ABOUT US

Scholarships for Speedway, Inc. is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.  We are classified as a public charity.  Copies of our IRS Tax Determination Letter are available upon request.  Organizational records are available upon request as required by law.

Scholarships for Speedway, Inc. accepts and receives memorial gifts to fund special scholarships.  We also accept donations from Speedway High School Alumni classes to fund scholarships. Donations may be made any time throughout the year to a specific scholarship or to our General Scholarship Fund.

OUR HISTORY

• ​​​​​​​In 1989, a small group of dedicated Speedway citizens had a dream of providing scholarships to graduating high school seniors living in Speedway, Indiana.  They pooled their own funds to establish this scholarship organization and awarded one $500 scholarship that year.

• In 1990, with assistance from other community members, they awarded five $1,000 scholarships to graduating seniors. Also that year, our Endowment Fund was established with help from the Speedway Parent-Teacher Association.

• In 1991, the first annual phone-a-thon raised enough funds to award sixteen $1,000 scholarships to graduating seniors.

• In 1993 and 1994, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, along with numerous local businesses, joined us in our “Racing for Education” program to build up our Endowment Fund. This Endowment Fund is used to support the continuing education of Speedway college students working toward their first undergraduate degree.

• Scholarships are awarded annually to graduating seniors at the SHS Honor Night program. Scholarships are also awarded annually in July to college students who are residents of Speedway.

• In 2013, a re-organization of our group took place and we are now strictly a local organization continuing the same mission.

• As of July, 2023 -- 1,568 scholarships totaling $1,465,200 awarded to Speedway students pursuing a post-secondary education. 

BOARD INFORMATION

OFFICERS

President | Debby Gonzales
Vice President | Karen Welch
Treasurer | Regina Neal
Secretary | Lisa Watts

MEMBERS

Gina Grove
Dennis Hammer
Mindy Lewis-Hitch
Christie Sears
Tom Smith
Scott Speer

MEETINGS

The 3^rd Wednesday of the month | 6:30PM

Speedway Public Library
5633 West 25th Street
Speedway, IN 46224

CURRENT / PREVIOUS RECIPIENTS

• 2018 Honors Night Scholarship Recipients
• 2018 Summer Scholarship Recipients
• 2019 Honors Night Scholarship Recipients
• 2019 Summer Scholarship Recipients
• 2020 Honors Night Scholarship Recipients
• 2020 Summer Scholarship Recipients
• 2021 Honors Night Scholarship Recipients
• 2021 Summer Scholarship Recipients
• 2022 Honors Night Scholarship Recipients
• 2022 Summer Scholarship Recipients
• 2023 Honors Night Scholarship Recipients
• 2023 Summer Scholarship Recipients

SCHOLARSHIPS & APPLICATIONS

Scholarships for Speedway, Inc. has two unique scholarship categories:  

     1. High School Senior Scholarships

     2. Continuing Education Scholarships
 

Please see below for more information about each type of scholarship and its associated application form.

1. HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR SCHOLARSHIPS

         1.  Applicants must be a Senior who will graduate from Speedway High School.

         2.  Applicants must be planning to attend an accredited college, university, 
               technical or vocational school.

         3.  Deadline for applying is in January each year. ***See application for exact date***

         4.  Applicants must fill out the entire application which consists of an 
               essay, a Student Information Page, Qualification Pages, and an Acknowledgement/Release
               form and turn it in to the Guidance Office at Speedway High School before the
               deadline. 
 
         5.  DO NOT put your name on the application.  The Guidance Office will assign a
               confidential student number to your application and essay. 

         6.  Scholarships will be awarded at the SHS Honor Night program.

2024 High School Scholarship Application

2. CONTINUING EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS
        
         1. Continuing Education Scholarships are available to college students for their
             second, third and fourth year of college.

         2.  The student must be a resident of Speedway, Indiana.

         3.  Students must submit an application prior to the deadline. The deadline is typically in early June

              and scholarships are awarded in July. 

         4.  Information regarding the topic for continuing education scholarship responses
              is available in May of each year.  The topic will be available on this website
              and through local media press releases.

