Ontario Motor Speedway was a motorsports complex in Ontario, California, United States. The complex featured various layouts, including a rectangular oval and a roval road course. From its opening in 1970 until its closure in 1980, the facility hosted numerous major racing events, including USAC, CART, NASCAR, IMSA GT Championship, NHRA, and exhibition Formula One events. The track since its closure has been demolished, with the track site now occupied by the Ontario Center, a mixed-use commercial center, which includes shopping centers, housing developments, hotels, a school, office space, a public park, and the Toyota Arena.
After two separate failed proposals by Sam Hanks and Filmways in the mid-1960s, Ontario Motor Speedway was built in the late 1960s and completed in 1970 with financial support from lawyer David B. Lockton and Stolte, Inc., with track leaders aiming to replicate the success of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the American West Coast. Ontario Motor Speedway throughout its existence had a white elephant status. From its opening, OMS faced heavy financial troubles, with its original operators suffering millions in losses and several high-level resignations. In 1973, after the original operators went bankrupt, a group led by Tony Hulman and Parnelli Jones took over operations, remaining until early 1975 when the group also faced financial troubles. The owners of the facility independently took over the track, facing $35,000,000 in debt. After the cancellation of Expo '81 in 1978, the track's owners began seeking the sale of Ontario Motor Speedway.
In October 1980, Ontario Motor Speedway was bought by the Chevron Land Company, a subsidiary of oil and gas energy company Chevron. Chevron closed the facility two months later and began the demolition of the track in 1981, which was completed the following year to construct the Ontario Center. The first development on the former track site opened in 1985, with the Ontario Center gradually expanding in the following decades.
Description Configurations Ontario Motor Speedway (OMS) featured numerous layouts, including an oval layout and various road course layouts. The rectangular oval layout was measured at , with 9° of banking on each of the track's four turns. OMS was made as a replica of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway located in the United States state of Indiana. The main road course layout was measured at , with 20 turns. The road course also used parts of the oval, including the start-finish straight.
Amenities OMS was located in Ontario, California, and served by Interstate 10. OMS was designed and built by Oakland contracting form Stolte, Inc. At the time of the track's construction, OMS featured numerous modern amenities, which included a $3,600,000 (adjusted for inflation, $) computerized timing-and-scoring system, stadium club suites, and a restaurant. OMS had a permanent seating capacity of 85,000, with capacity being able to expand to 140,000 with temporary grandstands placed at the track's turns.
Track history Planning and construction Failed Sam Hanks attempt
On May 27, 1963, former racing driver, 1957 Indianapolis 500 winner, and then-Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) director of racing Sam Hanks announced plans to construct a $17,000,000 (adjusted for inflation, $) track in Ontario, California, north of the San Bernardino Freeway (part of Interstate 10). The project, known as the California Motor Speedway, was planned to be a replica of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with plans to build a capacity of 150,000 grandstand seats and a rectangular oval. Numerous businessmen were involved in the venture, including oil businessman Edwin W. Pauley, who at the time co-owned nearby Riverside International Raceway (RIR). Hanks' ambitions were high for the project, with Hanks stating hopes of hosting events with higher attendance than IMS, which at the time hosted events that had attendance numbers exceeding 300,000. The following month, the city of Ontario approved annexing of land to accommodate the construction of the proposed track. In August, a survey was conducted on public support of the track; according to a spokesman, the survey projected "good" results, with the start of construction scheduled for the spring of 1964. Two months later, Hanks announced further plans for the facility during a luncheon, with plans to host the first races at the proposed track during Thanksgiving weekend of 1965 and to construct a road course for open-wheel racing.
