USAC reigns supreme in Indiana, and in particular in Indianapolis, where their home office is located.
Circle City Raceway will be part of Indiana Midget Week, with a USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series stop on June 9, and will also host a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series event on Sept. 17.
The June 9 event will be the inaugural John Andretti Memorial Double and will also feature 410 non-winged sprint cars.
The event will pay tribute to Andretti, who attempted to race ‘The Double‘ — both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 — on the same day in 1994.
The event will support Race 4 Riley, an organization to which Andretti regularly donated his time and help in fund raising efforts.
It also pays homage to Byrd‘s father, who was instrumental in helping Andretti compete in the two races on that day 27 years ago this May.
Scott Petry and his Petry Excavating were called upon to construct the track. Petry also has deep roots in the sport.
A former racer who competed in TQ midgets for more than 20 years, Petry is a resident of nearby Greenfield. He was instrumental in the construction of the dirt track inside turn three of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and now owns a four-car midget team that competes in USAC National Midget Series and POWRi events.
Last season, Justin Grant and Kevin Thomas Jr. were among the hot shoes that piloted Petry’s cars.
“The track will be a large quarter (-mile),” Petry said. “It‘s gonna be wide. The racing surface will be 65 feet to 70 feet wide. Its gonna provide good slide jobs and be a very racy track. It will have five-to-six feet of banking in the corners. The straights will have two-to-three feet of banking in them. It could change; we may need to tweak it after the first year. Dimension-wise, with the size of the track, I tried to make it like I-55 in Pevely, Mo., but with less banking. That‘s one track I tried to model it after. It will also have a smaller micro track in the middle incorporating the frontstretch.
“Everything is subject to change. Kevin is all about wanting this to be a first class place. He is sparing no expense, time, and effort getting there. He wants it to be perfect, so there‘s gonna be a lot of time put into it. We wanted to give this a wide racing surface so it wouldn‘t be one groove.”
In May of 1946, the Indianapolis Midget Speedway opened across the street from famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway‘s turn two as an asphalt quarter-mile oval. A smaller dirt track was constructed in the middle of the existing quarter-mile in 1953.
The track was later renamed 16th Street Speedway, but closed in 1959 and was replaced by a shopping mall.
After the minor league Indianapolis Indians baseball team left Bush Stadium for a new downtown ballpark, the facility was briefly turned into a dirt track, also named 16th Street Speedway.
In April of 1997, 12,500 fans turned out to watch the first event at Indianapolis‘ new weekly midget track. However, two years later the facility was shuttered, and later replaced by condominiums in 2013.
In 2018, Indianapolis Motor Speedway management ordered the construction of a dirt track inside turn three of the historic two and a half mile oval. The BC39 midget event, named in honor of the late Bryan Clauson, drew a sold-out crowd to watch the USAC National Midget Series compete on the slightly less than quarter-mile oval.
The following year, IMS President Doug Boles proclaimed the track would become permanent, and new owner Roger Penske hasn‘t signaled a change in that plan, with a two-day BC39 event scheduled for 2020 before COVID-19 restrictions forced its cancelation.
The current location of the Circle City Raceway is just under three minutes from the Indianapolis Speedrome and 19 minutes from downtown Indianapolis.
The backstretch of the new track runs just a short distance from the I-74 Interstate, although a mound of dirt running outside the backstretch blocks the oval from the highway.
Although there are some subdivisions located nearby, Byrd is confident the track won‘t face challenges.
“We‘re not concerned about that. You have an interstate right behind us that‘s been there for years. You hear the engines breaking from the semis and that‘s louder than a 410 motor,” said Byrd. “We have a huge mound that‘s gonna be on the east side of the track, and that‘s a sound barrier. We‘ll be OK. The fairgrounds has been here for 91 years.”
Now responsible for the operation of two tracks, Byrd will have his hands full in 2021.
“I know I‘m gonna be pretty tired and will be looking forward to a vacation the middle of October. I‘m hoping that‘s the beginning of my kids‘ fall break,” Byrd noted. “After that Saturday night, I‘m gonna enjoy some time off. But it‘s also pretty exciting to know what we‘re gonna be doing.
“It‘s pretty darn cool. I‘m hoping from everybody‘s lips to God‘s ears how successful we‘re gonna be. This is something that‘s been wanted, needed, and desired. We‘ve got 60 dates between the two tracks. I‘m not afraid to work; I‘m looking forward to the challenge.”