Brownstown Speedway

Racing in Indiana is all about tradition and one needs to look no further than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to find evidence of great racing tradition. Scattered throughout Indiana are local racing facilities that exhibit their own traditions in racing. Brownstown Speedway is one such dirt racing facility that is often described with exactly that word; tradition.

During the winter of 1951 a group of local men got together to discuss doing something different with the ½ mile clay track at the Jackson County Fairgrounds that had attempted horse racing but never really had much success. This group of men decided to give Stock Car” racing a try and Brownstown Speedway held its first ever event on a Sunday afternoon in May of 1952. The event offered a $500 purse or 50% of the gate, whichever was greater. Drivers and cars from all over Southern Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky filled the field. A crowd of around 1100 filled the “covered grandstand” for the race and with the success of this event; the tradition of stock car racing at Brownstown Speedway was born.

In 1954 a new quarter mile track was built with the safety of drivers and fans being of top concern. Grandstand seating was nearly doubled, lights were installed, and Saturday night races at the Speedway became tradition. Though many changes have been made to the facilities over the years, drivers still race on essentially the same track layout from 1955 and a portion of the main grandstands remain covered.

Today, the large quarter mile semi-banked clay oval located at the Jackson Count