2007 Rumble in Fort Wayne - Rumblin' Along

There is something to be said about a 1/8-mile, manmade, concrete oval dressed with Mountain Dew syrup and brake fluid.

That is exactly the racing surface for the annual Rumble in Fort Wayne. Held at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Expo Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the 2007 event represented the 10th year of competition. Ten years strong and still making history-that can be said about the Rumble, an event that has become a winter favorite for Midwestern race fans.

The 2007 Rumble in Fort Wayne drew 48 Midgets-including USAC National, Regional, Ford Focus, and Kenyon Cars-trying for the 14 starting positions in the 60-lap feature race run on each of the two nights of action. The event also featured the popular 600cc Winged Midgets, Slingshots, Go Karts, Junior Sprints, and Quarter Midgets. In all, over 400 racing machines in 14 different divisions showed up to take part in the annual show.

Rich in history and tradition, Fort Wayne was the site of the first sanctioned USAC race in January of 1956. That event was held indoors at the Allen County Memorial Coliseum which is just across the way from the site of the 2007 event. Gene Hartley was the winner of that first event of its kind, and since that day in 1956 USAC has sanctioned 162 indoor events, stretching from California to Texas to Canada, and back to the Indiana home of the USAC offices. The former winner of indoor USAC events reads like a who's who in open wheel racing. The late Rich Vogler leads the pack with 10 indoor wins, Sleepy Tripp captured nine indoor checkered flags, and Indy 500 veteran Gary Bettenhausen took eight wins. Bob Wente has six wins, as does Mel Kenyon, Mister Midget, who competed in the most recent event.

The modern era of the Fort Wayne Rumble was put into place as an open, unsanctioned event back in 1998 by longtime event promoters Tony Barhorst and his father. Then, NAMARS Midget head man Jack Calabrase was named race director. USAC driver Tony Elliott won the first two events in 1998 and 1999, which were one-day, 100-lap feature events. By the year 2000, the younger Barhorst, Tony, had purchased the event rights from his father, gaining 100 percent ownership and becoming sole promoter of the Rumble in Fort Wayne.

Even though the event continued to be unsanctioned through 2003, it still drew some of the best Midget drivers from across the country, including the USAC faithful. In 2004, changes came about as Barhorst hired Larry Boos as the new race director. Boos comes from a background in winter indoor events as he had produced many Go Kart and Quarter Midget events. These days, Boos is Tony Stewart's front man at the famed Eldora Speedway. Along with a new race director came USAC as a sanctioning body.

"I have been very satisfied with the success we have had in Fort Wayne," said Barhorst. "We have had some ups and downs, but Fort Wayne is rich in indoor racing history. With 108,000 square feet for pit area in the main concourse, along with the big basement pit area, it allows us plenty of room for our racers and this event. Other indoor venues have come and gone but Fort Wayne is very complimentary to the sport. I hope to get another 10 years and continue to grow. It hasn't been easy, that is for sure. The event has taken a lot of promotion to become what it has become. I am always looking for other venues to consider, but space is the big issue and Ft. Wayne just has proven to fit well."

In 2005, USAC celebrated 50 years of racing tradition. Stewart, the two-time NASCAR champion and multiple USAC champ, won the second night of racing and put an exclamation point on the celebrated season. At the end of that event, USAC had produced 7,070 sanctioned events since 1956. It was only fitting that Fort Wayne was the site to close out 50 years of racing.