Orange County International Raceway was a combined -mile US

dragstrip A dragstrip is a facility for conducting automobile and motorcycle acceleration events such as drag racing. Although a quarter mile (1320 feet, 402 m) is the best known measure for a drag track, many tracks are eighth mile (201&n ...

and 2-mile road course, plus a motocross track, located in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

adjacent to the

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...

(

I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

)

Santa Ana Freeway The Santa Ana Freeway is one of the principal freeways in Southern California, connecting Los Angeles and its southeastern suburbs including the freeway's namesake, the city of Santa Ana. The freeway begins at its junction with the San Diego Free ...

. Under a lease agreement with the

Irvine Company The Irvine Company LLC is an American private company focused on real estate development. It is headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with a large portion of its operations centered in and around Irvine, California, a planned city of more ...

, OCIR – as it was known in racing circles – was in operation from August 5, 1967 until its closure on October 30, 1983. The track was so named because its founders envisioned hosting sports car, motorcycle, midget, and stock car races in addition to

National Hot Rod Association The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

(NHRA) sanctioned drag racing events. Known as 'The Supertrack', OCIR was designed to be the most modern of

facilities in the late 1960s, offering spectator comforts and conveniences never before available at a drag race facility in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. The track construction included the extensive use of landscaping, permanent restrooms and concession stands, reserved seats with backs, drinking fountains installed throughout, the sport's first electric scoreboard and a 40-foot-high, four-story, glass-enclosed control tower and administration building. The well-known

Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving was an American performance driving school, specializing in instruction for high performance driving, teen defensive driving, law enforcement and special forces driving, open wheel race car tr ...

was founded at the track in 1968.

References

* ''The County, Tracing the Rise and Fall of Drag Racing's Original "Supertrack"'', Dave Wallace, Drag Racing Magazine, November 1984. * ''Clock Runs Out On Orange County Raceway'', Gary Jarlson, Los Angeles Times, October 29, 1983. * ''The Last Drag Race'', Shav Glick, Los Angeles Times, October 29, 1983. * ''Orange County Drag Strip Opens Tonight'', Los Angeles Times, August 5, 1967. {{Coord, 33.66200, N, 117.74750, W, display=title, type:landmark, name=site of Orange County International Raceway

External links

* http://silverstone.fortunecity.com/bonneville/218/ocir01/ * http://ochistorical.blogspot.com/2009/02/orange-county-international-raceway.html * http://www.nhra.com/blog/dragster-insider/2008/10/29/33661/ * http://www.nhra.com/blog/dragster-insider/2008/11/4/33868/ * http://www.competitionplus.com/2004_09_15/orange_county.html * http://www.na-motorsports.com/Tracks/CA/OrangeCountyInternational.html * http://www.northernthunder.com/lastsupertrack.html * http://wikimapia.org/4772164/Former-site-of-Orange-County-International-Raceway Defunct motorsport venues in the United States Defunct drag racing venues History of Orange County, California History of Irvine, California

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Sports venues completed in 1967 1967 establishments in California 1983 disestablishments in California