CONTINUING EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION | 2024

Applications are due by Monday, June 3rd at 10:00pm to:

Tom Smith
2121 North Lynhurst Drive
Speedway, IN  46224

Home Phone: (317)-243-9753

Cell Phone: (317)-418-0416

APPLICATION CONSISTS OF THE FOLLOWING:

     1.  Submit one cover page with the following information:

• Name
• Address (must be a resident of Speedway)
• Phone Number
• High School Attended and Date of Graduation
• Name of College in which currently enrolled
• College Major
• A List of Community Service activities
• A List of Extracurricular activities

     2.  Submit one copy of a college report giving evidence that at least one year of study (24 credits) has been completed.

     3.  For the 2024 application, respond to the following:

• Describe a difficult situation in your life and how you overcame it and used the experience to better yourself. 

     4.  Submit three copies of the above response which is no longer than two 8.5 x 11 inch double-spaced pages.
          (Do not put your name on the three copies.)

     5.  Incomplete applications or applications turned in after the submission deadline will be ineligible.

For more information, please visit the “Scholarship FAQ” tab. 

FAQ

CONTINUING EDUCATION SCHOLARSHIPS

WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIVES?

Scholarships for Speedway, Inc. seeks to help students living in Speedway meet the cost of higher
education through the granting of scholarships. Within the scholarship program, there are two scholarship
categories consisting of those awarded to Speedway High School graduating seniors and those awarded
to continuing education students. Information regarding the graduating senior scholarships is available in
the Guidance Office at Speedway High School. General information for the continuing education
scholarships follows.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

College students who are pursuing a first undergraduate degree, have completed one year of higher
education (24 credits or equivalent) and are residents of Speedway are eligible to apply for the continuing
education scholarships.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS?

Once eligibility is determined, students must complete the entire application process on or before the due
date. This application deadline will be announced through local media releases. The process involves
submitting one cover page that includes name, address, phone number, high school attended and date of
graduation, name of college in which currently enrolled, college major, community service and
extracurricular activities. Applicants must also submit one copy of a college report giving evidence that at
least one year of study (24 credits) has been completed. The applicant must also submit three (3) copies
of the required response which is no longer than two 8.5 X 11 inch double-spaced pages. Do not put your
name on the response. The subject of the response may change each year and is revealed in a press release
in late spring. Incomplete applications or applications turned in after the submission deadline will be
ineligible.

HOW ARE SCHOLARSHIPS FUNDED?

Two basic types of scholarships are available for continuing education students. Memorial scholarships
are given by specific individuals or families in honor/memory of someone. The monetary award may vary
according to the request of the sponsor. Endowment scholarships are funded through means of an
Endowment Fund that has been created by Scholarships for Speedway for this specific purpose. 

HOW ARE RECIPIENTS SELECTED?

Once the completed applications are compiled, the required anonymous (and numbered) responses are
distributed to both the memorial families and the endowment judges. In the case of the memorial families,
these individuals may select applicants that reflect the values of the individual honored. With the
endowment category, each judge is given all the responses and asked to rank according to how well the
applicants responded to the topic. All applicants are given a total number and subsequently ranked
numerically. The judges are selected by one SFS, Inc. board member and are anonymous to the remaining board. After memorial scholarships are awarded, the endowment scholarships are awarded according to the numerical ranking of the responses. All applicants are notified about the results by mail. An award ceremony normally takes place in July of each year. 

WHY DIDN’T I GET A SCHOLARSHIP?

It is our ultimate goal to support all applicants in pursuit of higher education. However, the number of
scholarship recipients corresponds directly to the amount of memorial and endowment funds
available to the organization each year. The number of applicants and scholarships available will vary
from one year to the next. It is also possible that an applicant may have submitted an incomplete
application or the application was received after the deadline date.

WHERE MIGHT QUESTIONS BE ANSWERED?

Questions may be addressed to Mr. Tom Smith at 317-243-9753 or Mrs. Gina Grove at 317-946-1929. For additional
information, please visit our web pages by going to www.speedwayschools.org. Select the “Community”
tab at the top of the page and then click on the “Scholarships for Speedway” link found there.