LAKE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS

Years of operation:  1919 - 1953

Location: 889 S. Court St., Crown Point , Indiana , south of the court house square

Notes: motorcycle races held on half-mile dirt track in 1919 with American Legion-sponsored auto races held the following year (1920); American Legion involved in promoting of auto races in the 1920’s and into the 30’s; 31-year-old Sonny Talamont of Chicago Heights fatally injured in crash during preliminary event on July 18, 1926, Talamont had been a front runner at Crown Point and other Midwestern tracks for a number of years; future three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Wilbur Shaw won a 20-lap/40-mile race in record time on June 20, 1926; with a lake in the center of  the track, midget auto racing was introduced to fairgrounds in 1939 by local racing promoter C.L. Worthington of Hammond, Ind.; winner of the first race in 1939 – Milwaukee driver Pete Nielsen fatally injured in midget crash at Crown Point on May 5, 1946; California’s Duane Carter captured 150-lap midget race on half-mile track on October 5, 1947, defeating Ted Duncan and Ronnie Householder; smaller fifth of a mile track also used in the late 40’s with final races held in 1953.