Abandoned Tracks: Ontario Motor Speedway (Indy of the West) 

Fun Fact: NHRA raced at Ontario on the track’s pit road

For that much money at the time, you’d think it would’ve made it to the present day. But unfortunately, the evil world of real estate wins again. Such a shame.

When they built the track, they made the pit road extra wide, so it could be used as a drag strip...and they DID host some NHRA events. Also, if I remember right, the back straightaway was a little bit higher in elevation than the frontstretch, so the fans on the frontstretch could see pretty much all the way around the track -- something not possible at Indy.

I’m glad you’ve brought this track up. This track was REALLY cool, and doesn’t deserve to be forgotten about. Petty’s seventh title won here, Earnhardt’s first title won here, a movie filmed here, Evil Knievel… if only they’d just been able to promote it better around the 80s. If it were still around today, just imagine how different nascar, let alone American motorsports, would be. I’d take this track over Auto Club any day. This track had so much potential for future motorsports dominance, and it was unfairly demolished due to the greediness of the American ways of big business. Sad… such potential… Thanks Darian! Keep up the good work! Also, if iRacing hasn’t added this track, they need to. We need to keep the memory alive for generations to come.

My dad took me, my sister and mother to the 1977 California 500. Al Unser won and I recall vividly A.J. Foyt finishing 2nd. 2 years later, my dad and I went there to watch the semi trucks race there (that was a thing for a couple of years here in the U.S.). My last experience at the speedway was in '80 when Shirley Muldowney became a 2x Top Fuel World Champ when the NHRA World Finals were held there. Some great memories.

The same thing happened to Riverside and Fontana. The land became too valuable too keep as racetracks. I doubt the short track will ever be built at Fontana.

This track had so much potential. It’s a damn shame it got demolished and I didn’t get to see it.

Some of the seats on the grandstands are now at Huntsville Speedway in Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville Speedway is a quarter mile asphalt track that hosts weekly racing. It was also the site of one of Richard Petty's 200 Cup wins. The seats are pretty comfortable, but you can tell they were not meant for Huntsville as they are very close together. Cool to know that a piece of American Racing history is at my home track.

I have an abandoned track near my old hometown in PA and it's the Nazareth Speedway. It still sits abandoned to this day

Raced this enough on NR2003, massively underrated raceway, deserves way more attention. Also not too far from Auto Club Speedway as well. Which is now falling to a similar fate.

We need another big speedway in the SoCal area. Build it in an area not vulnerable to development

I literally have an Evel Kinevel poster for when he jumped those cars!!

Ontario Motor Speedway In Ontario California From 1970 To 1980 Iconic Southern California Pop Culture Thanks For Uploading

Ontario, Riverside, Mesa Marin and others in California is long gone but the memory remains. Interesting that Ontario has a roval course during its existence. Look up Paul Newman's racing doc.

There should be a Plaque placed at the site where the Speedway once was

I find it sad how they demolished it

Also... if not for the efforts of Wilbur Shaw and Tony Hulman in 1945, there might be a video like this about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway itself...

Ontario also received a truckload of bricks from the original surface of IMS. These were used to pave victory lane.

I saw the California 500 IndyCar race there in 1971 and 1972, I attended the Nascar races there more than once. I also saw a NHRA national event there in the pits! And get this, I was there when Evel Knievel jumped all those cars, (they were actually buses). Back then I only lived 30 miles away. It was a great racing facility and more, a victim of land values in Southern California, gone but not forgotten. Yes I'm an old man who grew up in SoCal, fond memories! Nice video, thanks.

I think the craziest fact of ontario motorspeedway is how close it actually was to where fontana (auto club speedway) is

My Dad took me to the Questor Grand Prix, which used the infield road circuit. I was very young, but I do remember the excitement of seeing Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart in person. My most vivid memory is of the incredible sound of the Matra!!

Babe wake up, new Black Flags Matter video dropped

Just a little heads up, the title says "Indy of the Weat", instead of "Indy if the West"

fun fact this track was a lot more banked in the straights than indy, so the speeds were even faster

I've been to the former sight of Ontario Motor Speedway! Been waiting for a video like this thank you!

bro i’m convinced you literally stalk my watch history. i’ve been researching this track for weeks, then you make a vid. same thing happened with little bristol, and many other tracks!!

My grandfather on my mother's side drove on this track. He completely sucked ass from what my grandmother told me, but he did race on that track

I attended several races at the old OMS - California 500, Questor Grand Prix among them - but they also had drag racing which they ran on the pit road and motocross in the infield. It was amazing facility, wish it were still there.

I remember when it closed down 😮

I live a couple blocks from where the track was. Driving past on my way home last Fontana race, I pointed it out to my Fiancé… she was just confused with what a waist it is they keep trying to build giant speedways out here😅. Ironically she lives a couple blocks from where riverside raceway was.

