STEP SISTER...
When racing buffs talk about "the hills" they usually are referring to three super fast high-banked tracks; Dayton Speedway, Salem Speedway, and Winchester Speedway. But there was another speedway that eventually grew into a high-banked track and predated both Dayton and Salem speedways. That was the track at Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
I've no intention at this time of growing this site to include every track that bears some resemblance to Dayton Speedway, but in order to fully understand Dayton's role in national auto racing it's necessary to know something about the growth of auto racing and the race tracks generally.
Loyal FODS Don Lieberum's Ft. Wayne research is on-going, but here he shares with the rest of us what he's discovered about the track I'll refer to as Dayton Speedway's (older) step-sister. Please contact me here if you have something to add about Ft. Wayne Speedway, and if anyone has a picture of the track we'd like to include it here.
I have done a lot of library time searching out history as seen through the eyes of newspaper reporting over the years. It has been on and off as my occupation as a locomotive engineer keeps me out of town most of the time and being on call makes it difficult to find the time. I hope to be retired in five years and spend a lot of time finishing my research.
In the meantime, I can tell you a few things you might find interesting. Racing in my home town, Fort Wayne, was on a narrow half-mile, flat dirt track that was originally for training race horses. The Centlivre Brewery had this on land where they also cut ice from a creek all winter to use year round. After the closing of the one mile driving park many different promoters used this track and its two large grandstands for professional auto racing. This would be from 1914 to 1926.
In '27 there was a fatality (not the first or only) and promotion ceased for as far as I have been able to learn. During this time the Funk Speedway received much reporting. It had become very popular and the racing well regarded. It had also become gradually high banked. Each year for several years more dirt would be added to the track's surface and top. The local papers reported that Frank Funk was getting heat from the good God fearing folks of Winchester because he held races on the Sabbath in violation of State Blue Laws.
While looking into the origins of the Huntington Speedway I learned that Frank Funk spoke to the town's people in this town late in '26 or very early in '27, I forget exactly when. Local planners looking for funding had a meeting in which a man from Hammond spoke on behalf of the plans to build an amusement part with zoo-like animal exhibits. The paper said that when Mr. Funk spoke on behalf of the race track, he said that he was not getting much support from the nearby town of Winchester and that he planned to move his entire operation to Huntington!
History will record that he didn't wind up doing that but he didn't get any more flack from Winchester either. That track, twenty-five miles or so southwest of Fort Wayne was built (as was the amusement part) and it opened up on August 28, 1928. The plan had been for a 5/8 mile track with a baseball diamond in the infield but the funding fell a little short and it would up being 1/2 mile without anything that I have yet to hear about being done with the infield. Frank Funk was the promoter when the track opened.
The general contractor building that track was John Dehner of Fort Wayne. Not long after getting finished with that he was hard at work gathering partners and then raising money for a bigger better track in Fort Wayne. When it was opened on August 10, 1930 it was spectacular. It had the 5/8 mile high banked dirt track outside of a flat 1/2 track for horses and also a 1/5 mile dog track inside of that.
A large roofed grandstand with food and beverages available under the large seating area. The builders knew nothing of promotion and as near as I can tell (and I have a lot of research yet to do in the years '32 to '42) Frank Funk may have been the exclusive promoter until the track was sold during the second world war. Frank Funk is so thoroughly associated with this track in that era than many people believe incorrectly today that he built it.
It seems that it's glory years were before W.W.II. A long time ago now. But, anyone discussing high banked race tracks in the Midwest would be remiss to neglect mentioning the first track that was built from scratch to be steeply banked.
Don Lieberum ---April 2008
dlieberum@teknology