California Sprint Car Tracks

Lightly updated 01 April 2007

Each region of California has its own character, and the same is true of the tracks in each region. I've divided them up into sections for your pleasure, from north to south:

Northern California

• Placerville Speedway is a tight little 1/4 mile bowl cut into the red clay hillside at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds west of town. Promoted by Silver Dollar's John Padjen, Placerville Speedway regularly holds 360 sprint car races every Saturday night, with occasional visits by NARC and WoO.
• The college town of Chico, renowned for its party atmosphere and two brewpubs, is also the site of Silver Dollar Speedway. John Padjen's promotion and preparation of this tight 1/4 mile track at the fairgrounds southeast of town regularly produce some of the best racing in the state. And the legendary Chili Feed, held every September in conjunction with the Gold Cup WoO race, is the party to end all racers' parties. If that weren't enough, regular Friday night 360 and 410 sprint car races and frequent Saturday night shows by touring associations like the Golden State Challenge and the World of Outlaws mean there's something worth watching most every weekend. Silver Dollar is one track that is on every sprint car fan's dream tour of the US.
• Nestled in the orchards of Northern Sacramento Valley is one of California's last remaining speedways on privately owned land, Twin Cities Speedway in Marysville. Re-emerging from near extinction in 1991 the facility has steadily improved to its current status as a premier 1/4 mile facility. The lighting, seating, and width as well as length of the speedway have all been improved in recent years. The food is excellent and service above average. While not the most scenic place to spend a weekend, the camping is free and many do stay particularly during the second stop of NARC's Speedweek which it has hosted to rave reviews for the past three years. The race track has, particularly in the past two years, gotten the reputation of staying hooked up even during the hot central valley summer nights. The action is always close whether you are at a weekly show which showcases 360ci sprinters, stock cars, ministocks, and IMCA style modifieds or one of the many traveling shows the speedway hosts throughout the season. (Contributed by Chris Lovett)

  Note:In addition to the weekend racing mentioned above, Twin Cities Speedway is also the home of the Jimmy Sills School of Open Wheel Racing during the week.

The "Bay area" as I define it here is anything within a 2-hour drive of San Francisco. The tracks in this region are as diverse as anywhere in the state, from Antioch's tight 1/4 mile to the big 1/2 mile at Calistoga. This is the region I currently call home.

• A Bay Area dirt track worthy of mention is Antioch Speedway at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds. This tight 1/4-mile banked clay oval is a classic "bull-ring", where action can be found all over the track during sprint car races there. While stock cars and dwarf cars normally grace this track's tacky surface, the NARC sprinters make several appearances there, and when they do, the action is usually intense due to the close confines and "back-'em-in" style employed by the open wheelers. A faithful fan base insures sell-out crowds when the GSC sprint cars come to town, so if you go, get there early! (Contributed by Steve Lafond)
• Bay area sprint car fans speak in reverent tones about Fremont's Baylands Raceway Park. The 3/8-mile banked clay oval and the adjacent drag strip suffered the same fate as Ascot Park, only earlier; and like Ascot, today are nothing more than a few mounds of dirt and rubble.
• One track that is not yet at risk of the same fate as Ascot and Baylands is Calistoga Speedway, at the Napa County Fairgrounds in the town of Calistoga. California sprint car history continues to be made on this fast, narrow half-mile track. Calistoga's limited schedule is highlighted by holiday weekend races, culminating in a 3-day show by the World of Outlaws on Labor Day weekend. The scenery, with Mt. Saint Helena's jagged peak towering over the backstretch and sailplanes soaring above, is almost as spectacular as the racing action. In a town famous for its wine, hot springs, and mud baths, early arrivals to Calistoga Speedway can stand near the Turn 1 fence for a different kind of mud bath!
• John Soares runs the show at Petaluma Speedway, a 3/8 mile fairgrounds track visible from US 101 in Petaluma. The headlining 360 sprint series is just one of 5 or 6 classes that run every Saturday night at Petaluma, and the low ticket prices make it one of the best racing bargains in the state. The non-stop action on Petaluma's renowned "gumbo" surface remains one of the best racing entertainment values anywhere.
• With the demise of Baylands and the asphalt San Jose Speedway before it, the end of Silicon Valley's last remaining race track was just a matter of time. San Jose Fairgrounds Speedway, once a high-banked 3/8-mile at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds south of downtown, is now a pile of dirt and fallen fences. The grandstands fell to the wrecking ball in 2000, clearing the way for a rock concert hall that (as of this writing in April 2007) has yet to become more than a developer's pipe dream. Now Silicon Valley fans have to drive to Watsonville or Antioch to get a dirt track fix.
• Last on this list of Bay area tracks, in this case near Monterey Bay, is Ocean Speedway, at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Watsonville.. Another 1/4 mile in the mold of Chico's Silver Dollar Speedway, Watsonville usually hosts stock car and modified racing. But the few Golden State Challenge and BCRA races held at Watsonville are must-see events. The view of the mountains from the grandstands is surpassed only by the tight, close-quarters racing action on the tacky clay surface, thanks to the regular summertime fog from the nearby bay.

