Cajon Speedway

Last updated
Cajon Speedway
Location El Cajon, California
Time zoneGMT-8
OwnerBrucker family
Broke ground1961
Closed2005
SurfaceAsphalt
Length0.375 miles
Turns4
Race lap record0:13.422 (Davey Hamilton, , 1990, WSMRA Super Modified)

Cajon Speedway was an oval race track near El Cajon, California.

Contents

History

Located between Gillespie Field and the San Vicente Freeway, the 0.25 mile dirt oval track opened in 1961. Named Cajon Speedway, the track expanded to a 0.375 mile dirt track in 1964. The 0.375 mile oval was paved. [1] The track was founded by Earle Brucker Sr., who also founded El Cajon Stock Car Racing Association (ECSCRA). In 1978, the ECSCRA Super Stocks championship was won by Ron Esau. [2] Between 1986 and 2004, local drivers also competed for the Whelen All-American Series crown. John Borneman Jr., father of Johnny Borneman III, won the track championship in 1992. Ricky Johnson won the track championship in 1995. [3]

In 2003, track owner Steve Brucker was murdered at his home in El Cajon. Brucker was able to call 911 before succumbing to his wounds at Sharp Memorial Hospital. [4] Two men were charged with the murder which was the result of an attempted robbery. [5] With the death of Brucker and the speedway lease ending in 2005, the track shut down after the 2004 racing season. [6]

Notable events

USAC National Midget Series

YearWinner
1967 Flag of the United States.svg Bill Vukovich II [7]
1968 Flag of the United States.svg Paul Bates [8]

NASCAR Winston West Series

[9]

YearDateWinner
197323 July 1973 Flag of the United States.svg Dick Bown
197427 July 1974 Flag of the United States.svg Ray Elder
199215 August 1992 Flag of the United States.svg Bill Schmitt
199315 August 1993 Flag of the United States.svg Rick Carelli
199420 August 1994 Flag of the United States.svg Ron Hornaday Jr.

NASCAR Southwest Series

YearDateWinner
NASCAR Southwest Tour
19864 July 1986 Flag of the United States.svg Roman Calczynski
19874 April 1987 Flag of the United States.svg Dennis Dyer
3 October 1987 Flag of the United States.svg Mike Chase
19889 April 1988 Flag of the United States.svg Troy Beebe
1 October 1988 Flag of the United States.svg Troy Beebe
19891 April 1989 Flag of the United States.svg Ray Hooper Jr.
7 October 1989 Flag of the United States.svg Roman Calczynski
199031 March 1990 Flag of the United States.svg Dan Press
6 October 1990 Flag of the United States.svg Dan Press
19916 April 1991 Flag of the United States.svg Rick Carelli
NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Tour
19922 April 1992 Flag of the United States.svg Rick Carelli
19932 April 1993 Flag of the United States.svg M.K. Kanke
199416 July 1994 Flag of the United States.svg Dale Williams
199525 March 1995 Flag of the United States.svg Craig Raudman
199630 March 1996 Flag of the United States.svg Chris Raudman
199729 March 1997 Flag of the United States.svg Chris Raudman
199811 July 1998 Flag of the United States.svg Matt Crafton
20003 June 2000 Flag of the United States.svg Jon Nelson
200124 March 2001 Flag of the United States.svg M.K. Kanke
200223 March 2002 Flag of the United States.svg M.K. Kanke
20035 April 2003 Flag of the United States.svg Mark Meech
NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series
20043 April 2004 Flag of the United States.svg Jeff Seifert

USF2000

YearDateWinner
1990 4 July 1990 Flag of the United States.svg Bob Lesnett [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Auto Club</span> Auto racing sanctioning body in the US

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. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sprint car racing</span> Auto racing with small, open-wheel, high-power vehicles

Sprint cars are open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them from "midget cars," sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midget car racing</span> Type of racing using midget cars

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, Argentina and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American open-wheel car racing</span> Category of professional-level automobile racing in North America

American open-wheel car racing, generally known as Indy car racing, or more formally Indianapolis car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2024, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive events for professional-level, open-wheel race cars have been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies, tracing its roots as far back as 1902. A season-long, points-based, National Championship of drivers has been officially recognized in 1905, 1916, and each year since 1920. As such, for many years, the category of racing was known as Championship car racing. That name has fallen from use, and the term Indy car racing has become the preferred moniker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nazareth Speedway</span> Motorsport track in the United States

Nazareth Speedway is a defunct auto racing facility in Lower Nazareth Township in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, which operated from 1910 to 2004. The racing facility operated in two distinct course configurations. In its early years, it was a dirt twin oval layout. In 1987, it was reopened as a paved tri-oval that measured just slightly under 1 mile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eldora Speedway</span> Motorsport track in Ohio, United States

Eldora Speedway is a 0.5 mi (804.672 m) high-banked clay dirt oval. Located north of Rossburg, Ohio in the village of New Weston, Ohio, its website claims capacity for 22,886 spectators in the permanent grandstand, and unlimited admittance for the grass hillside spectator area. The permanent grandstand and VIP suite seats make it the largest sports stadium in the Dayton, Ohio-region according to the Dayton Business Journal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Route 66 Raceway</span> Drag race facility in Joliet, Illinois

Route 66 Raceway is a motorsports facility located in Joliet, Illinois, United States. It consists of a 0.25-mile (0.40 km) dragstrip and a 0.375-mile (0.604 km) dirt oval racetrack. The facility is owned and operated by NASCAR and is located adjacent to Chicagoland Speedway.

