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Anderson Speedway

Racetrack

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
3 min read
Source updated August 10, 2026

Anderson Speedway is a quarter mile (400 m) high-banked paved oval racetrack in Anderson, Indiana, United States.

The track hosts the annual Little 500 sprint car race and the Redbud 400 stock car race. Weekly racing features several stock car divisions, Including: Crown Vic Ford Division, Legends, Asphalt Late Models, Street Stocks, Thunder Roadsters, and Front Wheel Drives.

The corners are banked at 17 degrees. The 2010 track record of 10.28 seconds in a winged sprint car was the world record for quarter-mile paved ovals until a sprint car driver qualified at Slinger Speedway in 9.909 seconds in August 2010. The track was originally constructed by Joe Helpling in 1947.

01Redbud 400

The premier stock car race at Anderson is the Redbud 400, a 400-lap super late model race held since 1967. It was sanctioned by the American Speed Association from 1969 to 1999 before the original tour ended. The race joined the ARCA/CRA Super Series in 2001, and was co-sanctioned by the new ASA STARS National Tour from 2023 to 2025. For the 2026 edition, the format was changed into a 200-lap late model race and a 200-lap street stocks race. Originally held in August, the event now typically takes place in mid July since 1998.

The quote, "It's like racing jet fighters in a gym", is attributed to noted short track driver Dick Trickle concerning racing ASA stock cars at the track.

Notable winners include Tiny Lund, Mark Martin, Alan Kulwicki, Dick Trickle, Kyle Busch, Daniel Hemric and Erik Jones, and Carson Hocevar

02Little 500

The track hosts the annual Little 500 presented by UAW on the Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend, the night before the Indianapolis 500. At 500 laps, or 125 miles, the race is unusually long for sprint car races (typically races are between 10 and 50 miles) and is considered one of the premier wingless asphalt sprint car races.

The field consists of 33 cars lined up in eleven rows of three, mimicking the traditional Indy 500 lineup. Likewise, qualifying is held over four consecutive laps. Many eventual Indy 500 drivers competed in the Little 500 over the years. The 70th edition of the Pay Less Little 500 presented by UAW-GM paid out over $125,150 to the field. The 72nd edition, held in 2020, was moved to September because of county governmental regulations.

In 2022, the race became part of the 500 Sprint Car Tour, a new ten-event pavement sprint tour at Anderson, Lucas Oil Raceway, Berlin Raceway (MI), and other stops. All races use identical specifications and share rules, except for the Little 500 with its formation (eleven rows of three).

Winners

Watch videos about Anderson SpeedwayExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Anderson Speedway”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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