The Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909, and the first Indianapolis 500 was held in 1911. After initially hosting multiple race meets in 1909–1910, it became a tradition that the Indianapolis 500 would be the only race held at the track annually. With the exception of a race meet the weekend after Labor Day in 1916, no other races were held at the track through 1993. As the NASCAR Winston Cup Series began to grow in stature and popularity, speculation began to grow in the 1980s and early 1990s about the possibility of holding a race at Indy. From 1971 to 1980, NASCAR held races at Ontario Motor Speedway, which was built as a replica of Indianapolis. With their experiences at Ontario, it was generally presumed that the stock cars would find Indy's nearly identical layout equally competitive. In the mid-to-late 1960s, stock car racing slowly began to develop a following in Indiana, with the introduction of the USAC Stock Car Yankee 300 at Indianapolis Raceway Park and the State Fair Century at the Fairgrounds. Later, the Kroger 200 at the IRP oval became a popular stop on the NASCAR Busch Series.