Concord Speedway was a motorsports facility located in the town of Midland, North Carolina, southeast of Concord, North Carolina. The complex featured a 12-mile asphalt tri-oval and a 14-mile asphalt oval.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison International Speedway</span> Stock car racing track

The Madison International Speedway (MIS) is a half-mile paved oval racetrack in the Town of Rutland near Oregon, Wisconsin, United States. With 18-degree banked turns, the track is billed as "The Track of Champions" and "Wisconsin's Fastest Half Mile." The weekly program at the track runs on Friday nights under NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series sanction.

Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack is a one mile long clay oval motor racetrack on the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, the state capital. It is frequently nicknamed The Springfield Mile. Constructed in the late 19th century and reconstructed in 1927, the track has hosted competitive auto racing since 1910, making it one of the oldest speedways in the United States. The original mile track utilized the current frontstretch and the other side was behind the current grandstands and the straightaways were connected by tight turns. It is the oldest track to continually host national championship dirt track racing, holding its first national championship race in 1934 under the American Automobile Association banner. It is the home of five world records for automobile racing, making it one of the fastest dirt tracks in the world. Since 1993, the venue is managed by Bob Sargent's Track Enterprises.

Thomas Paul Hinnershitz was an American racing driver. Hinnershitz was active through the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s on dirt, asphalt and boards, driving "big cars" – at that time slightly smaller versions of Indianapolis cars that could be raced on half-mile dirt race tracks.

There has been auto racing in Illinois for almost as long as there have been automobiles. Almost every type of motorsport found in the United States can be found in Illinois. Both modern and historic tracks exist in Illinois, including NASCAR's Chicagoland Speedway and Gateway International Speedway. Notable drivers from Illinois include Danica Patrick, Tony Bettenhausen, and Fred Lorenzen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earle Brucker Jr.</span> American baseball player (1925-2009)

Earle Francis Brucker Jr. was a professional baseball player. He played two games as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1948. After playing several seasons in minor league baseball, including a brief stint in the Pacific Coast League in 1953, he retired from baseball in 1955. He spent most of his life as the owner and operator of the Cajon Speedway in El Cajon, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AAA and USAC Stock Car</span> Motorsports sanctioning body

The USAC Stock Car division was the stock car racing class sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC). The division raced nationally; drivers from USAC's open wheel classes like Indy cars, Silver Crown, sprints, and midgets frequently competed in races and won championships. Several NASCAR drivers raced in USAC Stock Cars at various points in their careers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rico Abreu</span> American racing driver

Rico Emanuel Abreu is an American professional dirt track and sprint car racing driver. Abreu won the 2014 USAC National Midget Series championship, and previously competed in the K&N Pro Series East in 2015 scoring one win.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgeport Speedway</span> Racetrack

Bridgeport Speedway is a dirt speedway located in the community of Bridgeport in Logan Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey, that consists of a high banked, progressive 4/10 mile 0.375-mile (0.604 km) and a 1/4 mile 0.25-mile (0.40 km) oval located within the bigger track. The Super DIRTcar Series races at the track. Jason Leffler died in an accident at the track in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lebanon I-44 Speedway</span> Speedway in Missouri

Lebanon I-44 Speedway is a multi-purpose speedway located in the Ozark Highlands, just off Interstate 44 outside Lebanon, Missouri, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hagerstown Speedway</span> Auto-racing track in Maryland, US

Hagerstown Speedway is a 0.5-mile-long (0.80 km) red clay oval auto-racing track, 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Hagerstown, Maryland, situated on US Route 40. It hosts weekly local racing of Late Model Sportsman, Pure Stock, and Hobby Stock divisions, and throughout the season hosts regional and national touring series such as the Lucas Oil Late Model Series, International Motor Contest Association, and FASTRAK. Along with the car-racing schedule during the year, Monster Jam has used the track for events for several decades, along with various concerts and special events. The speedway has also hosted World of Outlaws, ARCA, and NASCAR races in the past.

Kokomo Speedway is a quarter mile (0.4 km) dirt semi-banked oval racing track in Kokomo, Indiana. The track hosts weekly Sunday night races during the American summer months. It has hosted or currently hosts national tours for sprint, late models, midget, and ARCA stock cars.

Michael "Buddy" Kofoid is an American professional dirt track and stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the USAC National Midget Series and POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series, driving for Keith Kunz Motorsports. He is the 2021 and 2022 USAC National Midget Series champion. He also competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 51 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports, and part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 15 Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports. He also has competed with the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint car Series. He collected his first Win at Husets Speedway on June 23, 2022.

References

  1. "Cajon Speedway". The Third Turn. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  2. "Track Champions". Cajon Speedway. Archived from the original on 6 February 2003. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  3. "Division I / Feature Division Champions Since 1982". NASCAR Hometracks. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  4. "Cajon Speedway Owner Murdered". 10 news. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  5. "Lawyers Face Off In Cajon Speedway Murder Trial". 10 news. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  6. Gorman, Anna (July 14, 2003). "Speedway Races Against Odds to Stay Open". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  7. "USAC National Midget:1967-53". The Third Turn. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  8. "USAC National Midget:1968-62". The Third Turn. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  9. "Cajon Speedway Event History". The Third Turn. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  10. "BOB LESNETT - OVERALL START/FINISH POSITIONS (CLASS POSITIONS NOT SHOWN)". USF2000. Retrieved 2 August 2017.