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Willow Springs International Motorsports Park (commonly referred to as Willow Springs) is located in Willow Springs near Rosamond,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, about north of
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. It is the oldest permanent
road course Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily closed publi ...
in the United States. Construction began in 1952, with the inaugural race held on November 23, 1953. The main track is a long road course that is unchanged from its original 1953 configuration. The elevation changes and high average speeds make it a favorite of many road racing drivers. Willow Springs hosted two
NASCAR Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (the top NASCAR series, known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 and 1970, then the NASCAR ...
races in 1956 and 1957 on the original road course (then known simply as Willow Springs Speedway), won by
Chuck Stevenson Charles Joseph "Chuck" Stevenson (October 15, 1919 – August 21, 1995) was an American racing driver who competed in various disciplines of motorsport. He is best known for winning the AAA National Championship in 1952. Stevenson also had two cl ...
and
Marvin Panch Marvin Emil Panch (May 28, 1926December 31, 2015) was an American stock car racing driver. Winner of the 1961 Daytona 500 and 1966 World 600, he won seventeen NASCAR Grand National Series events during a 17-year career. Early career Born in ...
, respectively. The track also hosted five
NASCAR Winston West Series The ARCA Menards Series West, formerly the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR AutoZone West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series, NASCAR Winston Transcontinental Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series, is a regional stock car racing series ow ...
events, the first two in 1955 and 1956 and the other three between 1984 and 1986. Willow Springs also hosted one
NASCAR Southwest Series The NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series (originally NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour) was a late model stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR that was held in the Southwestern United States. The original NASCAR Southwest Tour beg ...
race in 1986. Efforts by fans resulted in the State of California declaring Willow Springs International Raceway as a California Point of Historical Interest in 1996.


History

The original intent was to create a replica of the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...
oval, but space constraints resulted in its final configuration.
Ken Miles Kenneth Henry Jarvis Miles (1 November 1918 – 17 August 1966) was an English sports car racing engineer and driver best known for his motorsport career in the U.S. and with American teams on the international scene. He is an inductee to ...
was among several people involved in planning the layout. The first event was held on November 23, 1953. The course was very fast from the outset and quickly earned the nickname "The Fastest Road in the West." In 1962, the course was sold to Bill Huth, who paid $116,000 for the facility and hoped to use the main straight for drag racing. Huth purchased the lease outright in 1980 and soon began expanding the facility. The initial expanded to with the purchase of adjacent land. A second track, the Streets of Willow, was constructed next, and a third track, Horse Thief Mile, was added in 2003. Huth died in 2015 at the age of 91. In June 2024, the venue was listed for sale. In April 2025,
CrossHarbor Capital Partners CrossHarbor Capital Partners is an American investment firm, specializing in private equity, based in Boston. CrossHarbor Capital Partners develops and manages private equity investment products in three principal business areas: real assets, d ...
purchased the facility and announced plans for renovations, in collaboration with
Singer Vehicle Design Singer Vehicle Design is an American company that specializes in restoring and modifying Porsche 911s. It was founded by Rob Dickinson in 2009, who is also known as former frontman and guitarist of the English rock band Catherine Wheel (band), C ...
, Wurz Design, Hart Howerton, and
Sonoma Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway, Golden State International Raceway and Infineon Technologies, Infineon Raceway) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, Cal ...
.


Tracks

There are seven tracks at Willow Springs. The largest and most well known track is Willow Springs International Raceway (commonly referred to as Big Willow). Other racing facilities include The Streets of Willow ( road course), The Horse Thief Mile (road course), The Speedway at Willow Springs ( paved oval), Willow Springs Kart Track (a , nine-turn paved sprint track), The Playpen (a paved training track), and the Walt James Stadium (Clay Oval and Paved Oval).


Willow Springs Raceway

Willow Springs Raceway (commonly called Big Willow or sometimes The Big Track) is a paved road course consisting of 9 turns. *Turn 1: "Castrol corner" is a 90-degree high-speed left-handed turn. *Turn 2: "The Rabbits Ear" is a double-apex sweeping turn *Turn 3/4: "The Omega" is an uphill and downhill section with a camber change. *Turn 5: A quick left-handed turn that sets up for the fastest sections of the track. *Turn 6: Monroe Ridge *Turn 7: Repass Pass *Turn 8: Sometimes called, "The Sweeper," turn 8 is a high-speed right-hand corner. The lead-in to this turn is the fastest section of the racetrack. *Turn 9: A right-handed turn with a big dip before the apex. This is the final turn before the front straightway to the finish line.


The Streets of Willow Springs

The Streets of Willow Springs (commonly called The Streets of Willow or sometimes Streets) is a paved roadcourse. The track was repaved in late 2021 after numerous complaints of the deteriorating quality of the track.


