The price: the speedway's dead

1931 — 1953

Recorded plainly, as the papers recorded them: The Fort Wayne Speedway's speed was bought at a price the newspapers of the day reported in a paragraph at a time. In May 1931 Raymond Meyers, 31, of Indianapolis, was killed during time trials when his machine hurtled over the track's 28-foot embankment. In October 1952 Sid Bufkin, 26, of Mount Carmel, Illinois, was killed at the speedway. On a Sunday in June 1953 Bob Chilcote, 32, of Kendallville, a railroad freight agent, died of injuries received in a four-car pileup during the feature at the Fort Wayne Speedway, witnessed by his wife and 3,500 fans; the wire account records that he had told his wife and friends the race would be his last. J. Daniel Heath's history of the two tracks counts nine deaths at the Fort Wayne Speedway in all, and WANE-TV's 2022 history of the "man killer" track gives the toll as one reason the place is remembered with dread as much as affection. No fatality at Baer Field Speedway or in the Coliseum's indoor races appears in the record.

Sources:

1. The Brooklyn Citizen, May 18, 1931 — "Auto Race Driver Killed on Fort Wayne Speedway": Raymond Meyers, 31, Indianapolis (newspaper listing preserved on the ACGSI Fort Wayne Speedway page).
2. Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), October 20, 1952 — Sid Bufkin, 26, Mount Carmel, Illinois, killed at the Fort Wayne Speedway (ACGSI listing).
3. The News-Herald (Franklin, Pennsylvania), June 8, 1953, and the United Press wire account — Bob Chilcote, 32, Kendallville, killed in the first accident, witnessed by his wife and 3,500 fans; his stated intention that the race be his last (ACGSI listing; wire text via University of Florida digital collections).
4. J. Daniel Heath, Big Track Little Track (2022), via WANE-TV, September 19, 2022 — nine deaths at the track counted in the book.