The track was originally constructed by Joe Helpling in 1947. Its quarter-mile layout is banked at 17 degrees through the corners, creating a tight, demanding circuit. The facility hosts weekly racing across multiple divisions including Asphalt Late Models, Street Stocks, Legends, Crown Vic Ford Division, Thunder Roadsters, and Front Wheel Drives.
The circuit briefly held a world record for quarter-mile paved ovals: a 2010 qualifying run in a winged sprint car produced a lap time of 10.28 seconds, the fastest ever recorded on a paved quarter-mile oval at the time, before it was eclipsed by a 9.909-second effort at Slinger Speedway in August of the same year.
Anderson Speedway's most famous event is the Little 500, held on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend — the night before the Indianapolis 500. The race covers 500 laps, or 125 miles, making it unusually long for sprint car competition (most sprint races run between 10 and 50 miles). It is considered one of the premier wingless asphalt sprint car races in the country.
The field mirrors the Indy 500 in structure: 33 cars are arranged in 11 rows of three, and qualifying is conducted over four consecutive timed laps. Many drivers who later competed in the Indianapolis 500 built their early reputations at Anderson's Little 500. The 70th edition paid out over $125,150 to the field. The 72nd edition, held in 2020, was moved from its traditional May date to September due to local government restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the Little 500 became part of the 500 Sprint Car Tour, a new ten-event pavement sprint series that also includes Lucas Oil Raceway, Berlin Raceway in Michigan, and other venues. All races on the tour share identical specifications and rules, with the exception of the Little 500's distinctive Indy-style formation.
The Redbud 400 is Anderson's premier stock car event, a 400-lap super late model race that has been held since 1967. The American Speed Association sanctioned the event from 1969 to 1999, building its reputation as one of the most important races on the ASA calendar. Since 2001 it has been part of the ARCA/CRA Super Series, and in 2023 was co-sanctioned by the new ASA STARS National Tour.
The Redbud 400's winners list reads like a history of American short-track racing. Tiny Lund, Dick Trickle, Mark Martin, and Alan Kulwicki all claimed victories, as did more recent stars including Kyle Busch, Daniel Hemric, Erik Jones, and Carson Hocevar. Dick Trickle's famous quip about Anderson — "It's like racing jet fighters in a gym" — captures the intensity of running ASA-caliber stock cars around the quarter-mile high-banked oval.
Anderson Speedway occupies a significant place in American short-track culture, sustained by two events that reward both sprint car specialists and stock car veterans. The Little 500's evocation of the Indianapolis 500 tradition and the Redbud 400's long ASA heritage give the quarter-mile track a profile far larger than its dimensions might suggest. The circuit remains an active and important stop for drivers climbing through regional and national short-track racing.