For some of the drivers, crew members and officials, age showed it was their first time at Warsaw Speedway. For others, well, it was like a family reunion 25 years in the making. Wednesday evening, for the first time since Aug. 11, 1990, racing returned to the once-popular Saturday night venue for speed. With the midway already buzzing with fair-goers, a large crowd turned out for the Roy Bradbury Classic, which featured winged and non-winged 600 mini sprints, as well as junior sprints. There weren’t any full-size sprint cars, late models or street stocks like years ago, but the familiar sights, sounds and smells were in the air, and Winona Lake once again provided a picturesque backdrop. For those that attended races on the grounds years ago, it may have been a stroll down memory lane. Needless to say, the general consensus was it was long overdue. “You know, unfortunately, it does seem like it’s been a long, long time,” said 53-year-old Tony Elliott, a Warsaw native and former fan favorite in the No. 57 sprint car, and who drove a non-winged car in Wednesday’s racing program. “Does it seem like it’s been 25 years? No, but it’s been a long time. I’m just glad to see racing here again. It’s been a long time. I spent a lot of time here, and I hope they have some more of these things.” Among the other former Warsaw Speedway drivers competing Wednesday was Sam Davis, the former Triton High School wrestling coach known for his yellow No. 43 sprint car. While Elliott and Davis enjoyed a return to the Warsaw Speedway surface, which Wednesday night was the frontstretch and infield of the old 3/8-mile track, other drivers made their first appearance. Following in the footsteps – or more appropriately tire tracks – of his great-grandfather Napoleon Oliver Johnson (though he went by Bob), his grandfather Bob Johnson, and his father Robert Johnson, 21-year-old Trey Johnson drove an orange No. 22 car Wednesday night. Nobody could confirm it, but Trey Johnson is believed to be the only fourth-generation driver to race on the fairgrounds property. “It means a lot,” the youngest Johnson said of carrying on the family tradition. “It’s a great opportunity. If I didn’t have racing, I don’t think I’d know what to do. And it just means a lot to drive the No. 22.” Among the youngest drivers in the field Wednesday night, 6-year-old Warsaw native Parker Leek took the checkered flag in one of the races. The event was named for Roy Bradbury, who is in his 36th year of working at the fairgrounds. Bradbury had also been an assistant flagman at the track Bradbury was presented a plaque by Fair Board President Tony Zimmerman prior to the start of the racing action. As cars circled the track, Bradbury, flashing his familiar smile, sat in the stands with his wife, Jean, as well as other family members and friends. “I took care of the track, about everything, I even wound up being assistant flagman,” Bradbury said when asked what some of his jobs at the track included. Asked what it meant to have cars back on the track, Bradbury said it was “special” and he’d “like to have them back.” Based on the crowd size and the buzz surrounding the event, there’s a lot of people that agree with Bradbury.
