I first visited THAT in August 1967 for the Hut Hundred. There were 110 Offy powered midgets entered. 110 was also the size of the engines. The Sesco would appear for the first time in 1968.
The cars qualified and lined up in eleven rows of three. Mel Kenyon came home the winner of the classic event. I vividly remember Ralphie the Racer Liguori flipping the Math Schneider #67 in the turn three/four area. The cars didn’t have roll cages then, but Ralphie escaped with just a broken nose.
Since that day I have missed very few events at this legendary facility. The Tony Hulman Classic was huge in the seventies and was even broadcast live on ABC’s Wide World of Sports and drew many celebrities.
I found out last year that the fairgrounds is privately owned by two dozen or more people, so this is a complicated situation.
Bob Sargent’s Track Enterprises has done a commendable job for several years now of promoting the races and I hope he continues for the foreseeable future.
I will continue to support this legendary venue and I hope to be joined by several thousand more race fans at each event. The atmosphere at Terre Haute is unique and I always feel that I am attending an event, not just another race when I drive through the gate at Terre Haute.