In 1990, Richard L. Diasio saw a need for a road course in Indiana that was devoted to club racers. He designed Putnam Park Road Course to be safe, fast, and challenging. Also, he wanted to build a circuit that could be viewed in its entirety from the pits, so that both participants and crew could be a part of the action at all times.
Putnam Park was constructed in 1991 on 202 rolling acres just west of Indianapolis.
Putnam Park was constructed in 1991 on 202 rolling acres just west of Indianapolis.
The track opened on Labor Day weekend with kart racing held by the Indianapolis Kart Club.
Other events that year included time trials by the Indianapolis Corvette Club; the Hoosier Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America held the first driving school; Track Time Performance Driving School held the first commercial driving school at Putnam Park.
The last event of the year was a driving school held by the Central Indiana Region of the Porsche Club of America, under the direction of Richard L. Diasio, the track owner. On Friday, October 4th, the first day of the Porsche Club school, it rained so hard that the dirt paddock (not yet paved!) turned to a sea of mud and anyone trying to get from the gravel entry road to the paved pits got stuck in the mud! Rick and Chris Diasio, Richard’s sons, rescued the event by buying every plywood sheet from the local hardware store and laying them end-to-end to the pits. What started off as a nightmarish weekend ended with the mostly novice group of drivers having a wonderful time learning how to drive their high performance cars on a real race track.
The five clubs who first used Putnam Park in 1991 have come each year since.
