In 1948, a group of students and graduates of an Indianapolis high school founded the Cluster Busters Hot Rod Club. Until recently, little was known about the original members other than their love for drag racing.
By the early ’50s, hot rodders had acquired a reputation as “hoodlums.” The Cluster Busters wanted to change this image. They became advocates of safe driving and organized racing on the track instead of the street. With the help of a local judge, the club negotiated with the National Guard to use the Stout Field airstrip for a racing event. This resulted in the first organized drags in Indiana in the summer of 1955. The event, set-up by the Cluster Busters and sanctioned by the NHRA, was chronicled in the October 1955 issue of Hot Rod magazine.
Bolstered by the success of this event, the club formed the Indianapolis Timing Association. The two organizations hosted more events at Stout Field throughout the ’50s. From there, the club helped design and organize Indianapolis Raceway Park (now O’Reilly Raceway Park) in 1960.
Members of the Cluster Busters formed the Indiana Street Rod Association in 1971, became affiliated with the National Street Rod Association (NSRA) in 1976 and hosted numerous custom car shows throughout the ’70s and ’80s. The club also continued its efforts to promote safe driving and supervised racing with an amateur drag-racing series.
As the third-oldest, still active car club in the United States, the Cluster Busters will be celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2008. Over that time, the mission has remained the same: promote safe driving and racing for all ages and present hot rodding as a safe and responsible hobby.
While current members of the club are quite aware of its lengthy history and deep ties to the Indianapolis drag-racing scene, all were surprised when three of the original members showed up at the July 4th Rod Run last year. Current members were excited to meet and learn more about these original members and hoped to see them again soon.