Byrd has a long history of involvement in open-wheel racing in the Indianapolis area, which began with his father, the late Jonathan Byrd Sr.
The senior Byrd fielded cars in the USAC National Midget Series for many years and captured the owner‘s championship with Rich Vogler handling driving duties in 1986.
Byrd Sr. also fielded Indianapolis 500 entries between 1985 and 2001, with multiple drivers, including Vogler. Sadly, Jonathan Byrd Sr. passed away in 2009.
“When Dad was a teenager, he would go to races at Indianapolis Raceway Park,” Jonathan II recalled. “He helped with the stock car program out there. I always heard he was a push and polish guy for Johnny Rutherford. My grandmother owned a stock car, as well, and they would run some of those races at IRP.
“1982 was my dad‘s first year as a car owner at the Indianapolis Speedrome, in the Pro Stock division. In 1984 he came out with a unique car that fit within the rules, but nobody liked it. The track owner at the time, John Stiles, told my dad that, if he wanted to keep running Pro Stocks, he also needed to support his weekly USAC regional midget program.
“Dad didn‘t really like midgets back then because they slowed the program down, because they had to be pushed off. Once he started watching, he noticed one driver in particular: Rich Vogler. That‘s when Rich, Dad, and Bob Lowe hooked up and won the 1984 midget series at the Speedrome.
“John Stiles put a bounty out and said he would give $10,000 to any former USAC Speedrome Regional Midget Series champion that could qualify for the 1985 Indy 500. That was my dad‘s motivation for taking Rich to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway so he could take John Stiles‘ money. That‘s would lead dad to run the Indy 500 from 1985 to 2001 and help John Andretti attempt ‘The Double‘ in 1994. Through all those years, he never forgot his roots and would make multiple trips back to the Indianapolis Speedrome.”
When Byrd was asked the reasoning for bringing in major sanctioning bodies and high-paying events in the initial season, his answer was quick and direct. “We don‘t wanna start small. Small isn‘t gonna pay for everything we just did,” he stated with a laugh.
While the Indiana open-wheel dirt scene is famous for non-winged sprint car racing, Byrd is featuring winged racing on Thursday nights. “We needed to do something a little bit differently. Having the Speedrome is a consideration for running two tracks and not wanting to run on top of each other. There are so many weekly tracks, we didn‘t necessarily wanna compete against them, but we also knew we wanted to aspire to be a big event facility.
“We‘re bringing winged 410 racing to the state of Indiana on a semi-weekly basis throughout the summer. We‘re gonna have nine winged 410 events, plus we have two ASCS National Tour races.
“We‘re gonna have a nine-race 410 championship kicking off with the All Star Circuit of Champions event May 20-21. At the end of the year, on October 15-16, is the Hoosier Harvest Spectacular. It‘s going to be a two-day event leading up to a $21,000-to-win, unsanctioned 410 wing race. It will have a pretty cool and neat trophy we‘re gonna come up with. The All Stars and Outlaws are off that weekend. It will be our 2021 season finale.” Byrd also indicated that the Hoosier Harvest Spectacular will increase its winners share by $1,000 each year beginning in 2022.
The series of Thursday night 410 winged sprint car events is being marketed as the return of Thursday Night Thunder. Starting in 1981, USAC Regional Midget Series events were contested weekly on Thursday nights at the Speedrome until 1987. ESPN started televising racing live from the track in 1986.
“We‘re gonna do all of our open-wheel stuff on Thursdays. On the weekends, we‘re also wanting to do crate late models, modifieds, Legends, and Fords. We‘ve also got a lot of other things in the pipes, especially during the Marion County Fair.”
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