The ARCA Menard series returned to the Salem Speedway for the 110th ARCA visit in the track’s history on Saturday, July 27.  The speedway, Powered by the Hoosier Lottery, called the event Mid-Summer Classic 200.

Twenty-five cars qualified for the race. They were started straight up with the fastest qualifier on the post. The fastest qualifier was William Sawalich from Eden Prairie, Michigan. He led the whole way. Following him was Andres Perez.

At the fifty-lap mark it was Sawalich, Lavar Scott, and third was Corey Day.
The first break was on lap 75 and the second was at lap 150. At that time, a team could work on their car, change tires and add fuel.  The event was listed as an “eight-tire race”, four on the car and four in the pits. The tire rules and pit stops are for safety and help keep the costs down. Also, it contributes to safety in the pits.

At lap 132 Corey Day and Toni Breidinger got together on turn three, ending the day for both.

On Lap 142 local favorite Will Kimmel of Sellersburg wheeled his way up to third. Christian Rose and Isaac Johnson both chased Kimmel around. After the last break Sawalich lapped the field. Following him was Perez and Scott.  The top three were off like rockets and all three lapped the field. The three would finish in that order.

 At lap 176 Kimmel had dropped to four and would stay there. Kimmel, Christian Rose, and Isaac Johnson were one lap down.  The yellow flag laps count, but there were also two red flags stopping the race for track clean-ups. The race started at 8:15 and ended around 10:25 p.m.

During the race Dale Shearer suffered a possible heat-related problem. He was first treated by the Washington County Ambulance Service, then taken to a local hospital just to get checked out.

Twenty-five cars started and approximately fourteen were still running at lap 200. Lots of carnage was pulled to the middle of the track.

Sawalich’s victory was his fourth of the season in the first twelve races. The finish line celebration included a lot of water being showed and poured on the winner. After that was picture taking that included the changing of sponsors caps. This included Menards and General Tire caps, just to name a few.
There were three female drivers, Toni Breidinger, Amber Balcaen and Rita Goulet.

The support race was a fifty-lap event for the Great American Stocks. There were twelve cars entered, and seven were on the lead lap.

Three cars were knocked out as the green flag flew for the start of lap one.  This crashed ended the day for Joe Cooksey, Trent Bayer and John McLaren.

The winner was Heath Helton, who started on the tail and finished with a commanding lead.  Second was Austin Buam, and third was Jeff Caudill. Finishing fourth was Connor Popplewell, who had a mishap on lap 31 with Brian Bayer and drove back up to fourth. Bayer finished sixth.

The next race at the track will be the Classic Car Cruise‘In On The High Banks. Mark the calendar for Saturday night, Aug. 17, and enjoy all races on the high banks. This event will include CRA Late Model Sportsman 40 laps, GAS series Street Stocks 50 laps, Crown Vics 35 laps, and the Salem Super Cars for 25 laps.

I recently had the pleasure to interview Jim McIntosh, an original spectator of the first race at the Salem Speedway in 1947.

McIntosh now 86 years old, and he was nine years when he saw his first race at the Speedway. He attended with his grandfather, James McIntosh.

The speedway opened in June 22, 1947. It was a banked .555-mile oiled dirt track in ’47. His grandfather was an uncle to Jim Summer, who started the speedway on the outskirts of Salem. Jim said Summers didn’t have a lot of money so he partnered with Everett “Foxy“ Roberts, a lumber buyer who helped build the grandstands. He can remember the metal roof over the grandstand and how it amplified the roar of the cars.

On the first lap of the first race, sadly two driver went over the wall. Jim said one driver, Clay Corbett, was killed and one was paralyzed. This was very dramatic for a nine-year-old to observe,  and he still remembers that.

He remembers the large crowd. The parking lot was full and cars lined the highway. People came from all over to see this race. The price to attend the infield was fifty cents, general admission was two dollars, and box seats went for two dollars and fifty cents.
The infield was Jim’s hang out. At that time the races were sanctioned by AAA. That’s right—the American Automobile Association. They ran races from 1904 to 1955, then USAC took over.  USAC stands for “United States Auto Club.”

AAA pulled out in 1955, citing the Le Mans disaster and the death of Bill Vukovich at Indianapolis.

Ted Horn was the AAA champion in 1947.  Tommy Hinnershiz was the winner of the twenty-five-lap feature. Besides the main race, there was a 20-car semi feature. Jim remembers the trophy dash for the fastest qualifiers, several heat races and the semi feature.  
Mcintosh made his living with a different horse power, training real horses all his life. He also has a stable in Fortville, which is now run by his daughter.

Originally from Hardinsburg, he now lives in Fortville, Indiana. He said he was “Lucky enough to go to Indianapolis and drive my old sprint car.” He drove around the 2 ½ mile track. Jim is now in poor health but would love to see the Joe James/Pat O’Connor race coming to the track on Saturday, September 7. At that time the 500 Sprint car series will take to the track.
USAC no longer has a sprint car division that runs on asphalt. The Silver Crown division is the only group that does.

If you have fond memories of local stories like this or at any track in Indiana, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..