Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsport venue located in Ontario, California. It was the first and only automobile racing facility built to accommodate major races sanctioned by all of the four dominant racing sanctioning bodies: USAC (and now IndyCar Series) for open-wheel oval car races; NASCAR for a 500-mile (800km) oval stock car races; NHRA for drag races; and FIA for Formula One road course races. Additionally, several motorcycle races were held at the track. Constructed in less than two years,[2] the track opened in August 1970 and was considered state of the art at the time.[3][4]
The first full year of racing included the Indy-style open wheel Inaugural California 500 on September 6, 1970; the Miller High Life 500 stock car race on February 28, 1971, the NHRA Super Nationals drag race on November 21, 1970 and the Questor Grand Prix on March 28, 1971. Each of these inaugural races drew attendance second only to their established counterparts, the USAC Indianapolis 500, the NASCAR Daytona 500, the NHRAU.S. Nationals, and the U.S. Formula One race at Watkins Glen.
The track was purchased for real estate development by Chevron Land Company in late 1980[5] and demolished at a cost of $3 million in 1981. It is estimated that the 800-acre (3.2km2) facility, with 155,000 permanent seats and an air-conditioned private stadium club would have a replacement cost in 2009 of over $350 million.[citation needed]
History
Ontario Motor Speedway in 1971, during the Questor Grand Prix.
William Loorz CEO of Stolte Construction Co., one of California's largest commercial construction companies, who had been designated the contractor on the project, sent information on the failed projects to David Lockton, co-founder with Chuck Barnes of Sports Headliners, a leading sports management firm in Indianapolis, Indiana, that acted as agent and manager for most of the Formula One and Indianapolis-style racing drivers.
Sports Headliners represented most of the leading Formula One drivers and the winners of the past 10 Indianapolis 500-mile (800km) races. Lockton was convinced that the prior efforts failed for lack of involvement with anyone familiar with the automobile racing community. He flew to Los Angeles in October 1966, met with Stolte and viewed the proposed site which had by then been subdivided into fourteen separate parcels owned by 150 individual owners, many of them Hollywood celebrities who had bought the land for tax shelters.
Lockton spent the next nine months acquiring options on all of the fourteen parcels and then leveraged his position as the drivers’ representative on the board of USAC (United States Auto Club) the sanctioning body for the Indianapolis 500 race; and his personal friendship with Tony Hulman, owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to obtain not only the promise of a USAC sanctioned 500-mile (800km) race, but also the commitment and involvement of Indianapolis Motor Speedway personnel. He obtained the first and only IRS ruling to allow tax deductibility of the $25.5 million industrial revenue bond offering secured by the real estate, in which the facility would be run by a for-profit operating company.
Lockton convinced leading bond investment banker John Nuveen & Co. in Chicago as well as Citi Securities Corporation in Indianapolis to underwrite the bond offering. He also raised $5 million in equity from Pioneer Lands Corp.; Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette; and Stolte Construction Company; with Lockton and these three entities owning the speedway in more or less equal proportions. Renowned California architect Robert W. Kite AIA whose firm, Kite & Overpeck Architects, Beverly Hills, was retained by Stolte to design the state-of-the-art facility The track layout was designed by Dutch Circuit designer John Hugenholtz (Managing Director of the Zandvoort Formula 1 circuit), who also designed Suzuka in Japan, Zolder, Jarama, Nivelles, Hockenheim and other circuits.. Robert (Bob) Kite traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe to research the design of the facility. Track management planned to make OMS as a replica of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with many important enhancements. The racing surface was one lane wider and, unlike the Indy speedway, the short chutes (the two shorter straight-aways, at either end of the track) were banked, which made the OMS slightly faster.
In addition, the OMS was built with an infield road course, making it a facility for both oval and road course style racing in addition to drag racing. At the time, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, familiarly known as "the Brickyard" did not have an infield road course and one was not built there until 2000. The Indianapolis track, which was first built in 1909, was originally paved at great expense with 3.2 million paving bricks. Today, 3 feet (0.91 m) of original bricks remain at the start-finish line, still giving meaning to "the Brickyard". To symbolize Hulman's gesture of friendship with Lockton and support for the "Indy of the West", he provided a special gift from Indy: a circle of the original bricks from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were laid in the OMS's victory lane.
