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“ Clark Nickles, Inc. was awarded some parts of a salvage contract to demolish the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant. The several-thousand-acre Ammunition Plant was a huge local employer from World War II up until the late 1980s, well after Vietnam ended in 1975.”
The plant produced gunpowder in large quantities, which was the inspiration for Nick to group his businesses under the umbrella of Nick’ s Powder Keg Museum of Treasures in Utica. Nick reconstructed hundreds of items to be featured as displays on his business address property. Those included historic artifacts, such as items from the Ammunition Plant. He also completely reconstructed the large bar from the iconic Tommy Lancaster’ s Restaurant, which was in New Albany.
For all his life, Nick has been a fan of racing. In 1959 when he was 16 years old, he began attending the Sportsdrome Speedway every Saturday night, and he still does today, Brenda said.
Nick owned a slate quarry on State Road 3 in Charlestown. In 1977, he began construction of the Charlestown Motor Speedway, which at the time was a dirt track. He held racing on Friday nights and shortly after hired a promoter and helped operate the venue. Electricity was not yet prominent in the area, so the entire facility was powered by a huge diesel generator located right next to the pay entrance.
The Charlestown Motor Speedway was in competition with other dirt tracks in the area including those in North Vernon, Scottsburg and Lawrenceburg. Despite that, the local venue drew in some big names in racing during the day including: Larry Moore, Doug Ault, Dusty Chapman, Bob Earl, Scotty Earl Holbert, Ray Godsey, Charlie Swartz, C. J. Rayburn, Charlie Glotzbach and Russ Petro. In 1982, Bobby Allison made a special appearance.
“ Bobby was paid $ 5,000, plus expenses, and the contract is on display at Nick’ s Hall of Fame Museum,” Brenda recalled.
Beginning in 1983, the Charlestown Motor Speedway was leased by Andy Vertrees and Kenny Stilger, who wanted to bring asphalt racing back to the Louisville area. Three years prior, the Fairgrounds Motor Speedway had ceased operations after the 1980 season.
Vertrees and Stilger paid $ 100,000 to pave the racing surface. They also reconstructed the pit entry / exit so it was safer for folks coming in and going out of the venue.
“ The two of them helped bring the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series to Charlestown in 1986. Auto racing’ s local stature really moved forward from that point,” Brenda stated.
After the Louisville Motor Speedway was built in 1988, Bill Kimmel Jr. promoted the Charlestown Motor Speedway. Louisville businessman, Wayne Deasy, kept up operation efforts until the competition from LMS was too great. As a result, Nick closed the Charlestown Motor Speedway in 1994.
“ Nick played a crucial part in keeping the track open. Andy told me although things looked profitable on the surface, in reality it drew mostly from the FMS drivers and fans who were happy to have a nice asphalt track to race on, but there wasn’ t enough local fan and business support to turn a profit. Andy’ s ownership of LMS in Whitesville, Kentucky pulled them out of the red and into the black most weeks,” Brenda said.
Nick owned the property the Speedway once occupied until Podium One purchased it to hold Motocross competitions
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PAGE NO. 30 NEWS AND TRIBUNE SPORTS MAGAZINE MAY / JUNE 2026