The Indy Fuel are racing into the past to honour one of their state’s pioneering hockey teams.
On Saturday, November 22, the ECHL club based in Fishers, Indiana, will sport jerseys inspired by the Indianapolis Racers, the World Hockey Assocation team that called the state home from 1974 to 1978.
The sweaters are red — a base colour that it appears the Racers never actually wore — with the Racers’ logo on the front, which depicts a skate with a red, white and blue trail. The shoulders are blue with white blocks on either side. Two blue stripes and one white stripe run around the waist and each sleeve. The collar is red with white laces at the front, and recoloured Fuel logos sit on both shoulders.
The Fuel — who are affiliated with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs and the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks — previously paid homage to the Racers in 2022, wearing blue jerseys that were a more faithful replication of what the Racers wore in the WHA.
The Racers began as an expansion team in the WHA in the 1974-75 season and played at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. They were the first professional hockey team that eventual all-time NHL points leader Wayne Gretzky signed for in 1978, though he only played eight games with the Racers before he was sold to the Edmonton Oilers. The money from the sale wasn’t enough to keep the team afloat, though, and they folded 17 games later in December 1978.
Future Oilers captain Mark Messier also played five games with the Racers during the 1978 season.
Other notable hockey teams that have called Indianapolis home include:
- Indianapolis Capitals – American Hockey League (1939-1952)
- Indianapolis Checkers – Central Hockey League (1979-1984)
- Indianapolis Ice – International Hockey League (1988-2004)
The Fuel have played in the ECHL since 2014-15. They initially played at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum on the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, but in 2024 they moved to the Fishers Event Center, a suburb of the city. To coincide with the move, the Fuel unveiled new logos and jerseys, but then rolled out another set of new sweaters just one season later.
Related stories:
ECHL’s Maine Mariners Honor State Hockey History, Parent Club With New Third Jersey 
ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators Ready for Battle in Special Opening Night Jerseys 
ECHL’s Indy Fuel Roll Out New Uniforms Just One Year After Last Redesign 
Trois-Rivières Lions Roar Into Fifth ECHL Season With New Look 
ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates Get Into the Spirit of St. Patrick’s Day With Special Jerseys 
Newest ECHL Franchise To Be Known As ‘Greensboro Gargoyles’ 
ECHL’s Indy Fuel Release New Uniforms to Go Along With New Logos 
ECHL’s Indy Fuel Rev Up For Move to New Arena With Refreshed Logos
