Cars will cross paths at 80 mph with no traffic signal to guide them when the Indianapolis Speedrome hosts the 50th Annual World Figure 8 Championship on Saturday, September 12. The three-hour endurance race, which starts at 8 p.m. at the track on the city's southeast side, comes with a record $50,000 winner's purse this year — the richest payout in the event's history.
The milestone race caps a week of festivities at the Speedrome, located at 802 S. Kitley Ave., according to WISH-TV. Championship week kicked off Monday, September 7, with a free party running from 2 to 7 p.m., featuring musician Corey Cox performing from 3 to 7 p.m., food trucks, ice cream, snow cones, lemon shake-ups, iced coffee, desserts and cornhole for families. Racing events tied to the championship begin Tuesday, September 8, ahead of Saturday's marquee race, and tickets are available online and at the gate. Fans who cannot attend in person can watch through a pay-per-view broadcast, per the station's report.
A Blind Intersection and Three Hours of Focus
What makes the Figure 8 Championship uniquely dangerous is built into its name: drivers navigate a track crossing intersection twice every lap, where cars can encounter one another at high speeds with no signal to manage the timing. The race demands that competitors maintain total focus for the full three hours, a mental and physical grind that has defined the event since it debuted at the Speedrome in 1977 with 600- to 800-horsepower V8 cars, according to HotCars. Jim Fox won that inaugural 1977 championship, setting the stage for five decades of competition at the crossover circuit.
One driver chasing a breakthrough this year is Tommy St. John II, who is preparing for his seventh World Figure 8 Championship appearance. St. John, who drives the #29 Outlaw Figure 8 car, was the pole sitter for the three-hour race in 2018 and finished fourth in 2019, part of a career that has produced four top-10 finishes across five prior appearances, according to a Facebook post from the Speedrome. The St. John name carries weight at the track — Mike St. John won the World Figure 8 Championship three times between 1987 and 1991, per the Speedrome's own event history.
The Tunny Family's Grip on the Trophy
No family has dominated the championship quite like the Tunnys. Family members including Bruce, Bill Jr., Ben, Mark, Jesse and Austin Tunny have combined to win the 3-hour endurance race 12 times between 2003 and 2025, according to the Speedrome. In 2023, Austin, Ben and Mark Tunny made history by sweeping the podium in a 1-2-3 family finish, the first of its kind in the race's history, as detailed by Hagerty Media.
Even the Tunnys' recent run falls short of the all-time record held by Jack Dossey Jr. of Franklin Township, who won six World Figure 8 Championship titles between 1993 and 1999 — including back-to-back wins in 1993 and 1994 and four consecutive championships from 1996 through 1999, according to The Southsider Voice. That six-title mark has stood as the benchmark for more than 25 years.
Doubling Down on a Golden Anniversary Purse
This year's $50,000 winner's purse is more than double the $20,000 top prize awarded to recent champions like Austin Tunny in 2023, per the Southsider Voice. The elevated payout was created specifically to mark the 50th running of the endurance race, reflecting the growing profile of grassroots figure-8 competition even as the format's physical demands remain unchanged.
Longevity has its own rewards at the Speedrome, too. Hall of Fame driver Doug Greig holds the all-time record for appearances in the event, having competed in 36 editions and completed more than 12,240 laps through 2025, according to a Facebook video posted by the track. Greig has also won the championship twice, capturing titles in 2007 and 2011.
A Track Rooted in Indianapolis Racing History
The Indianapolis Speedrome opened in 1941 as a paved 1/5-mile oval and introduced figure-8 racing in the late 1940s, making it the oldest continuously operating figure-8 track in the United States, according to Wikipedia. Figure-8 racing gained national attention in the 1960s when ABC's Wide World of Sports regularly televised events from Islip Speedway in New York, part of a broader wave that helped popularize the format nationwide.
The Speedrome's reach extends beyond figure-8 competition. In the 1980s, the track served as a primary venue for USAC Regional Midget competition, providing a proving ground for open-wheel talent including Rich Vogler, who scored dozens of victories at the Speedrome before racing in five Indianapolis 500s, according to Hoseheads. The venue has also launched grassroots stock car careers — Central Indiana native Brayton Laster began racing at the Speedrome at age 12 and became the youngest competitor in World Figure 8 Championship history at age 15, later advancing to dirt late models and NASCAR's ARCA Menards and Craftsman Truck series, per PMQ Pizza.
Women remain rare in the championship's field. As of 2025, only five women have ever competed in the race, with Kim Gibson holding the record for the highest finish by a female driver after placing 12th in 1988, according to the Southsider Voice. Washington driver Gillian Leppado entered the 49th running in 2025 seeking to become the fifth woman to compete in the event's history.
The Speedrome hosts racing events every Saturday from April through October, but Saturday's 50th anniversary running stands apart — a blend of record prize money, family racing dynasties and a track layout that has tested drivers' nerve since 1977.
