Another Great Race & Venue Lost

[cosworth151]

For three decades, it was one of the largest races in the States. Only the Indy 500 & the Daytona 500 paid more. It was televised nationally on Wide World of Sports. It was the Hoosier Hundred at the Indian State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.

USAC announced that this will be the last year for the classic race. The Fairgrounds track will be given a crushed gravel surface for horse racing & State Fair parking.

One of the biggest mistakes that Indy racing ever made was making the Championship all pavement tracks. (NASCAR made the same mistake)

https://racer.com/2019/04/03/end-of-the-line-for-usacs-hoosier-hundred

[Jericoke]

It's funny, if you left it up the drivers, I'm sure they'd all love to have dirt rounds.

I would expect a dirt track to be cheaper to maintain by the owner as well.

The only issue is that there's no way a modern IndyCar could run in the mud.  They'd have to redesign it... or run different programmes.

[lkjohnson1950]

WOW! Cossie and I agree on something about IndyCar. But, Dirt tracks are probably nearly as expensive to maintain as asphalt. Most use special dirt or actually clay and they require constant grooming to keep them smooth and packed. I used to look down on dirt track racing but I've come to appreciate the skill involved. Indy and NASCAR both raced on dirt, but both have dropped it. Jeri, they have nearly always used different cars on dirt than on pavement.