The Ontario Motor Speedway introduced many innovations to the sport of automobile racing and is attributed as being the facility that started the boom in development of similar super speedways which made automobile racing track ownership one of the highest growth segments from 1980 to 2005. Ontario pioneered a private stadium club with annual memberships, corporate suites, crash absorbent retaining walls and safety fences, the first pro-am celebrity race, state-of-the-art modern garage facilities for the race teams, and a computerized real-time timing and scoring system which showed in real-time the positions on the track to spectators during the race. This timing and scoring system was subsequently adopted by the Formula One circuit and ultimately by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The OMS was designed by the renowned architectural firm Kite & Overpeck Architects, Beverly Hills, known for important LA landmarks such as the 9000 Sunset Building and the Beverly Hillcrest Hotel. The principal in charge of the OMS was Robert W. Kite AIA. The K&O project team included Ted Tyler. During the 22-month construction period, speedway management negotiated the required race dates from the rival sanctioning bodies, convincing the FIA (Federation Internationale de L’Automobile) to allow a second U.S. Grand Prix in 1972, contingent upon conducting a qualifying race (the Questor Grand Prix) in 1971.
The OMS was the first automobile race facility to launch a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign based on extensive market research. The research indicated that in order to attract more than the approximately 50,000 hardcore racing fans in Southern California it would be necessary to convince the non-racing fan of the new speedway's safety to overcome their fears of seeing a terrible accident; to position the facility as a clean, safe, fun place to take the family, and a place to rub elbows with Hollywood stars, astronauts and other celebrities. The speedway launched a radio, billboard and newspaper advertising campaign, developed by the Los Angeles-based Campbell Ewald Agency, in December 1969, promoting the California 500 as "the place for the family to be for their Labor Day weekend" nine months later.
Legendary Hollywood PR agent, Warren Cowan of the Rogers & Cowan public relations agency heavily promoted the Hollywood community and the astronauts’ interest in the sport and involvement with the track. During races the suites were full of celebrities, including Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, Dick Smothers, John Wayne, James Garner and Ina Balin, as well as many astronauts, including Pete Conrad. The dedication of the track occurred in August 1970 with the staging of the first celebrity pro-am race, featuring many stars from the entertainment industry paired with professional, race winning drivers. The celebrity pro-am race was subsequently aired as a TV special on NBC.
The speedway's board of directors when the track opened consisted of chairman Dan Lufkin, of Donaldson, Lufkin, Jenrette; CEO David Lockton; Donald Riehl, of DLJ; William Loorz, CEO of Stolte Construction; Paul Newman, Kirk Douglas, and Dick Smothers from the entertainment industry; J.C. Agajanian, an American motor sport promoter and race car owner; Parnelli Jones, 1963 winner of the Indianapolis 500; Roger Penske, retired race car driver, race car owner and auto related business entrepreneur; Briggs Cunningham, an American sportsman who raced cars and yachts; and Chuck Barnes, chairman and CEO of Sports Headliners, and former director of public relations for Firestone Tires.
The advertising campaign was so successful that all reserved seats were completely sold out over six weeks before the inaugural California 500. The 178,000 in paid attendance and $3.3 million gross remained the largest crowd and highest gross in inflation adjusted dollars of any single day sporting event other than the Indianapolis 500 for nearly three decades. California governor Ronald Reagan presented the trophy to race winner Jim McElreath, a teammate of car owner A. J. Foyt. President Richard M. Nixon was represented at the event by his daughter Tricia Nixon, and her husband, Ed Cox.
The second event, the Mattel Hot Wheels Super Nationals Drag Race on November 20, drew a crowd second only to the NHRA Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana and the Ontario drag strip proved to be the fastest ever with many world records set. The NASCAR sanctioned Miller High Life 500-mile (800km) stock car race on February 28, 1971, drew a crowd of 80,000 and was the third largest crowd to see the first low bank 2-1/2 mile oval 500-mile (800km) stock car race, and the third largest attendance for a stock car race behind the Daytona 500 and the Talladega 500. The Questor Grand Prix, won by Mario Andretti on March 28, 1971, was a head-to-head battle between European drivers using Formula One cars against the U.S. Formula 5000 series. This format was a precondition to receipt of a second FIA sanctioned U.S. Grand Prix. The crowd of only 55,000, while the largest to attend a road race in California, was a disappointment; even so, the speedway's schedule of upcoming events printed on page 130 of the 1971 California 500 official program listed a "Second Annual Questor Grand Prix" taking place on April 9 as "One of two full-points World Championship Formula 1 races scheduled for the U.S. next year."
From a racing standpoint, the inaugural season was a tremendous success and from an attendance standpoint only the hybrid Questor Grand Prix was a disappointment. In April, 1971, Lockton resigned as CEO from Ontario (as well as from Sports Headliners) to pursue non-automobile racing related interests and was replaced as CEO by Ray Smartis, the vice president and general manager. Despite the speedway's commercial success in building attendance for each event and the clear potential for future profitability, in the short term, the operating company had difficulty meeting its debt service obligations on the municipal bonds, primarily due to the shortfall of the hybrid Questor Grand Prix race and a downturn in California 500 attendance in year two.
