The track opened on June 15, 1952, and closed for a short period beginning in 1987 before reopening in 1990. It closed again in May 2007 after a local curfew was broken during a race, forcing the promoter to end the event early. By 2008, attendance had dwindled, and many sanctioning bodies dropped the track from their schedules, including USAC events lost in mid-2007.
In 2008, the DHK Promotions LLC group took over running the track. In 2009, DHK Promotions added a partner, changed its name to Action Promotions LLC and announced a schedule of six special events. Chris Novotney joined the group in 2009, having overseen the reconstruction of the track surface and the installation of a new track drainage system in 2008.
Since 2012, the track is operated by Terre Haute Motorsports, a partnership between Bob Sargent and Reece O'Connor. As of 2018, the track was still under the operation of Track Enterprises and company owner Bob Sargent, with Adam Mackey announcing a schedule of ten events for the season. In 2023, Bill Rose of BR Promotions became the next promoter to help keep the facility alive.
The track has held a major midget car racing event since 1954, known as the Hut Hundred. Al Herman won the first event in 1954. Rich Vogler won the event eight times, including six in the seven years between 1983 and 1989. Jeff Gordon won the event in 1990. Other winners include A. J. Foyt and Tony Stewart. The event was not held in 2009 and moved to the Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana in 2010. The Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis hosted the race in 1987. The 1989 race was held at the Lawrenceburg Speedway. In 1988, 2000 and 2001, the Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana hosted the race.
The track hosted the inaugural Hulman Classic in 1971, a significant USAC non-wing sprint car race. Named in honor of Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony Hulman, the race falls during the week of the Indianapolis 500. In its inaugural year, the race paid a total purse of $28,538 and was televised on ABC's Wide World of Sports, becoming the first televised sprint car race. In its early years, drivers often raced in both the Hulman Classic and the Indianapolis 500. As of May 2017, the Hulman Classic was USAC's longest annually-contested event, held at the Terre Haute Action Track every year except from 1988 to 1991, when it was held at Indianapolis Raceway Park. While various sources list USAC championships , a definitive ranking of the Hulman Classic’s significance relative to other USAC sprint car races could not be determined.
The USAC Silver Crown Series first visited Terre Haute in 1980. The series returned in 1995, with the race named Sumar Classic 100, after the local-based 1950s USAC racing team Sumar Racing. Trademark Sumar Classic is owned by BR Promotions.
Track events are no longer broadcast as Crossroads Communications is no longer affiliated with the Track. In 2009, WTHI Hi-99 became the official track station, though the races were not broadcast.
This article is based solely on the provided corpus. No external sources, including primary archives, autobiographies, period programmes, or specialist publications, were consulted.