Chapter 02 · Nebraska, Iowa & the Heartland
The Midwestern Innovators
Illustrative image · AI-generated, not a historical photograph
Fairground ovals, sprint cars, and the speed shops that grew up beside them.
Across the Midwest, racing grew up at the county fair. Half-mile dirt ovals built for harness racing became proving grounds for home-built race cars and the people who learned to make them faster.
That culture produced generations of sprint car and modified racers — and entrepreneurs like Lincoln, Nebraska's "Speedy Bill" Smith, who turned a racer's parts counter into a national business.
Speedy Bill Smith and Speedway Motors
From a small shop in Lincoln, Nebraska, a racer built one of America's best-known performance parts companies.
IllustrationThe County Fair Proving Ground
Half-mile horse tracks became the classrooms of Midwestern auto racing.
Read · 5 minIllustrationSprint Cars and the Road to Knoxville
Lightweight, powerful, and ferociously fast on dirt — the sprint car became the Midwest's signature race car.
Read · 5 minOther chapters