Originally Posted by captrat:
I was thinking originally it was 2 days. Friday qualifying,then the big Calcutta party to beef up the interest and purse. Saturday heat, semis, feature but all worked into Wide World of Sports live programming with the Kentucky Derby.
You are correct. When the Hulman Classic was first introduced in 1971, it was a two day event…qualifications on Friday to set the fast 28 qualifiers, which in that era of USAC Sprint car events were the only ones that competed in the heats. Saturday was for the 4 heats, semi and 40 lap feature. I may be wrong, but I don’t think the big Calcutta party was introduced until 1972. The Hulman Classic remained a 2 day event until ABC quit televising the race live which I THINK ended with the 1980 Hulman Classic.