For a track that only has been
playing host to NASCAR’s top series since 1997, California Speedway has
a rich and colorful history.
The 568-acre site in Fontana, Calif., about 50 east of downtown Los
Angeles, has deep roots running into America’s history and its pop
culture.
California Speedway stands on the site where the first steel mill
located west of the Rocky Mountains, the Kaiser Steel Mill, was built.
That mill produced much of the steel used to build the Liberty ships
that helped the Allies win World War II.
After Kaiser Steel went out of business in 1983, the site fell into such
disrepair that when the movie “The Terminator,” starring Arnold
Schwarzenegger, was filmed it was used for filming of scenes
representing a post-Apocalyptic world where men and machines battled
each other for supremacy and survival.
Who would have believed that one day when Schwarzenegger returned to the
site it would be as he served as governor of the state of California to
see a major-league racing venue in his state where around 100,000 fans
buy tickets to see racing’s top stars compete?
Magic happens all of the time in Southern California, of course, and
there’s no question some of that was worked in bringing California
Speedway up from the ashes of what once stood on this site.
(And speaking of Magic, former Los Angeles Lakers star Ervin “Magic”
Johnson has been a grand marshal for a NASCAR race at California
Speedway.)
Today, fans who come to California Speedway see 136 acres of landscaping
on the facilities grounds. More than 300,000 tons of asphalt were put
down to provide over 32,000 paved parking spots for fans buying tickets
for the track’s events.
California Speedway is also served by a Metrolink mass transit rail
station.
NASCAR star Ken Schrader won the first race held at the track on June
21, 1997, a Winston West Series race. Mark Martin also won an
International Race of Champions event that day, and the following day
Jeff Gordon won the inaugural Cup race.
California Speedway has also played host to races in the NASCAR Busch
and Craftsman Truck series, as well as events in the IndyCar Series and
what is now the ChampCar World Series on its oval and road racing and
motorcycle events on its road courses.
The track was built by Penske Motorsports Inc., but in 1999 that company
merged with International Speedway Corporation, bringing California
Speedway into the ISC family of tracks.
Beginning in 2004, California Speedway’s two-mile oval became the host
of two NASCAR Cup series races each year, adding a Labor Day weekend
event to is roster of activities. The 75-foot wide track has 14-degree
banking in its turns, 11-degree banking on the 3,500-foot-long
frontstretch and 3-degree banking on a backstretch that stretches for
2,500 feet.
Gordon is a three-time race-winner at California Speedway, but Jimmie
Johnson, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Jeremy Mayfield, Elliott Sadler, Rusty
Wallace and Greg Biffle have also scored Cup victories.
