Longtime Winchester Speedway Owner, Charlie Shaw, Dies Tuesday at 90

Winchester, IN - Tuesday evening, unofficial reports surfaced on social media suggesting that longtime Winchester Speedway owner, Charlie Shaw had passed away. At 90 years old, Shaw was working toward completing his 29th year of ownership of "The World's Fastest 1/2-mile".

In 1997, Shaw entered an agreement with two other business partners to purchase Winchester Speedway. By 1998, Shaw was alone in the ownership role of Winchester. In a 2025 interview before the Winchester 400, Shaw explained he just couldn't turn his back on the now-famed speedway.

"We actually did so bad that the other two bailed out after the first year," Shaw recalled. "But, they were smarter than me. I'm not good at quitting on something I start on; it just doesn't seem right."

Shaw retired from his "day-job" in 2019 at 83 years old. In that time, two promoters tried their hands at running Winchester Speedway. After Labor Day Weekend 2024, Shaw and Vore's Compact Touring Series Promoter, Dan Redmond, alongside Steve Vore, offered to help Shaw with the upcoming Winchester 400 weekend. One year later, during the interview, Shaw said they were in the middle of the most successful Winchester 400 weekend in his tenure as owner of the Speedway.

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Wednesday night, the Speedway paid tribute to Shaw in a fitting and touching way. Taking Shaw's 1990s-era Chevrolet pickup truck, and parked it at the finish line on the front stretch. With a checkered flag holstered in the flag stand, the track lights were turned on and left on throughout the night Wednesday as a tribute to Shaw.

In the time since his passing, hundreds of stories, messages of condolences, and heartfelt memories of Winchester Speedway and Charlie Shaw have been shared online from drivers and sanctioning bodies.

The Speedway says that Shaw's passing will not disrupt the continuation of the 2026 season at Winchester Speedway.