I joined IOW in August of 2012. I have a Word document of all of the races I have attended since 2014. Somewhere in 2012 or 2013 I remember Robert Ballou having a HUGE wreck in Turn 1, resulting in a few flips. If memory serves me correctly (I do not have it in my Word document) I think he clipped the opening in the wall at the pit entrance and Levi Jones may have been involved, but don't quote me on the last part.

Anyways, after bouncing off the fence and flipping a few times, his car was upside down almost at the apex of Turns 1 and 2 and the throttle was hung wide open. No one had any idea what his condition was but one of the track workers/officials immediately shimmied under the car to the cockpit and killed the engine with the kill switch. It was the greatest moment of bravery I have ever seen at a track.

But both of Ballou's rear wheels were turning full blast for about 10-15 seconds. The axle was still in place. Robert was all right.

One could find this incident on IOW if one wishes to search for it. The track worker even responded for I asked how he killed the engine. But it was probably the biggest shunt I have ever seen at Kokomo since going there in 1995 for the first time.

Thank you. and thank Kokomo speedway.

That was the 2012 Smackdown. I caught up with Robert the next Friday night or 2 weeks later,I cant remember now, at Gas City and gave him $100.00 for hard luck award from our "Smackdown" awards...

https://www.indianaopenwheel.com/sho...9&postcount=20

I cant speak of why The WoO or The AllStars doesn't come here every year, as they did every year when I was a kid, 80s and early to mid 90s. It's one of, if not the nicest, safest tracks, in Indiana and the Midwest, like it or not. As far as the fencing goes...when I was a kid, we were all sitting in the back of my late Father's pickup truck on the backstretch (yes it was allowed back then). No disrespect to previous owners but the track, fence, cars, everything, was nowhere near as safe as it is in today's world. John Mapes come hot into 3, Yellow #5, and straight up launched over us, over multiple other spectators and their vehicles, clear up over BOTH fences and BAM right into KG's grain building landing in the driveway to the backstretch. To this day, and that was late 80s - early 90s, the panel on KG's grain building is still a different shade/color. No fence would have kept him "in the ballpark". No fence will ever keep every single car in the ballpark unless the entire track is enclosed and that's highly unlikely due to Aviation Rights. Maybe it's a safety issue that us diehards and regulars and even the owners and track officials are unaware of, but I'd have to see it in writing that the fence is why WoO and The AllStars didnt come back this year. I do not buy that for one minute. My OPINION.

Aviation rights?

I'm not gonna waste my time explaining that. If you dont know about laws and rights with planes and choppers, I'd start with FAA.

Let us all get back on track with the topic. We have gone parallel, perpendicular, and sideways. Me included.