FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Indoor racing’s return to Fort Wayne over the weekend of December 29-30 marks the 25th anniversary of racing on the purpose-built concrete oval inside of the massive Expo Center at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Headlining the Rumble in Fort Wayne presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales weekend will again be the midget division.
Over the course of 24 years, 46 different drivers have tamed the field, with NASCAR Hall of Fame racer Tony Stewart’s 12 victories clearly the head of the class. His closest rivals are Russ Gamester and Billy Wease, each with five triumphs to their credit.
Tony Elliott captured the initial Rumble in Fort Wayne midget win inside the Expo Center in 1998, while Nick Hamilton is the most recent driver to crack victory lane.
While this season’s foray will mark 25 years of the present configuration, the building has hosted indoor racing for 61 years. Indoor racing began fulfilling the winter void of outdoor racing in 1953 inside the hockey arena of the Memorial Coliseum and continued through 1989. Tom Bigelow etched his name into the history books as the Coliseum’s final feature winner.
Following construction of the annexed Expo Center, indoor racing returned to Fort Wayne in 1998.
Midgets have long been the focus of the Fort Wayne indoor racing scene, but with the move to the Expo Center came the advent of additional divisions of racing to fill a full weekend of action. This year’s lineup will include winged and non-winged 600cc midgets, along with multiple classes of quarter midgets and go-karts.
The event will be broadcast live by SPEED SPORT affiliate Pit Row.tv.