Most of these tracks are around 1/3 mile in length, though that's about all they have in common!

• Outside the Bakersfield suburb of Oildale is Bakersfield Speedway, a small clay oval not to be confused with the paved high-banks of Mesa Marin Speedway east of "Bakerspatch." The Oildale track used to be a tight 1/4 miler until it was widened and stretched to a 1/3 mile in 1992. Bakersfield Speedway plays host to the touring Golden State Challenge and California Rebel Cup winged sprinters, the SCRA and Bandits non-winged tours, and USAC midgets, so whatever your preference, you can probably see it here!
• Merced Speedway is a dirt track located in the "Gateway to Yosemite." Running a variety of classes from street stocks and dwarf cars to IMCA Modifieds and 360 sprint cars, there's something for every dirt track fan at Merced!
• The San Joaquin Valley farm town of Hanford plays host to Kings Speedway, a 3/8 mile banked oval at the Kings County Fairgrounds southeast of town. Frequent visits by the Southwest Bandit, California Rebel Cup, USAC-CRA, and Golden State Challenge tours, make Kings the hotbed of the Central California sprint car scene. The simple facilities and friendly atmosphere belie the fiercely competitive racing that goes on at Kings. In case it's not obvious by now, Kings Speedway is my favorite of central California's active race tracks, and one track where I can't spend enough time!
• Cool coastal nights and hillside seating make Santa Maria Speedway a worthwhile stop on California's central coast. This wide, semi-banked 1/3 mile track plays host to stock car and "California dirt car" (modified) racing most of the year, but brings in the World of Outlaws, Golden State Challenge, USAC-CRA, and USAC midgets for several races each season. How wide is it? The Outlaws use three grooves in the main event!

  Owner Doug Fort's passing in April 1999 makes the future of this hillside bowl a question mark. Let's hope his family continues the great racing that Santa Maria is known for. So far, so good!

• Another San Joaquin Valley "cow town" (the local specialty is cattle farming), Tulare, is the home of the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway. Like Kings Speedway in nearby Hanford, the Thunderbowl is another fairgrounds race track of about 1/3 mile in length; unlike Kings, the wall hugs the speedway all the way around. Frequent stops by the Golden State Challenge, California Rebel Cup, and Southwest Bandits tours just add to the excitement.

The sprawling megalopolis that is Greater Los Angeles has eaten most of the race tracks in the region, but a few great ones still survive. Though I no longer call the region home, the tracks of Southern California still beckon, and I visit them as often as I can.

• I can't describe the tracks of my home state without mentioning the place where I was introduced to sprint car racing, Gardena's Ascot Park. Once a dump, now home to some office buildings, for 30-odd years between Ascot Park was the place to race in LA. Ascot was a legendary semi-banked half-mile where the California Racing Association's wingless sprinters held sway, and "backing them in" was an art form. All who attended races there remember it fondly.
• Southern California's "wingless warriors" desperately needed a new home after Ascot Park's demise. The Kazarian family rose to the challenge in 1996, and now Perris Auto Speedway (a.k.a. "The PAS!") provides a much-needed home track for the non-winged SCRA sprinters. The Kazarians have put together a stunning state-of-the-art facility, with a raised backstretch and lowered infield for excellent sight lines from every seat, a PA system that rivals the best rock concert venues, and excellent eats. The atmosphere is perfect for a family outing, complete with a kids' dance contest during the intermission, and the on-track action is all you could ask for. The PAS! is taking "traditional" sprint car racing into the next millenium, and if what I've seen there is any indication, the future is bright indeed.
• Fans of ESPN2's Thunder series will recognize Jim Naylor's Ventura Raceway as an ideal midget racing track. But in recent years it's been expanded from a tight, flat 1/5 mile to its current high-banked 1/4 mile surface, and the grandstands have been completely rebuilt. The picturesque oceanside track regularly hosts non-winged 360 sprints (with a seniors' division!) and modifieds, and stock car action as well, and serves as one of the venues of the USAC-CRA tour. But I will always remember it for the fierce action put on by the USAC midgets! If that weren't enough, Corey Kruseman runs a sprint car and midget racing school here.
• At last, the Los Angeles area has a new short track! Irwindale Speedway opened with a big splash (and, unfortunately, a fatal crash) in March 1999, with USAC Western States midgets and sprints in a starring role. $10 million was invested in this all new paved oval complex, with a multi-banked 1/2 mile offering multi-groove racing, and a smaller 1/3 mile inside it. While stock cars dominate the schedule, USAC Western States sprints and midgets are frequent visitors, and the legendary Turkey Night Grand Prix for the USAC National midget tour has found its home at Irwindale. Even if you don't like asphalt, this new facility deserves a visit!

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Page layout and text copyright © 1994-2007 Chuck Fry. Unless otherwise stated, all photos this page are by Steve Lafond, and are copyright © 1993-2007 Tear-Off Heaven Fotos.

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