Saugus Speedway is a 1/3 mile racetrack in Saugus,

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17 ...

on a site. The track hosted one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event in 1995, which was won by

Ken Schrader Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Tr ...

. Schrader became the first

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

driver to win in a race in all three of the sanctioning body's major series, following previous wins in the Winston Cup and Busch Grand National Series. The stadium was closed on July 19, 1995 and no longer holds races.

History

The track started out as a rodeo

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectato ...

called Baker Ranch Stadium in 1927. Its construction was announced in December 1926. It was owned by Roy Baker, brother of shoe businessman C. H. Baker. The stadium held 18,000 spectators. During the Great Depression, it was sold in 1930 to Cowboy actor

Hoot Gibson Edmund Richard "Hoot" Gibson (August 6, 1892 – August 23, 1962) was an American rodeo champion, film actor, film director, and producer. While acting and stunt work began as a sideline to Gibson's focus on rodeo, he successfully transitioned ...

. He used the stadium for

movie set Set construction is the process undertaken by a construction manager to build full-scale scenery, as specified by a scenic design, production designer or art director working in collaboration with the theatre director, director of a productio ...

s. The stadium was sold to Paul Hill in 1934. The valley that the stadium was in got flooded in 1937. Debris from the flood was too much for Hill to deal with, so the bank got the property. William Bonelli purchased it and renamed Bonelli Stadium. In 1939, Bonelli started hosting

open wheel racing An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have th ...

on the flat dirt surface. Crowds of 10,000 to 12,000 watched drivers such as Walt Faulkner, Mel Hansen,

Allen Heath Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univer ...

, Johnny McDowell, Jack McGrath, Danny Oakes,

Troy Ruttman Troy Ruttman (born March 11, 1930 – May 19, 1997) was an American race car driver. He was the older brother of Jimmy Ruttman, and NASCAR driver Joe Ruttman. Ruttman won the Indianapolis 500 in 1952, at the age of 22 years and 80 days. , he is ...

, and

Bill Vukovich William John Vukovich Sr. (; December 13, 1918 – May 30, 1955) was an American automobile racing driver of Serbian descent. He won the 1953 and 1954 Indianapolis 500, plus two more American Automobile Association National Championship races, ...

. The track was part of the United Racing Association in 1940 and 1941. The last race during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

was held on June 30, 1942. The track was unused in 1943 and 1944, like all racetracks in the United States. The track was the first circuit on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous ...

to host a post-war race when it reopened on September 9, 1945.

won the race. Nine races were held that season, and Vukovich was crowned the champion. The track was paved in 1946, but the pavement was removed and the track returned to dirt.

Midget car racing Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on mo ...

was the national sensation in 1946, drawing large crowds to the track. Roadsters were the main class raced at the track from 1947 until 1950, until midget cars came back. The grandstands in the backstretch needed repairs, so the grandstands from

Gilmore Stadium Gilmore Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Los Angeles, California. It was opened in May 1934 and demolished in 1952, when the land was used to build CBS Television City. The stadium held 18,000. It was located next to Gilmore Field. The stad ...

were installed after the track closed in 1950. From 1951 to 1955, the roadsters and midget cars shared the track equally, with occasional rodeos and

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and uni ...

es. The track was paved for a second time in 1956. The first stock car racing event on the track happened in 1957. It was promoted by Tony Coldeway, who later formed the Pacific Racing Association. 23 cars and 523 spectators came to the event. The track became mainly used for stock car events after that event. It featured USAC stock cars,

Winston West Series, and the NASCAR Southwest Tour. It also hosted the third race in NASCAR

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of ...

history during the series' first year on April 15, 1995. Ken Schrader beat Geoffrey Bodine by 1.7 seconds. The race had the slowest speed in Craftsman Truck Series history with an average speed of 43.526 miles per hour (70.048 kilometers per hour).NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Notes (Week of July 14)
July 18, 1997, Retrieved December 14, 2007 In June 1994, the speedway hosted the graduating class of nearby William S. Hart High School after the stadium at College of the Canyons was deemed unsafe for occupancy; a consequence of the Northridge Earthquake. The track closed unexpectedly on July 19, 1995 in the middle of the season after the grandstands had been red-tagged and condemned by the County of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, and have since been torn down.

Current use

The track hosts weekly swapmeets on Sundays, and

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell Used good, previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development o ...

s on Saturday and Tuesday. The (Saugus) Santa Clarita Swap Meet features over 600

vendor In a supply chain, a vendor, supplier, provider or a seller, is an enterprise that contributes goods or services. Generally, a supply chain vendor manufactures inventory/stock items and sells them to the next link in the chain. Today, these terms ...

s and 15,000 people each Sunday since 1963. The track hosts numerous special events and

festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

s, including car shows,

antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

appraisals, and

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

s. The track has been used for numerous films and television productions.

Notable drivers

Sonny Easley Lynwood Lacey "Sonny" Easley (June 5, 1939 – January 15, 1978) was an American racecar driver who is best known for competing in the NASCAR Winston West Series and a handful of Winston Cup Series events. Easley tallied nine Winston West victor ...

* Eddie Gray *

Lance Hooper Lance Allen Hooper (born June 1, 1967) is a race car driver and crew chief in NASCAR as well as several touring divisions. Hooper attended his first race when he was just two weeks old, and also came from a long line of racing champions, includ ...

Woodside still on track; ex-Saugus Speedway star races today at California Speedway
June 21, 1997; Dave Desmond, ''Daily News''; Retrieved December 12, 2007 * Ron Hornaday Jr. *

Ron Hornaday Sr. Ron Hornaday Sr. (January 13, 1931 – December 21, 2008) was an American racer from San Fernando, California. He was the father of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. and the grandfather of Ronnie Hornaday. Hornaday w ...

* Jimmy Insolo * Nick Joanides (final track record holder in the Super Late Model Division) * Sean Woodside, 1994 and 1995 track champ, NASCAR Southwest Tour *Rick Crow (final track record holder in the Street Stock Division Oval & Figure 8)

References

External links

Official website

{{NASCAR Elite Division Southwest racetracks Defunct motorsport venues in the United States Motorsport venues in California NASCAR tracks Santa Clarita, California Sports venues in Greater Los Angeles