Ventura Raceway is a 1/5 mile, high-banked clay oval racetrack located at the

Ventura County Fairgrounds Ventura ( Italian, Portuguese and Spanish for "fortune") may refer to: Places ; Brazil * Boa Ventura de São Roque, a municipality in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil * Boa Ventura, Paraíba, a municipality in the state of Paraíba, i ...

in Ventura,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It is owned and operated by Jim Naylor, who is also the track announcer. In 2010 Jim was inducted into the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame for being the oldest and only successful professional sports franchise in Ventura County history. Ventura Raceway is also home to Cory Kruseman's

Sprint Car Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...

Driving School and the VRA

sprint car Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...

s. Since 2016, it has served as the home of the

Turkey Night Grand Prix The Automotive Racing Products Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It is the third oldest race in the United States behind the Indianapolis 500 and the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. It has been held on Thanksgiving nig ...

. A 1/2 mile dirt oval operated at the fairgrounds from July 28, 1924 through around 1927 (this track had run motorcycles from 1910 through 1923). A 1/5 mile dirt oval was used for midgets on November 11, 1934. A 1/10 mile dirt oval operated from July 4, 1978 through 1984 (this was originally used for speedway motorcycles beginning in 1969.) The 1/5 mile oval opened in 1985. A 1/5 mile dirt figure 8 was added in 2000. The track has also operated as Seaside Park Speedway.Motorsports.com
/ref> On a weekly basis the track is home to many types of dirt track racecars including wingless sprint cars, midgets, dwarf cars, stock cars, modifieds, sport compacts, and karts.

Notes

In the 1990s and into the 2000s motocross racing was held at Ventura Raceway on motocross tracks built on the infield of the oval track by designer Jim Naylor. These races were attend by many local racers as well as professionals such as off-road champion Jim Holley, Kyle Lewis, Randy Moody, and World Champion Bobby Moore. Ventura Raceway has hosted flat track and speedway motorcycle events that attract many nationally ranked pro racers as well as past World Champions such as

Greg Hancock Gregory Alan Hancock (born June 3, 1970 in Whittier, California) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway rider. As of 2023, he was one of only six riders to have won the individual World Championship four or more times. In addi ...

. Frequent ranked riders include National Champion Brad Baker. Recent Grand Marshalls have included Sonny Nutter, Kenny Roberts, Bruce Penhall, Gene Romero and Reg Pridemore. The current speedway and flat track races are announced by "Crazy Chris" Ackerman and longtime SoCal racer and announcer Joe Zipay. Ventura Raceway is also the home track for "Fast Eddy" Castro, who lives in nearby Ojai, California. Castro has been racing professional speedway at Ventura since the 1980s and still takes to the track for every local race. Since 2016 Ventura Raceway has been home for the Turkey Night Grand Prix, which draws professional drivers from around the world to compete in this prestigious event. Past winners for the event include Billy Boat (1997), Kyle Larson (2016 & 2019), Christopher Bell (2017 & 2018), and Logan Seavey (2021).

References

External links

* http://www.venturaraceway.com/ * http://www.vradwarfs.com/ * http://www.scrafan.com/racetracks/ventura.html {{Motorcycle speedway tracks Dirt oval race tracks in the United States Motorsport venues in California Buildings and structures in Ventura, California Sports venues in Ventura County, California Speedway venues in the United States