The site was originally developed in 1878 as a venue for horse racing. The first recorded instance of motorized competition occurred in 1901, featuring a two-car exhibition between vehicles owned by Well's Manufacturing and Tone's Spices Co. Formalized racing began in 1914, and by 1917, a wooden grandstand with a capacity of 2,000 was constructed to accommodate spectators.
During the late 1930s, the infield served as the home field for Knoxville high school football games. Following World War II, stock car racing gained popularity, leading to sanctioned events by the Newton Stock Car Association between 1950 and 1954. Weekly racing officially commenced in 1954, accompanied by the installation of banking, fencing, and track lighting.
In 1955, weekly racing was sanctioned under the Southern Iowa Stock Car Racing Association. However, internal issues within the sanctioning body in 1956 led the Marion County Fair Board to begin sanctioning its own events. Marion Robinson was appointed as race promoter, a tenure during which the primary racing machinery evolved from stock cars to modifieds, then supermodifieds, and finally sprint cars.
Robinson established the Knoxville Nationals in 1961. The inaugural event was a two-day competition with a $5,000 purse, won by Roy Robbins. The original wooden infrastructure remained until 1969, when the primary grandstand was razed to make way for modern materials.
The circuit is defined by its half-mile length and the specific properties of its Zook clay surface. In 1982, the track mandated the use of wings on sprint cars as a specific safety measure. Further safety-driven infrastructure changes occurred in 2017, when additional fencing was constructed in turns 1 and 2 to improve containment.
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum is situated just outside Turn 2. This facility features rotating exhibits documenting the history of both winged and non-wing sprint car competition.
The layout and facilities have undergone continuous expansion since the 1970s. A new steel and aluminum grandstand was erected in 1970, and the Knoxville Nationals were expanded to a four-day format under promoter P. Ray Grimes, who also introduced a specialized scoring point system.
Major capacity increases occurred throughout the 1980s and 1990s:
1987: Completion of the upper tier in sections K-N brought capacity to 11,584.
1991: Permanent backstretch grandstands (Sections P-Z) were added, increasing capacity to 17,224.
1996: The addition of a main grandstand upper tier, VIP suites, and new Musco Lighting brought capacity to 23,200.
2002–2003: Concrete was added to the infield pit area, and sections AA and BB were refitted to include handicap seating.
In 2018, the track widened the seating in the main grandstand, which eliminated 3,320 seats and established the current overall capacity of 21,135.
While sprint cars are the primary focus, the venue has expanded to include other disciplines. The 360 sprint cars began competing in 1983, followed by the establishment of the 360 Knoxville Nationals in 1991. In 2004, the track introduced the Late Model Knoxville Nationals. Pro Sprints (formerly 305 cubic inch) were added to the weekly points season in 2010.
In 2021, the track hosted its first NASCAR-sanctioned event, the Corn Belt 150, as part of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The series returned for a second season in 2022.
Knoxville Raceway remains the premier venue for sprint car racing in the United States, with the Knoxville Nationals now featuring a purse of nearly one million dollars.
The track's competitive history is marked by several significant records:
Danny Lasoski holds the record for the most 410 feature wins with 112 victories.
David Hesmer holds the record for the most 360 feature wins with 65 victories.
Doug Wolfgang achieved the most consecutive wins in 1977, winning 10 straight races to start the season and finishing the year with 13 wins in 18 events, including the Knoxville Nationals.
In 2015, McKenna Haase became the first woman to win a feature sprint car race at the circuit. The track continues to operate on Saturday nights from April through September.