Horse Thief Mile

Opened in 2003, the Horse Thief Mile (sometimes called The Mile) is a paved roadcourse featuring 11 turns as well as numerous elevation changes. It was designed to simulate a winding mountain road.


Willow Springs Kart Track


Speedway Willow Springs


Walt James Stadium


Layout configurations


Media

Willow Springs has been featured in numerous forms of media including movies, television, music videos and video games. Willow Springs has been used for filming for motion pictures such as '' 1:42:08: A Man and His Car'', the 1969
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film ''
The Love Bug ''The Love Bug'' (also known as Herbie the Love Bug) is a 1968 American sports film, sports adventure film, adventure comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson (director), Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Bill Walsh (producer), Bill Walsh a ...
'' and ''Ford v Ferrari (Le Mans '66)''. Willow Springs has been used for several TV shows including British BBC program ''Top Gear'', several episodes of '' Wheeler Dealers'' and ''
Jay Leno's Garage ''Jay Leno's Garage'' is an American web and former television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars and motorbikes starring Jay Leno, the former host of ''The Tonight Show''. Originally a web series for NBC.com, a special aired on CNBC in ...
''. The track was featured in the Japanese ''
Best Motoring International was Japan's preeminent automobile magazine, video, and DVD series, before becoming a web video series. Alongside ''Best Motoring'', there were ''Hot Version'' and ''Video Option.'' History With the first edition debuting in 1987 and the last ...
'' "American Touge" video special. The track is in the 1985 Christopher Cross music video "Every Turn of the World", as well as "
It's the Things You Do "It's the Things You Do" is a song by British boy band Five, released as the fifth single from their debut studio album, '' Five'' (1998). Written by Max Martin, George Shahin, Herbie Crichlow and Five, the song was released as a single exclusi ...
" by Five. Willow Springs International Motorsports Park was the venue of a photoshoot session by ''
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'' for its ''Playmate'' pictorial and centerfold featuring Alyssa Arcè as Miss July 2013. The photographs were featured in the magazine's July-August 2013 issue. Willow Springs tracks have been featured in video games including '' Need for Speed: ProStreet'', '' Need for Speed: Shift'', ''
Gran Turismo 6 ''Gran Turismo 6'' is a 2013 sim racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the sixth main installment and the eleventh overall in the ''Gran Turismo (series), Gran ...
'', ''
Gran Turismo Sport ''Gran Turismo Sport'' is a 2017 sim racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. It is the twelfth game in the ''Gran Turismo (series), Gran Turismo'' series. One of ''G ...
'', ''
Gran Turismo 7 ''Gran Turismo 7'' is a 2022 sim racing video game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The game is the eighth main installment and the thirteenth overall in the '' Gran Turismo'' series. It was relea ...
'', ''
Project CARS ''Project CARS'' is a sim racing video game series developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The franchise was introduced in 2015 and received Project CARS 2, a sequel in 2017, followed by ''Project CARS 3'' ...
'', ''Asseto Corsa'', and ''
iRacing ''iRacing'' is a subscription-based online sim racing video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tracks, and ...
''.


Track records

The overall unofficial track record is held by
Michael Andretti Michael Mario Andretti (born October 5, 1962) is an American former racing driver, and current team owner. Statistically one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, Andretti won the 1991 CART champions ...
in a 1987
CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...
Indycar. Andretti completed a lap of the main track in 1 minute, 6.050 seconds for an average speed of .


Lap records

As of March 2017, the fastest official race lap records at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park are listed as:


Other motorsport

Option hosted an early exhibition drift event in 1996. During the early 1980s, the factory-backed
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Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
team often used Willow Springs to test their cars before the early season
United States Grand Prix West The United States Grand Prix West was a race held at Long Beach, California, as a Formula 5000 race in 1975 and a Formula One World Championship event from 1976 to 1983 held in the same location throughout those years. The name of the Grand Pri ...
held at
Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
ChampCar Endurance Series The ChampCar Endurance Series is a budget class Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held on paved road race courses across North America, formerly known as the ChumpCar World Series, run by ChumpCar International Inc. Founded in 2009, ...
hosts a double-8+7-hour endurance race on Big Willow. Willow Springs was a regular venue for the American Indycar Series (AIS), in some seasons hosting the season opener and/or the season finale.


Photographs


See also

*
Buttonwillow Raceway Park Buttonwillow Raceway Park is a motorsports park in Kern County, California, north of Buttonwillow, California, the town of Buttonwillow and northwest of Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Opened in 1995, it is owned and operated by the Ca ...
* Chuckwalla Valley Raceway


References


External links


Willow Springs International Raceway Official Site

Willow Springs International Motorsports Park archive
at Racing-Reference
Google Images satellite view of racewayGuide to Willow Springs Raceway
{{MotoAmerica circuits Sports venues in Kern County, California Motorsport venues in California Rosamond, California NASCAR tracks 1953 establishments in California Sports venues completed in 1953 Road courses in the United States