[jdull99]

Originally Posted by openwheelfan1 After the last non-wing sprint race on a mile resulted in a racer death and much other carnage, I doubt you will ever see non-wing sprints on any mile track again. The speeds are too high and the car weights too low.

I'm just curious...when was this & who passed away?

[dsc1600]

When was the last time they were at a Mile dirt track?

[openwheelfan1]

Originally Posted by jdull99 I'm just curious...when was this & who passed away?

I believe the last time the USAC non-wing sprint cars were on a mile was about 30 years ago. An up and coming driver named Jeff Thickstun had a horrific crash on the main straight and suffered fatal injuries. It was a rough night as several other cars were destroyed in big accidents. To the best of my knowledge, the USAC sprints haven't been on a mile since then.

[treecitytornado]

They've Never been on a dirt mile since Thickstun was killed at the Indy Mile. They ran on the pavement at Phoenix after that though. The Midgets were there a few years after when Johnny Heydenreich Won the Hut 100 at the Indy Mile. Then of course at Springfield in the Mid 90s when Danny Drinan took his wild ride.

[bsmith8]

Originally Posted by jdull99 I'm just curious...when was this & who passed away?

Jeff Thickstun of Nashville Indiana. He was 25 at the time. I believe the race was on Friday Night May 11 or Saturday the 12 in 1984. Joe Saldana won the USAC sprint portion and Kenny Schrader won the USAC midget portion. I raced with his father Leon and brother Rocky for several years at Paragon. They are a great racing family.

[Dirtfan]

That was a very terrible night,surprised that many remember.
Leon still runs maybe 2 cars at Paragon every weekend.

[ISF]

Originally Posted by treecitytornado Then of course at Springfield in the Mid 90s when Danny Drinan took his wild ride.

Dan Drinan's horrible crash at The Springfield Mile happened in August of 1992 and that event was not the last time the midgets raced at Springfield. The USAC National Midgets last raced at Springfield a year later in August of 1993.

I believe the USAC National Midgets last raced on a mile track of any kind was at Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, Illinois on July 16th, 2000. The midgets ran a 25 lap event as the support class for the ASA stock cars that ran a 200 lapper that day. I remember there being more action and excitement in the 25 lap midget race than there was in the entire 200 laps of the stock car race.

The Chicago Motor Speedway was actually a little bigger than a mile. According to CART Indy Car records the track actually measured 1.029 miles. Chip "Nasty" Ganassi and Chuck Bidwill III owned the track.

[otgracing17]

Midgets have ran Pheonix and Milwaukee since then.

[Stevensville Mike]

Originally Posted by ISF I believe the USAC National Midgets last raced on a mile track of any kind was at Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, Illinois on July 16th, 2000. The midgets ran a 25 lap event as the support class for the ASA stock cars that ran a 200 lapper that day. I remember there being more action and excitement in the 25 lap midget race than there was in the entire 200 laps of the stock car race. The Chicago Motor Speedway was actually a little bigger than a mile. According to CART Indy Car records the track actually measured 1.029 miles. Chip "Nasty" Ganassi and Chuck Bidwill III owned the track.

Good history stuff, ISF. Forgot all about Chicago Motor Speedway. I saw Cristiano da Matta win there once. It was about 110◦F out that afternoon - a scorcher. Ryan Hunter-Reay won the undercard (Indy Lights?).

I do, however, remember the midgets and Silver Crown running at Milwaukee in 2004. It was the day before undercard for the IRL race the next day. I cannot remember who won but Bobby East sticks in my mind for winning the SC race. Franchitti won the IRL race.

[Jerry Shaw]

Originally Posted by boomer Just got back from a trip to jungle park. The track looks like a small 1/2 mile to me. Good banking but not as much as Eldora. Things are coming along real nice but the pit area was under water but I did see a lot of drainage pipes they must be getting ready to put in. The man I talked to said they are confident it would be open before sprint week if the lights arrive on time.

And a catch fence to keep the race cars from flying into Sugar Creek.

Jerry