like ‘Forget that, I’m racing.’”