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It is one of my projects for the 2010 season to work on some "History of the Speedway" type articles.

We had the opportunity share some emails and message board exchanges with the current promoter at 250 Speedway and some other fans and long time racers at the 250 Speedway and have learned this much to date.

The late Mrs. Tom Coultrap leased the property to Chappy Leigh and his son Calvin, who built the track in 1965 and promoted the track which was known then as "The Wide Oval".

Tom Coultrap owned Coultraps Speedshop, it was one of the bigger and busier speedshops in the Ohio Valley in the 1960s.  Located about half way between Pittsburgh and Columbus, he had a stready stream of iron workers and coal miners looking to make their Detroit Iron go faster.  Behind his shop, Tom Coultrap built Coultrap's Speedway, which was more commonly referred to as just "Coultraps".  When the Coultraps sold the speedshot and country store which was adjacent, the track got turned into a horse farm.  This was 1972. Tom Coultrap operated and promoted Canton Speedway, he never promoted The "Wide Oval" Race Track.

Chappy and Calvin ran and promoted the "Wide Oval" from 1965 till 1972.  Mostly local grassroots type racers, the facility was never a showplace and it never held a big money race. In 1972 the track was closed and it sat dormat until 1992 when it was re-opened for a period of time as as a flat-track for Motorcyles, Quad ATVs and Dune Buggies.  It again was "grass root racing" with fans standing right on the guard-rail as buggies and bikes went flying by.  It is believed that a few demolition derbys were held during that time period, actual hard evidence of such hasn't been produced although several locals have stated they participated in them.

Dan Wagner, owner of 250 Speedway. Photo by Paul Giannamore of the News-Herald

In 2005, Dan Wagner and his wife Kim acquired the track and re-opened it for racing as "250 Speedway" in the Spring of 2006 (source).  The track initially featured demolition derbies, some motorcross events and ATV type events.  In the Spring of 2008, the Wagner family announced the 3/8-mile dirt track would begin hosting three classes for local racers on Friday nights.

Classes which ran that first season included Modifieds, Compact-4-Cylinder class and Pure Stock racing cars.  These classes continue to run .

Wagner has spent the last 3 years putting together the plan and building the structures at the speedway, including a maintenance and office building, installing wiring and getting ready to install new lighting, new fencing, regrading the property and improving drainage and building a race-night announcing booth.

Along the way, a new drainage lagoon was installed to handle runoff, the pits to the north of the track’s final turn were cleaned up, and all the while, Wagner was accumulating the hardware to get the track ready for an oval debut.

The MARC Times Racing News & Midwest Racing Scene is working to get more information about individual seasons and details from specific events, stay tuned to this article as it will be updated with more information and more accurate information as it becomes learned.