At one time, Louisville had a nice little 1/4 mile paved oval that ran late models. This was on the State Fairgrounds property. It went away (I'm inclined to think that ******** were involved somehow.).

Then there was another track built south of town, down by Okalona. 1/3 mile paved, another nice joint that had a few USAC races and even a NASCAR truck race. It, too, went away when the traffic friendly KY Motor Speedway was built. (Thanks, Jerry Carroll)

It's a bit of a drive, but you will have choices in Indiana, plus the dirt late models at Bardstown. (I'm about an hour north of you.)

I used to go to the louisville motor speedway when the midgets ran there. My dad helped sponser the nowicke team from louisville in the 90's. The 1/3 mile had a larger track on the outside too. It had a wierd downhill turn 4 and a d like backstrech. cant say i miss either track too much.
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Its like the farmer postal employee said you may have a hour are two drive but promise you this that you will see the best open wheel racing in the country

If you end up in Louisville, look me up. I usually end up somewhere in Indiana once or twice a week racing or watching or wrenching or something. If you're bored through the week, I could always use an extra hand to wrench, talk, or even just sit back and laugh and throw stuff at me while I work on my car.

Not sprints, but Brownstown and Bardstown are both within an hour; Ponderosa Speedway (in Junction City...cool track currently going through some promotion line-dancing) and Florence are within an hour and a half. Dirt sprints you'll have to trek to Indiana for; Bloomington's about 2 hours; Paragon is 2.5. Twin Cities is a reasonable drive (little over an hour IIRC), and their sprint races are usually good when they run them. Haubstadt takes about an hour and 45 minutes, and it's worth every second of the drive. The only unreasonable trips are north of Indy to Gas City or Kokomo, but they're still worth it a couple times a year.

I like pavement, too, so as SeaDog said, Salem is an absolute must. ARCA, USAC, Must-See winged sprints; they're all spectacular there. The Sportsdrome is a place you have to visit at least once. It's about a 10 minute drive from downtown Louisville, and it's an experience. Dromer oval cars (basically pure stocks) flip a coin on front stretch to see if they run clockwise or counterclockwise. The FWD division race like they're in a demo derby, and the X-treme winged Figure 8 cars are pretty wicked, fast, racing within tenths of a second from utter destruction at the crossover. The biggest fan reaction you'll see all night is if there's a pit fight. It's an interesting place.

I grew up Louisville have been going to different forms of racing for the last 30 years. I now live in Shelbyville just outside of the "Ville." I consider Lawrenceburg my home track. Do yourself a favor drive the 2 hrs it takes to get there...It will be worth it. Haubstaudt 2 hrs 15 minutes and Bloomington Speedway 2 hrs 30 minutes. All Dirt tracks and all are outstanding. Personally, I go when they are paying at least 3k or better. The last 25 years I have gone to the races I only go to wing or non-wing sprint because the facilities mentioned above are so outstanding.
On the flip side. IMO, Sportsdrome is a dump dont waste your time. Salem, used to be one of your best facilities around. But, They have ruined it! Instead of investing money to improve the bumps on the 1/2 mile they invest in a figure 8 track. For those of us that use to watch Vogler, Bigelow, Stewart and Gordon fly around that track form the infield it is now another sportsdrome. I stopped going when the USAC sprint car counts dwindled as well. Last, If you like late models Bardstown is 45 minutes from louisville. Thats if you enjoy parade racing. Just ask the folks who went to the Lucas Oil show this past weekend.

I am a racer located in Louisville and race a Dirt Modified. We race at Lawrenceburg, Brownstown, Bardstown and Moler, All great tracks. I agree with the crowd about Salem. Some of the scariest racing I have ever seen at that track. I was there the night Rich Volglar got killed and was there to see a modified leave the track over turn 3 and end up in the field 100 yards away. It has left a lasting impression on me as a racer and fan. Hope you enjoy Louisville and look us up at the races and hang out in the trailer.

Have Fun

Billy Cooper #64
Wild Eggs Racing

Also please check out our sponsor Wild Eggs. Best place to eat lunch and breakfast in Louisville.

Thanks for all of the responses. I'd love to help out sometime on a race team, I have turned a wrench or 2 in my day. I do like Late Model racing, I saw the first 8 World 100's at Eldora Speedway. I grew up going to Eldora, that's why I like sprint cars so much! I also have been to Dayton Speedway, New Bremen, Tri County/Queen City Speedway.