The Coliseum indoors: where USAC began

1953 — 1989

Midgets on the hockey rink: In January 1953, months after the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum opened, indoor auto racing began on a converted hockey rink inside the arena — a cement oval given in the drivers' records as a tenth of a mile. Three winters later the building made national history: the first auto race the United States Auto Club ever sanctioned was an indoor midget race at the Coliseum, won by Gene Hartley of Roanoke — dated January 6, 1956 in the Rumble series' releases and January 8, 1956 in USAC's own published history; the date differs by source, the fact does not. The arena's indoor championships became a winter institution. Chuck Rodee, of Speedway, Indiana, won the Fort Wayne indoor midget title in 1955, 1957, and 1958 and a fourth Fort Wayne championship in 1966, weeks before he was killed in a qualifying crash at Indianapolis. In 1959 Leroy Warriner won the USAC Indoor Midget championship at the Coliseum by a clean sweep — fastest qualifier, then last to first in the 100-lap feature, taking the lead on the 84th lap. Racing in the arena ran for thirty-six years, until renovations ended it in 1989. The city's 2023 proclamation of the indoor record claims for the Coliseum more indoor auto races than any other venue or city in the world — printed here as the city's own claim, entered in its own proclamation.

Sources:

1. City of Fort Wayne, mayoral proclamation, "Rumble in Fort Wayne Day," December 29, 2023 — indoor racing from January 1953, the first USAC-sanctioned event in 1956, arena racing to 1989, and the city's claim of more indoor races than any venue or city in the world (text preserved by TJSlideways and Speed Sport).
2. Rumble Racing Series release, August 2019 (via Bob's 4Cycle Karting) — the January 6, 1956 date and Gene Hartley as the winner of USAC's first race.
3. USAC history in the Indianapolis Raceway Park souvenir program, May 29, 1993 — USAC's first race, an indoor midget event at Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, dated January 8, 1956.
4. Chuck Rodee biography (National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame record, via Wikipedia) — the 1/10-mile cement track, Fort Wayne indoor titles 1955, 1957, 1958, and the fourth championship in 1966.
5. USAC, 1959 USAC National Midget Season review — Leroy Warriner's indoor championship at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.