As Kokomo Speedway owner Kent Evans ambled up Davis Street to begin a long day, he suddenly broke into a broad smile. In front of him was all the proof he needed that the work he had done behind the scenes had paid dividends. It was hours before the gates would open for the next round of Indiana Sprint Week and campers and motorhomes were shoehorned into his parking lot.

On June 18, 1995, Mike Mann won the Indiana Sprint Week finale on a sweltering night at Kokomo. Every race in that year’s loosely organized mini-series featured traditional sprint cars. It wasn’t always so. In fact, the year before the entire slate was contested with wings. That alone summed up the history of this event, which dated to 1988. There was a time when many Indiana tracks transitioned to winged sprint cars, and then reversed course. It seemed every year Indiana Sprint Week reflected the evolving trends.