William "Bill" Lipkey

November 21, 1912 - February 15, 1999

William "Bill" Lipkey was from Fort Wayne, Indiana and became interested in automobile racing while still in his teens. Albert Miller built a speedway in Kokomo in 1947 and had a business associate manage the track until 1952. Lipkey was a regular attendee at a variety of area race tracks, including the Kokomo track. It was a hobby for him, but in 1952 he approached Miller about purchasing the track. Miller said he would rather lease it to him and by April the deal was finalized. Bill and his family took over and began what would be a 42 year career. The track would feature a variety of races over the years and ran several different kinds of cars.

During the spring, summer and fall, the family spent many hours at the track. In the winter season, Bill was off for Fort Wayne. The new Allen County War Memorial Coliseum was built in 1952 and Bill wanted to hold indoor USAC races in January. Those races became very popular. The Lipkey family operated the Kokomo Speedway until the last of 1994. Bill Lipkey had a reputation of being a kind and caring man.

He passed away on February 15, 1999. Kent Evans became the operator and owner in January, 1995. For the last ten years the speedway has been owned and operated by the O’Connor family.