Madera Speedway

Greetings from Madera, California

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From the travels and adventures of the “World’s #1 Trackchaser”

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 Madera Speedway

Asphalt oval

Lifetime track #179

I first went to the Madera Speedway back on June 24, 1989.  Madera is 306 miles up the freeway from my home in San Clemente, California.  I have passed the track tens of times as I motored along California Route 99 toward other tracks.  However, I have never darkened the door of the Madera Speedway since that visit in ’89.  I’ve seen more than 2,000 new tracks since my trip to Madera.  Prior to about track #430 I did not record specific notes about the tracks I visited.  

What do the couple of notes I did record say?  First Dan Press, a popular and successful asphalt late model driver, won the feature event.  Secondly, I waited in line for the gates to open up.  I normally get to the tracks I visit early so I can get a lay of the land.

I don’t have my normal remembrances of this track visit through my extensive Trackchaser Report format.  Nevertheless, I can still tell you some interesting things about the Madera Speedway.

I found some interesting historical information about the Madera Speedway at www.autoracinglegendsofcalifornia.com.  The Madera Speedway opened in 1972.  Larry Yarimie won the first race ever run at Madera.  They were racing NASCAR sanctioned super modifieds.  Some of the racing names I recognized from those days include Howard Kaeding, Johnny Brazil, Nick Rescino and Mike Sargent.  

On opening night there was a turn away crowd of 5,000 spectators.  Some thirteen of the eighteen starters finished the main event.  The winner took home $465 from the $3,720 total purse.  All classes of cars have raced at the Madera Speedway including the BCRA midgets and top level stock cars.

The ORIGINAL Madera Speedway began racing on March 23, 1947.  Lots of racing began shortly after World War II.  For the first 25 years of its history the track was located just across the street from the fairgrounds buildings on Cleveland Avenue.  The California Highway Patrol now occupies that site!

In 2016 the Madera Raceway schedule calls for racing to begin in mid-March and continue through late October.  Recently they have been racing 360 super modifieds, BCRA midgets, NCMA sprints, open modifieds, USAC HPD midgets and winged sprints.

You might have remembrances of the Madera Speedway.  If so, please feel free to share in the comments section below.  If you have any photos from back in the day, send them to me at Ranlay@yahoo.com.  I’ll try to include them here.