While identical shape to Indy it wasn't quite identical. It was wider and also the short chutes between 1&2 and 3&4 were banked, which made it a little faster than Indy.

If I'm not mistaken this was where the first 200 MPH lap in an Indy car was run.

I wish this track still exists today

I was born and raised in southern California, and while I never went to OMS as a kid, we passed it on our way to visit the grandparents in Salinas. I don't remember being able to see much of the track facilities, but the sign was visible from Interstate 10.

Death Race 2000, what a movie.

😆 Darian must have changed the title the instant I clicked on the video. It did say "Indy of the Weat" when it popped up on my feed. Now watching the video, it now says "Indy of the West".

Great video! You should also do Riverside International Raceway and Texas World Speedway.

Fun Fact: This track along with Watkins Glen, Indy & COTA are the only four tracks to have hosted races in Indycar, NASCAR & F1.

ive had a shitty day, but thankfully I knew Darien was gonna post today so at least there's that going for me, thank you man

I was at the inaugural California 500 in 1970. Had infield passes that cost a whopping $5 !

Love this track! Was very exciting with lots of passing, sad they got rid of it

This track was before my time but my friend's dad used to talk to us about the "Big O" when we'd be watching cup races at their place in nearby San Bernardino, CA in the early 2000s.

I had it downloaded on my NR2K3 game, fun track to drive.

This was a great place to see a drag race! Of the few hundred drag races I've attended, the best one was here. I believe it was the 1975 Supernationals. I've never seen so many national records set at one race. Don Prudhomme was pretty much the talk of the weekend.

I live in nearby Pomona, CA. I never knew this track was so close to my home. I used to race cross country races at Gusti park right near where the track was previously

Black Sabbath 🖤

I have race programs from the first NASCAR and Indy car races as well as the Grand Prix races and Supernational drag races.

Ontario Motor Speedway also appeared in 'NASCAR Legends', a PC game that Sierra/Papyrus produced all the way back in 2000. (I believe it could only be obtained in boxes of cereal, so there probably aren't very many copies of the game in existence today. Mine stopped working in 2007, and I don't have it anymore.) The game featured all of the tracks on the 1971 NASCAR schedule right before Winston took over, including Riverside, Texas World, Bowman-Gray, and Greeneville-Pickens.

I have pictures of them building and tearing down the speedway. Pretty sad.

My Father and I went to the OMS many races at the track. Indycar and other racing.

The bricks in Victory lane were from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

I was there for Petty's 7th title-13 years old. Ontario was cool, you could see the cars the whole way around, kinda like Fontana. Riverside was the best, though. Rosamond isn't exploding, maybe NASCAR at Willow Springs? A fast road course with graded areas for RV's and such. Oh, just dreaming... Thanks for posting the video!

Also fun fact I guess is that this track was located less than 4 miles as the crow flies from the site of California/Auto Club Speedway and also less than a 30 minute drive from the former site of Riverside Raceway. Proud of the NASCAR and racing heritage that the area of California I grew up in has.

I grew up about 45min from where the track was. I never got to see a race there, but my dad used to point out the old main sign for the track by the freeway whenever we'd drive by. I did get to see the final two races at Riverside, tho. Crazy to think that at one time, there were two Nascar Cup racetracks in SoCal only 30 minutes from each other. Riverside would definitely be a good candidate for a future video!

Me and my dad went to the last race held there. Still have my Race Program also. Also wound up with a big blister on my bottom lip, because of the wind blowing that day.

Why no mention of NHRA? The Supernationals were held there and the first 5 second Top Fuel run was recorded there. A pretty glaring omission.

I went to the California Jam concert when I was 13, That was an awesome day.

I grew up there. Learned to drive a car in the parking lot. Heard every race and concert from my house.

It was and is a Great track always. My father RIP and I remember.

Real estate really dooms LA metro racetracks. First was Ontario, then Riverside and now Auto Club

They are lockers and other things, too. But, not the same.

Had some good music concerts there too.

We were there for the 1971 Ontario 500. On the inside of turn One. Bobby Unser CRASHED right in front of us.

Don't forget the big rig truck races.

Can you do a history video about NASCAR in Mexico

Should do a video on the original Homestead configuration

I was at pretty much every event there , Although I did not attend Cal Jam 1 , I was at 2 , Saw Evil , Questor , And F500 ......

There's an excellent version of OMS on rFactor1 for the 1973 USAC Indy Car mod.

if this was still around this would be one of the my favorites to go to

If Ontario Motor Speedway was still around, Auto Club Speedway more than likely would have never existed.