The advertising campaign for the Inaugural California 500 had guaranteed seat purchasers seat renewal rights in perpetuity if they paid for them within 30 days of the last race. Over 20% of the seats for the second 1972 Cal 500 event were sold on this promotion, providing the OMS with almost $800,000 in advance ticket sales. Rather than a sustained campaign, the advertising or promotional money was not spent on the 1972 race until only a few weeks before the event and attendance was marginally down approximately 30,000 in the second year.
In 1973 the operating company was sold and in a desperate attempt to make the debt service payments the new operators devised a strategy to stage two California 500 races in one fiscal year. For the third California 500, the established and popular Labor Day date was sacrificed for a March 10 date, despite the evidence from extensive original market, traffic and weather research that Labor Day weekend was by a considerable margin the date with the largest potential attendance. The March crowds never approached the attendance of the Labor Day event and the new operator ultimately defaulted on the debt service.[6][7]
Attempts were made to provide revenue by holding other events and concerts to promote the track venue more.
On February 28, 1971, OMS promoted and staged motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel's record jump over 19 cars, drawing a crowd of 50,000 in paid attendance on the day prior to the NASCAR sanctioned Miller High Life 500 mile stock car race. The jump was filmed as the climactic scene in the movie Evel Knievel, starring George Hamilton, which was filmed in and around the race track during that weekend.[8]
By 1980, the Ontario Motor Speedway bonds were selling at approximately $0.30 on the dollar. Generally unknown and unrealized by the bond-holding public, the 800 acres (3.2km2) of land originally purchased at an average price of $7,500 per acre, had now risen to a value of $150,000 per acre. Chevron Land Company, a division of Chevron Corporation recognized the opportunity to acquire the bonds and effectively foreclosed on the real estate. For approximately $10 million, Chevron acquired land which had a commercial real estate development value of $120 million, without regard to the historic significance or future potential of the speedway.
Subsequent development
Many of the grandstands and other infrastructure were sold off to other venues. Section 10 and Section 20 (the grandstands on the east side of the arena) at the Paso Robles Event Center, also known as The California Midstate Fair), in Paso Robles were constructed from grandstands removed from the speedway. Also several ticket booths were relocated from the speedway to the fair grounds.
The property remained vacant for several years until the mid-1980s when a Hilton hotel was built on turn 4 of the old speedway site. It was the first multiple-story building of its kind in the City of Ontario.
By the mid-2000s, development on the property had increased. In 2007, much of the remainder of the property became Piemonte, a mixed-use development with condominiums, business offices, and some retail stores. In the fall of 2008, the centerpiece of Piemonte opened: the Citizens Business Bank Arena (now Toyota Arena), an 11,000-seat sports and entertainment venue. The arena is home to the AHLOntario Reign and is built in the infield area of the old Ontario track.
The Ontario Mills shopping mall is located to the east, across the street from the former site of the Speedway. A minor tribute to the racing heritage of the property can be seen in the nearby street names (ex: Duesenberg Drive, Ferrari Lane, and others), in much the same way that the developed area that was formerly Riverside International Raceway reflects the same heritage, with roads named after famous drivers. On the west side of the former raceway is a park dedicated to OMS. The only remains of OMS is on the northwest side of the property where you can see the remains of turn 3 of the old oval in satellite views.
In 1997, the Auto Club Speedway opened in Fontana, less than 2 miles (3.2km) from the former site of the OMS, and the two names were sometimes confused. (The California track was called the California Speedway before a naming rights deal was signed in February 2008.)
From 1977 to 1980, a second Champ Car event was run at Ontario, sharing the bill with a stock car race. It was first joined by USAC Stock Car, and in 1980, when the race joined the CART calendar, by the NASCAR Winston West Series.
The fastest ever qualifying lap on the 2.5-mile Oval is 44.325 seconds, set by Rick Mears in a Penske PC-7, during qualifying for the 1979 California 500. The fastest lap on the original 3.194-mile Road Course is 1:41.257, set by Jackie Stewart in a Tyrrell 001, during qualifying for the 1971 Questor Grand Prix.[10] The official race lap records at Ontario Motor Speedway are listed as:
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis. The event is traditionally held over Memorial Day weekend, usually the last weekend of May. It is contested as part of the IndyCar Series, the top level of American open-wheel car racing, a formula colloquially known as "Indy car racing". The track itself is nicknamed the "Brickyard", as the racing surface was paved in brick in the fall of 1909. One yard of brick remains exposed at the start/finish line. The event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, is considered part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix, with which it typically shares a date.
Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 1979 to 2003. It sanctioned the PPG Indy Car World Series from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season. CART was founded in 1979 by United States Auto Club (USAC) Championship Division team owners who disagreed with the direction and leadership of USAC, with the then-novel idea of car owners sanctioning and promoting their own series collectively instead of relying on a neutral body to do so. Through the 1980s, the Indy Car World Series became the pre-eminent open-wheel auto racing series in North America, featuring street circuits, road courses, and oval track racing. CART drivers continued to compete at the USAC-sanctioned Indianapolis 500.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400 and formerly the home of the United States Grand Prix and Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix. It is located six miles (9.7 km) west of Downtown Indianapolis.
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, about 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Indianapolis. It includes a 0.686 mi (1.104 km) oval track, a 2.500 mi (4.023 km) road course, and a 4,400-foot (1,300 m) drag strip which is among the premier drag racing venues in the world. The complex receives about 500,000 visitors annually.
The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the organization sanctioned the Indianapolis 500. Today, USAC serves as the sanctioning body for a number of racing series, including the Silver Crown Series, National Sprint Cars, National Midgets, Speed2 Midget Series, .25 Midget Series, Stadium Super Trucks, and Pirelli World Challenge. Seven-time USAC champion Levi Jones is USAC's Competition Director.
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 most continents. There is a worldwide tour and national midget tours in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
Rodger Morris Ward was an American racing driver best known for his open-wheel career. He is generally regarded as one of the finest drivers of his generation, and is best known for winning two National Championships, and two Indianapolis 500s, both in 1959 and 1962. He also won the AAA National Stock Car Championship in 1951.
Vel's Parnelli Jones Racing, commonly referred to simply as Parnelli or VPJ, was a motor racing constructor and team from the United States. The team was formed in 1969 by former USAC racer Parnelli Jones and his business partner Velko "Vel" Miletich. Parnelli was initially solely concerned with USAC racing, where success came quickly; their driver Al Unser won the Indianapolis 500 race in 1970, driving a VPJ Colt, after leading 190 of the 200 racing laps. Unser went on to win the USAC championship. Unser repeated the Indy 500 win in 1971 with a new Colt built without the left side chassis offset that had been made illegal by 1971 rules, ending the season in fourth place in the USAC drivers points while teammate Joe Leonard won the championship.
American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive events for professional-level, single-seat open-wheel race cars have been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies since 1902. A season-long, points-based, National Championship of drivers has been officially recognized in 1905, 1916, and since 1920.
Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the opportunity for some compelling driving performances against superior machinery. The name translates to "Free Formula" – in Formula Libre races the only regulations typically govern basics such as safety equipment.
The 1984 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season, the sixth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 16 races, beginning in Long Beach, California on March 31 and concluding in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 10. The PPG Indy Car World Series Drivers' Champion was Mario Andretti and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Rick Mears. Rookie of the Year was Roberto Guerrero. The 68th Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by the USAC, but counted in the CART points standings.
The 1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 5th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART. The season consisted of 13 races. Al Unser was the national champion, and the rookie of the year was Teo Fabi. The 1983 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but an arrangement was made such that it counted towards the CART points championship. Tom Sneva won the Indy 500, after three previous runner-up finishes.
Race results from the automobile and motorcycle races contested at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Races have been held on seven different track configurations:
The 1971 USAC Championship Car season consisted of 12 races, beginning in Rafaela, Argentina on February 28 and concluding in Avondale, Arizona on October 23. The USAC National Champion was Joe Leonard and the Indianapolis 500 winner was Al Unser. For 1971 it was decided that there should be three separate points championships, for paved ovals, dirt ovals, and road courses.
David Ballard Lockton is an American serial entrepreneur. Several of his consumer-focused companies have pioneered or significantly expanded billion dollar markets, including:
The 1976 Los Angeles Times 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on November 21, 1976, at Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California. Each copy of the souvenir program was $2.
The Hoosier Hundred is a USAC Silver Crown Series race scheduled for Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park as of 2023. It is a revival of the original race held from 1953-2020 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Speedway, a one-mile dirt oval in Indianapolis, Indiana. The race was first held in 1953, and through 1970 was part of the National Championship.
Motor sports are widely popular in the United States, but Americans generally ignore major international series, such as Formula One and MotoGP, in favor of home-grown racing series.
The 1971 California 500, the second running of the event, was held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, on Sunday, September 5, 1971. The event was race number 10 of 12 in the 1971 USAC Championship Car season. The race was won by Joe Leonard.
The 1979 California 500, the tenth running of the event, was held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California, on Sunday, September 2, 1979. The event was race number 11 of 14 in the 1979 SCCA/CART Indy Car Series. The race was won by Bobby Unser, his third California 500 victory. It was the first year of the California 500 under CART sanctioning.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Pedro Rodriguez, BRM P160, 1971, F1)
