Mount Lawn Speedway

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Mount Lawn Speedway Logo Source: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtlawn.com%2F&psig=AOvVaw24FKAmQSO7OSasFj-URGem&ust=1750358551862000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBQQjRxqFwoTCNjDhoDQ-40DFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE
Mt lawn
Mount Lawn Speedway Logo Source: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtlawn.com%2F&psig=AOvVaw24FKAmQSO7OSasFj-URGem&ust=1750358551862000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBQQjRxqFwoTCNjDhoDQ-40DFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE
Mt lawn

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Address
1494 S County Rd 400 W,
New Castle, IN 47362
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About Mount Lawn Speedway

Mount Lawn Speedway was founded in 1935 by Dr. George W. Sweigart, a dentist and a former mayor of the town of Hartford City, Indiana. At the time of the track's opening, it was a one-fifth-mile pear-shaped dirt oval. Also constructed during the track's early years were a dance hall, a swimming pool, and summer cabins for vacationers. The dance hall played host to two of the most influential big band musicians of the era, The Dorsey Brothers and Sammy Kaye.

However, in 1939, a fire caused by an overheated exhaust fan in the orchestra pit led to the dance hall's first demise. When the hall was rebuilt, a second fire caused by a coal-powered fireplace led to the dancehall's second, and ultimately final, demise.

In 1940, Sweigart closed the track down, and it appeared that racing in Henry County was over. However, later that year, a local promoter named Dutch Hurst visited the area looking for a lighting system for a track that he was constructing, known as the Muncie Velodrome, located in Muncie, Indiana. When he noticed the layout of the land, he mentioned to Sweigart, "Why don't you start a track here?" When Sweigart replied that the land had indeed been a race track before, Hurst convinced Sweigart to reopen the track.

In 1941, he hired a local farmer to till the land as Sweigart and residents rebuilt the track. However, later that summer, the dirt surface of the track had worn down, and it was decided that a new surface would be needed. So Sweigart hired a crew from the area, and the first concrete surface was laid on the track. This paving would be followed by three repavings in asphalt in 1947, 1967, and finally in 1971.

image of crowd at Mount Lawn Speedway venue, sourcE: https://web.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=598444622082812&set=a.545635007363774Over the next 73 years, the track would see many famous names grace its presence, including Tony Stewart, Ed Carpenter, Pat O'Connor, Tom Cherry, Art Cross, and many others. It was a hotbed for open-wheel modifieds in the 1980s and 1990s, as the IMCA Modified Series would see drivers from across the Midwest come to the Speedway to try their hands at the tricky course against the local stars. Following the dwindling of the IMCA series in the late 1990s, late model stock cars would return to prominence in the area and would become the standard-bearer for the next decade and a half.

In 2014, the track would close temporarily due to declining interest and car counts and would remain closed til 2016, as interest returned. The late model stocks, however, would not, as street stocks would become the Premier division at the track, and all late model races would be promoted by the Champion Racing Association Late Model Sportsman Series.

Late in 2019, it was announced that driver Dave Duncan and former Winchester Speedway co-promoter Jimmy Wyman would begin promoting all races at Mt. Lawn, with Rick Sweigart still retaining ownership. Modified racing would make its full-time return, with a slate of races in 2020. The first race on Mount Lawn Speedway under the new agreement would take place on June 14, with Jeff Lane, a longtime competitor in the previous incarnations of the modified, late model, and street stock classes, winning the first race.

The promotions duo of Wyman and Duncan would see the beginning of a fruitful period for the small Indiana track, with good car counts becoming a common occurrence. Following the passing of Duncan in 2023, however, Wyman would step down and hand over promoting duties for 2024 to former racer, car owner, and fabricator Steve Ellis.

For more on Mount Lawn Speedway, we invite you to click on the link here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lawn_Speedway

Location

1494 S County Rd 400 W, New Castle, IN 47362

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