I went to the first or second 😅race there. It was delayed due to fog . Also went to California Jam....what a mess that was...

Figures that it was a real-estate scheme that killed this track. Cool to learn that the Ontario Reign's arena stands on part of the former site though - I like when hockey and NASCAR, two of my big sports passions, collide like that. :P

love this series so much keep it up, also I think california needs more race tracks since motorsports in california especially southern california is dying

That old chestnut that seems to doom Californian race tracks - land value, claimed Ontario, claimed Riverside and is now claiming most if not all of Autoclub Speedway (Fontana)

My parents went to the first USAC race at Ontario and I went with them to the first AMA National road race. I raced there in AFM road races 7-8 times and was even at California Jam. Honestly if we could have saved one Southern California racetrack I would have picked Riverside International Raceway. It had way more history and was much more fun to race at!

Went to the inaugural race there and surprised when it failed some time later.

A shame that the track was abandoned. Had it (or Riverside) been around nowadays you could potentially have had F1, NASCAR and IndyCar having races in there right now. And it probably would give better racing than the likes of Miami or the Coliseum...

They held the Human Powered World Speed Championships there in the early 80's. Saw a guy get an honorary speeding ticket for doing 55+ on his "bicycle."

They also hosted NHRA drag racing national event on the pit road that was a full size drag strip

I like how you update the land at the end!!

Fontana isn’t far actually… but endangered by development…. No where in California isn’t endangered by development it seems.

Loved hearing Jim McElreath's name!!!

There's also a street called Porsche way and Mercedes Lane in the area. Also that area where the asphalt was found they are building a stater bros there so that place is gone now too

Ontario’s not that far from Fontana either. The location of the former Auto Club Speedway and where OMS was is probably within 5 miles of each other.

It's pain living within 15 minutes of Ontario Speedway and Riverside International, but both of them died long before I was born

I was there for the California 500 Indy race in 74 AJ Foyt won sat on turn 3

Nostalgic.. thanks

holy CRAP. my dad and i [i was 9] moved to So. Cal. in '73. in the foothills of SGV, Duarte Area. i remember us driving past this on the 10 frwy a few times. my cousin raced at Speedway 605 for a few years and my dad was a Nascar fan but to be honest, *i* thought Ontario Speedway closed the year before or the same year we moved there in '73. we were race fans but never went to any events there. but then again we had ZERO interest in Indy and/or BIG tracks, hence Speedway 605 in Irwindale which was maybe 30 mins to the west. Really makes me wonder if theyd made it a 1/4mi or 1/2mi track if it would have been a lot more popular and stuck around longer. a lot of ppl dont want to go to a track you can only see 1 or 2 corners, you go to a race where you can see the whole damn track. My dad and i much later would go to a Nascar event at the new Fontana Speedway and it S U C K E D! went once and never again.

Let's do Riverside next, I have plenty of info on the track through the track's Wikipedia and facebook pages (today, as of 12/9/23, nothing is left of OMS)

I live in San Dimas CA. I'm a local I've been over there a lot I like to the Ontario mills and around that area I never knew that was the same land that now Toyota arena sits on what's depressing to me is I'm a NASCAR Diehard and former Auto club speedway ticket holder. History has repeated it self with the current situation instead of Chevron it's Amazon

I believe that the victory lane flooring is inside a nearby school building.

You and slap should colab. Love the 2 series.

I saw NASCAR, INDY Cars races as well as NHRA Drag Racing at OMS, and I am now forever boycotting Chevron. Greed and stupidity closed another great track 20+ miles down the road a few years later, rest in peace Riverside International Raceway. At least it looks like Fontucky Raceway, I mean Auto Club Raceway in Fontucky, is being reconfigured, and we won't completely lose another So. Cal. track. Hard to believe that the greater L.A. area had Ontario, Riverside, Irwindale, Orange County, Willow Springs, Ascot and the L.A. Fairgrounds in Pomona all running races back in the 1970's and early 80's.

I used to ride my go-cart in the parking lot of the speedway when I was 9 or 10. Around 80-81. It was a gift from Chrysler Corp. to my grandfather and he gave it to me for Christmas when I was 6. It was a 3hp Briggs&Stratton powered full roll cage with a blue fiberglass Plymouth Duster body.

Great video Darian.

I think they're going to build a minor league baseball stadium where three of the Ontario Motor Speedway used to be

Ama superbikes raced the road course. Cool track

This track was in one of the Nascar racing games of the late 90's. I thought it was a PC game, but maybe Nascar '98 for Playstation. Anyone else remember this?

Why tf would anyone wanna go to a concert with 300K other people? If you were in the middle of the crowd you'd need a scissor lift and binoculars just to see the damn stage

Indy of the *Weat*