Altamont Raceway Park is a

motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...

race track A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

in the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

, located in

northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

, west of Tracy. It opened on July 22, 1966, and operated under the names Altamont Speedway, Altamont Raceway, Altamont Motorsports Park, Altamont Raceway Park and Arena, and Bernal Memorial Raceway. After 42 years' operation, the speedway closed in October 2008; the site is just south of the junction of Interstates 205 and 580.

Description

The Raceway Park contained a variety of different racetrack configurations including a 1/2 mile oval, 1/4 mile oval, road course, and a figure 8 track. The course was the state's largest oval racetrack north of Los Angeles. The track featured a pit lane that was uncharacteristic when compared to larger ovals for the weekly events. The pit lane was located on the outside of the course on the opposite side of the oval from the start finish line. However, during Grand National West races, the pit lane was moved to the 1/4 mile oval so as to be inside the larger oval, as is customary for most oval tracks, since live pit stops are used during the higher-level NASCAR-sanctioned race.

History

The park is well known for its December 6, 1969, hosting of the notorious and ill-fated

Altamont Free Concert The Altamont Speedway Free Festival was a counterculture rock concert in the United States, held on Saturday, December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway outside of Tracy, California. Approximately 300,000 attended the concert, with some an ...

, featuring

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

The Flying Burrito Brothers The Flying Burrito Brothers are an American country rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1968, best known for their influential 1969 debut album, ''The Gilded Palace of Sin''. Although the group is known for its connection to band f ...

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) was a folk rock Supergroup (music), supergroup comprising the American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and the English-American singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by the Canadian singer-so ...

, and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. During the Stones' set, Meredith Hunter, a concert-goer high on

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...

and brandishing his

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

, was stabbed to death by a member of the

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in California whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells ...

, which had been hired to provide security, in front of the stage as the band played. The death was captured on film and appears in the documentary '' Gimme Shelter'' (1970). In 2004, the track appeared in an

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...

of the popular

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

show ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees (producer), Peter Rees and produced by Beyond International in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast in ...

''. In the episode, the show's hosts

Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (; born September 25, 1956) is an American special effects expert who was co-host of the television series ''MythBusters'' alongside Adam Savage, where he became known for his distinctive beret and walrus moustache. He ...

and

Adam Savage Adam Whitney Savage (born July 15, 1967) is an American special effects designer and manufacturer, fabricator, actor, educator, television personality, and producer, best known as the former co-host, with Jamie Hyneman, of the Discovery Channe ...

used the track to test the myth that a car will have better fuel mileage with the air conditioner on and windows closed than it would with all of the windows down. In 2006, the park came under the ownership of Riverside Motorsports Park, LLC. They initiated several upgrades to the park including fresh asphalt, the addition of the road course and the new Figure 8 track. Altamont staged a variety of motorsports events, including

NASCAR Whelen All-American Series The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (formerly the Whelen All-American Series, Winston Racing Series and the Dodge Weekly Series) is a points championship for NASCAR-sanctioned local short-track motor racing in the United States and Canad ...

raced weekly as the schedule permitted for the California State and Whelen National Championships. The park also played host to a race on the NASCAR Camping World West Series schedule, the Dan Gamel RV Centers 200 in the fall. Additionally, Formula 4, Sprint Cars, Motorcycle races and the 24 Hours of LeMons were held at the racetrack, the latter being a play on the famous

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

. However, in the place of top dollar racing machines, the 24 Hours of LeMons features cars with a maximum price of $500 (excluding safety gear, brakes and tires), hence the title ' lemons'. Since 2020 the track has been used to test autonomous electric cars by the company Zoox.

References

External links

* * {{NASCAR Elite Division Southwest racetracks Buildings and structures in San Joaquin County, California Motorsport venues in California Defunct motorsport venues in the United States NASCAR tracks Tracy, California 1966 establishments in California 2008 disestablishments in California Figure 8 Motorsport venues