As the Orange Show Speedway rolls into the start of its seventh decade, the looks incredibly bright as we pay tribute to the great history and look towards the future. The 10,000 seat stadium, which was dedicated in 1941, has been the home to auto racing annually since 1947 when a clay 1/4 mile racetrack was constructed around the already existing football field. On Thursday night, May 1st, 1947, the United Racing Association (Midgets) competed in the speedway's inaugural race with Bill Zaring capturing the main event on a hard and dusty racetrack. During this era, Midget racing was a stepping-stone to the opportunity to race in the legendary Indianapolis 500.

Four future Indy 500 winners, Troy Ruttman (1952), Bill Vuckovich ('53 & '54), Jimmy Bryan ('58) and Rodger Ward ('59 & '62) competed on a regular basis together during the 1948 OSS inaugural season. Other stars of the day were Zaring, Claude Herrick, Pankratz and the 'Lil Dynamo' Walt Falkener. Even, the only American born F1 World Champion, Phil Hill (1961), raced at Orange Show Speedway throughout his career.

Midget racing began to wane in the early 50's. Although URA Midget racing continued at OSS until 1956, a new type of racing was all the 'rage.' In 1953, Jalopy racing was introduced to fans and became a huge success.

A larger group of drivers came to the speedway from all walks of life, including a young racer named Rufus 'Parnelli' Jones. That early experience in the '53 season became just a few of the stories on a historic career for Jones that included a victory in the 1963 Indy 500. The early 60's saw Jones and four-time Indy 500 winner AJ Foyt score victories in the USAC National Championship races that were held at Orange Show Speedway.

Major improvements came to the speedway in 1964, with an enormous renovation project. The old clay track was widened and paved along with additional banking in the turns as well as new crash walls installed.

1966 saw a new promoter, former jalopy star Art Atkinson bring NASCAR sanctioning to OSS. It was also the first season where stock cars replaced their open-wheel counterparts as the speedway's headline attraction.

The late 60's thru the mid 70's turned out to be a shining example our racing popularity with packed grandstands enjoying the side by side action on track from great names like Ivan Baldwin, Ray Johnstone, the Esaus, the Scheideckers, the Becker brothers, Gene Riniker and the like competing on a weekly basis. It also marked a time when NASCAR Cup hopefuls would run at OSS in the Winston West Series. Stars like Jack McCoy, Ray Elder and Hershel McGriff could be found battling it our on the tight oval. NASCAR regulars like Ernie Irvin, Kenny Schrader and champions Benny Parson, Bill Elliott and even three time Truck champ Ron Hornaday Jr. all swapped steel throughout the speedway's history.

The 1980's and 90's saw the creation of many divisions that remain popular to this very day. Pony Stock, Pro-4, Factory 4 and Figure Eights are all a product of this era. Bloodlines continued as you could still find generations still competing. In fact, the Scheidecker brothers (Greg, Dave, Mike) all captured championships at OSS and Mike still holds the record for championships, with 11. In 2003, much like it did almost 40 years earlier, the speedway saw major renovations with a complete redesign, repaving and rebanking to the historic 1/4 mile oval. That also marked the beginning of the speedway's sanctioning efforts with the long standing American Speed Association (ASA). The team at OSS has not stopped there. With great partners in the community, OSS has repaved the entire center of the track to mark the return of Figure 8 racing, a new Winner's Circle outside of turn 4 and the erecting a scoreboard for the first time in track history. The OSS hopes to maintain its legacy of creating dreams, entertaining families and remain as one of the longest standing race facilities in the nation.