The track was built and opened by Bill Roberts and other partners in 1969. Roberts had previously built and owned the
Kansas City International Raceway dragstrip in
Kansas City, Missouri. Roberts sold I-70 Speedway to
Greg Weld (of WELD wheels) sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s (?). Weld turned the track into a dirt track. Late in 1989 Roberts, who had continued holding the note on the track, repossessed I-70 Speedway from Weld. At that time, Roberts, along with sons Dennis and Randy, resurfaced the track with asphalt and got it NASCAR sanctioned. Roberts' third son Dan, a Kansas City area country music DJ on
KFKF-FM and later a long-time announcer at
Arrowhead Stadium, got his start in sports broadcasting at I-70 Speedway. In 2006, a new dirt track was built on the site. The asphalt track is a long . The backstretch has a small dog-leg. It is regarded as one of the fastest and highest banked short tracks in the nation. I-70 Speedway was also one of the first tracks to feature a prototypical
SAFER barrier; during a World Cup race in the early 1990s, huge styrofoam blocks were placed high along the retaining wall in all four turns. All-Pro Series driver and former NASCAR Rookie of the Year,
Jody Ridley, hit one of the blocks which sent him airborne over the wall in turn four upside down. Ridley walked away from the wreck, but this style of the barrier was only used in a few more races at I-70. I-70 was considered the "home" track of many NASCAR drivers such as
Rusty Wallace,
Clint Bowyer, and
Larry Phillips.
James Ince, who was Larry Phillips crew chief and later a NASCAR Crew Chief of the Year with
Johnny Benson Jr., also started his career at I-70 Speedway. Other notable drivers who had driven there (not all of them on a full-time basis) included
Mark Martin,
Butch Miller,
Bob Senneker,
Dick Trickle,
Mike Eddy,
Johnny Benson Jr.,
Jamie McMurray, John O'Neal Jr., track champion
Terry Bivins, Jenny White, and
Jennifer Jo Cobb. Short track driver
Joe Shear once held the 4 barrel Late Model track record.
Adam Petty, grandson of
Richard Petty, once won an ASA race there. Actor and race car driver
Paul Newman rented the race track in 1990, while he was filming in the Kansas City area, for a private practice session. He drove some of the local race cars including that of the 1989 Late Model Track Champion, Jay Truelove. Bill Roberts sold the track to Ted Carlson in the mid-1990s. Carlson later sold the track to Brad McDonald. The track has hosted
stock car racing and
kart racing events. It used to offer a twin-billing Saturday night dirt track and asphalt track show. The dirt track is directly behind the original asphalt facility. On July 5, 2018, it was announced that I-70 Speedway was bought by Chris Payne, owner of
Heartland Motorsports Park and would reopen in 2019. The half-mile asphalt oval at I-70 would be converted to a dirt track with a drag strip to be included on the property. After delays due to negotiations with
Lafayette County and the
COVID-19 pandemic, the new complex reopened in 2021. In 2023, Chris Payne and his partner entered into an agreement with Scott Higgs to invest in the development of a drag strip on the property next to the 1/2 mile dirt oval track. In May 2023, construction began on the drag strip. The Flying H Drag Strip is set to open to the public in summer of 2024. It was anticipated to host a
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series event in 2024. As of the 2025 NHRA season, no national event has been scheduled. == Races ==