Indianapolis Racers

Lore & Background

The Racers started as a WHA expansion team for the 1974–75 season alongside the Phoenix Roadrunners. Original owners John Weissert and Dick Tinkham, owners of the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association, announced the team name on February 26, 1974. The team hired Johnny Wilson as coach in January 1974, but he left to coach the Michigan Stags; Gerry Moore became head coach on June 27, 1974. In December 1974, the team was sold to former Houston Aeros owner Paul Deneau. Five games into the 1975–76 season, Moore was fired and replaced by Jacques Demers. The Racers were known for their sometimes-fanatical fans and led the WHA in attendance for the 1976–77 season. They won the 1975–76 WHA Eastern Division championship and swept the rival Cincinnati Stingers in the 1977 WHA playoffs. During those playoffs, they won the longest postseason game in WHA history 4–3 on April 9, defeating the Cincinnati Stingers at Riverfront Coliseum in triple overtime on a goal by Gene Peacosh. The team first encountered the threat of demise in 1977 due to debt owed to the Indiana National Bank, which took control of assets and told the team on July 11 that the debt of over $5 million was too much. On August 18, Nelson Skalbania bought the team and $2.5 million of debt was written off. Skalbania was repeatedly accused of mismanaging the Indianapolis hockey market and plotting to move the franchise to Canada. Unable to move the team, he signed 17-year-old Wayne Gretzky to a personal services contract worth between $1.125 and $1.75 million. Just eight games into the 1978–79 season, Skalbania sold Gretzky's contract and those of Eddie Mio and Peter Driscoll to Edmonton Oilers owner Peter Pocklington for a reported $700,000. The Racers folded 17 games later on December 15, 1978.

Reader's Guide

The Indianapolis Racers hold a unique place in hockey history primarily as the launching point for two of the sport's greatest legends, Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. The article notes that the Racers were the first major league professional team to secure both players. Gretzky, signed as a 17-year-old underage player by owner Nelson Skalbania, was sold to the Edmonton Oilers just eight games into the 1978–79 season, a move that directly shaped the Oilers' dynasty. Mark Messier began his career with the Racers in the 1978–79 season, playing five games without registering a point before finishing his tryout contract; he was later picked up by Cincinnati and then selected by the Oilers in the 1979 NHL entry draft. Messier retired in 2004 as the last active player to have played in the WHA and the last active player to have played for the Racers. The team's financial struggles and Skalbania's maneuvering—including the sale of Gretzky—highlight the instability of the WHA and the high-stakes negotiations surrounding the eventual WHA-NHL merger. The Racers' folding 25 games into the 1978–79 season ended major league hockey in Indianapolis, while the other six WHA teams finished the season and four eventually joined the NHL.

Did You Know?

• The Racers won the longest postseason game in WHA history, defeating the Cincinnati Stingers 4–3 in triple overtime on April 9, 1977.
• Nelson Skalbania, who owned the Racers, later fronted the ownership group that purchased the Atlanta Flames and moved them to become the Calgary Flames.