Originally Posted by racephoto1:
Spridge , do some more research you whippersnapper. If you have any old USAC year books , check out what the Hoosier Hundred and Hulman Classic used to pay. Eldora wasn't the first place to pay good money. Heck , I remember when purses paid overages, and Iowa, Oswego , and ORP should have! But that was loooong before your time.
Bob Sweikert won the first Hoosier 100 in 1953 and earned $6,971 for his victory. In today's dollars that would work out to $56,567. The purse that day was $24,708 or $200,496 in 2009 money. At least that what the website I used figured out for me.
Lets look back 50 years to 1959 and the Springfield race, Len Sutton won $5,081 from a purse of $19,381 in that year.