A History of Ontario Motor Speedway

The track was located between G and 4th streets just east of Haven in Ontario. The groundbreaking ceremony for the speedway was held on September 24, 1968. Actor Kirk Douglas was one of many who spoke at the event. Howard Snider, Ontario’s Mayor, was presented with an original brick from Indianapolis Motor Speedway by its president, Tony Hulman at the ceremony.

The premise behind the Ontario Motor Speedway was to mirror the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Indianapolis Speedway puts on of the most popular races in the sport, the Indianapolis 500. The vision was to have an “Indy West,” where the best of the best in the sport would now race on

There were 53 entries in the inaugural race and Lloyd Ruby held the pole. The race hosted quite a few of the top drivers, including Al and Bobby Unser, A.J. Foyt, Johnny Rutherford and Mario Andretti. A veteran driver, Jack McElreath, won the race and took home $155,883.71. The race offered the highest guaranteed purse in automobile racing history, which was $500,000.

Now the land is supporting names such as Sam’s Club and the famous Ontario Mills Mall. It can further be stated that this land has contributed to the job market by employing over 350 people and has generated an estimated $650,000 in sales tax revenue for the City of Ontario. In addition to Sam’s Club, many other companies, including Baja Fresh Mexican Grill, Tommy’s Original Famous Hamburgers and Woody’s Furniture also have jumped on the “band-wagon” and established contractual relationships with the city of Ontario to occupy this land.

Many landmark events took place at Ontario, one of which made history by setting the fastest time on a man-powered bike called “The White Lightning.” This bike accomplished speeds of 55mph on the track in 1979. The track was also used for teaching the LAPD the art of Hot Pursuit. The speedway was also the sight of the famous CAL JAM 1, and CAL JAM 2 held in 1974 and 1978, respectively. This event would go down in history as one of the highest grossing concerts at the time. At $10 dollars a ticket and over 200,000 in attendance the audience was seated in front of bands like Emerson Lake and Palmer, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath as headliners. The pull of this endeavor was even large enough to get the police to lift a city curfew for the night of the concert on April 6, 1974. The show lasted from 10am to 10pm and boasted 54,000 watts of power and 105 decibels at 1 mile away from the stage. It’s estimated that 15,000 people spent the night on the infield to ensure a good spot first thing in the morning; at sunrise there was a staggering 150,000 in place. The event was so successful that Cal Jam 2 was held in 1978 with an even better turnout and attracted names like Ted Nu

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