In places, you can still find remnants of the track, a combination of gravel and oil. The grandstands, still standing as already mentioned, were built in 1947 and the track opened in 1927.
Jungle Park was bloody almost since the beginning. In the track's second season, race official Earl Parker was mowed down by a speeding racer as he repaired the track. The following July, a spectator was killed.. Two months later its first driver was lost and the next year another spectator was knocked unconscious when a race car flew into a fence post causing it to hit him.
Three more drivers were killed at Jungle Park the next two years. At the time, seatbelts were nonexistent and emergency medical care rudimentary, but that was racing back then. Even the Indianapolis Motor Speeedway, a sophisticated, well-funded racing operation, had 22 fatalities in the 1930s, three of them spectators.
--DaCooy
Showing posts with label Jungle Park Speedway Indiana). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jungle Park Speedway Indiana). Show all posts
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
There Was Another Auto Racetrack Near Indianapolis-- Part 1: Nature Reclaiming Track Now
From the May 27, 2016, Indianapolis Star "Once a racetrack, now a wooded lot" by Will Higgins.
It was located an hour west of Indianapolis in Parke County (famous for its 31 covered bridges) and, surprisingly, the wooden grandstand still stands though in an advanced state of dilapidation.
This is about all that remains of the Jungle Park Speedway, a half-mile oval which was once one of the premier speedways in the Midwest in the early 20th century. It was the proving ground for some of the top American race car drivers. Eight winners there went on to win the Indy 500, including Wilbur Shaw who won it in 1937, 1939 and 1940.
The track closed in 1960 after one more in a long line of horrific accidents.
Nature is now reclaiming the track.
--CootRace
It was located an hour west of Indianapolis in Parke County (famous for its 31 covered bridges) and, surprisingly, the wooden grandstand still stands though in an advanced state of dilapidation.
This is about all that remains of the Jungle Park Speedway, a half-mile oval which was once one of the premier speedways in the Midwest in the early 20th century. It was the proving ground for some of the top American race car drivers. Eight winners there went on to win the Indy 500, including Wilbur Shaw who won it in 1937, 1939 and 1940.
The track closed in 1960 after one more in a long line of horrific accidents.
Nature is now reclaiming the track.
--CootRace
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