WINCHESTER SPEEDWAY - WINCHESTER IN
(Funks Speedway)
Winchester Speedway is a half-mile paved oval motor race track in White River Township, Randolph County, just outside Winchester, Indiana, approximately 90 miles northeast of Indianapolis. The track's 37 degree banking is one of the steepest in motorsports, and the highest-banked active racetrack in the country. The original half-mile clay oval was built in a cornfield by Frank Funk in 1914, and the track opened in 1916 with the name of Funk's Speedway. As owner and operator, Funk pursued a two-pronged strategy to attract spectators. First, he recognized that attendance went up as the clay banks were raised higher and higher, reaching 25 feet by 1932, and the turns were said to be banked at 45° in 1948. Second, Funk tested various treatments to reduce dust and increase traction for
the drivers. He started with mineral oil, then branched out into various other substances, which would result in a track "not only relatively dust free but pavement fast." This work brought the attention of highway engineers, who made the track a proving ground for roadbuilding technology. The NASCAR Cup Series held a race at the speedway in 1950. It was 200 laps around the fast 1/2 mile dirt oval. Dick Linder started on the pole and led the first three laps, but then retired from the race. Bucky Sager would claim the lead for the next 146 laps. Lloyd Moore would get by Sager with 51 laps to go, and go on to get the win. Sager was second; followed by Bill Rexford, Chuck James and Ray Duhigg. The track's signature event is the Winchester 400, an annual 400-lap
super late model stock car race, currently sanctioned by the ARCA/CRA Super Series. Former winners during the first 36 editions include: Bob Senneker (7 wins), Mike Cope (3), Mike Eddy (2), Mark Martin (2), Butch Miller, Rusty Wallace, and Ted Musgrave to name a few. Two of its races are held in memory of fallen drivers who won at the circuit: The Rich Vogler Classic, and the Kenny Irwin Memorial. Since 1982, the track has hosted an annual ARCA Menards Series race, skipping only 2018. The track has hosted numerous USAC midget, sprint and USAC Silver Crown events that were televised on ESPN since the 1980s.
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