By early January 1964, local media reported a potential setback for the proposal after RIR officials announced plans to undergo a $9,000,000 (adjusted for inflation, $) renovation project. Despite Hanks stating to the San Francisco Examiner that he had "enough offers to start building today" in February, he officially announced the cancellation of the project a month after due to financial support being pulled due to a lack of potential profit for investors within the first 12 years of the track's existence and high land costs. According to The Daily Report, the land used for the track would have costed "just short of $4 million". Hanks' proposal was shortly revived in December by Rayco Realty, who filed plans to the San Bernardino County Planning Commission. The plan faced heavy opposition from Ontario International Airport director Woodruff DeSilva, who stated that the track would cause disruptions to aerial traffic, which included the claim that planes would fly above the track. After two separate delays in the hearing date of the proposed plans, the project was withdrawn from the Planning Commission on January 28, 1965.
Failed Filmways–Stolte, Inc. attempt Sometime in 1965, William Loorz, chief executive officer of Oakland contracting firm Stolte, Inc., spent $1,000,000 to buy land options to build a potential IMS replica similar to Hanks' proposal. On February 15, 1966, plans for an IMS replica similar to Hanks' proposal were unveiled to the Ontario City Council. The track proposal, named the Ontario Motor Speedway (OMS), was a collaboration between filming production company Filmways and Stolte, Inc, with a proposed budget of $20,800,000 (adjusted for inflation, $). Plans for the track included a rectangular oval, a road course, a dragstrip, seating capacity for 250,000, an opening date of December 1, 1968, and four major races per year. Further plans relating to financing were announced a day later at an official unveiling announcement at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, which included plans to form a non-profit corporation created by the Californian government to own the site, with construction being financed by a bond issue. The lessee created by the financiers, Ontario Motor Speedway, Incorporated, signed a 50-year lease to operate the track. The non-profit corporation, the Ontario Motor Speedway Corporation, planned to own the track for 30 years before ownership was transferred to the city of Ontario. OMS received support from then-Mayor of Ontario Charles Latimer, who described the project as "a tremendous economic boon to Ontario". At the time of OMS' announcement, some local media reporters feared a potential financial struggle with RIR due to the close proximity of the two tracks.
After the track's approval was delayed by the city of Ontario's financial committee on March 1 to order OMS officials to compile more comprehensive financial information to prove the track's feasibility, OMS was approved on the 15th, with OMS officials stating hopes to secure at least $25,000,000 in bonds. In later interviews, Ontario City Attorney Samuel Crowe, who at the time of the approval was a city councilman, stated that "it would have been political suicide at the time not to accept it". Two weeks later, the Ontario City Council approved to seek out potential bond underwriters. After final approval to underwrite was delayed on the next meeting on April 19 due to incomplete legal documents, approval was given to underwrite $30 million worth of bonds on May 3. Three weeks later, the city of Ontario was approved by the Local Agency Formation Commission to annex of land to build OMS. On July 13, United States Auto Club (USAC) officials announced a planned groundbreaking date of November 1 of that year. However, within the month, the project's board of directors expressed frustration over delays in obtaining a tax-exempt ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), causing progress to be delayed. In August, documents drafted to send to the IRS for tax-exempt status approval were approved by the OMS board of directors. By October, IRS approval was scheduled to December; Stolte, Inc. chief executive officer William Loorz maintained that the track's situation was in "excellent shape" regarding financing. By this point, the amount of bonds proposed to be sold increased to $33.2 million.
On November 3, San Francisco Chronicle writer Gordon Martin reported that Filmways sold their interest of OMS to Stolte, Inc., leaving the latter as the sole developer of the project. The following month, both the city council and the OMS board of directors approved marketing $34 million of bonds to finance the track; these bonds were later given tax-exempt status in January 1967. However, in January 1967, with groundbreaking having not yet occurred, Loorz admitted a severe delay in groundbreaking due to a slow bond market in the summer of 1966. By the end of February, Loorz stated to the Los Angeles Times that the OMS project was officially "stalled" due to land options expiring; Loorz maintained that the project was "definitely not" scrapped.
Stolte, Inc. revival, construction In March 1968, the Ontario City Council called for a session to review revised plans for OMS; the revised plans included a decrease in cost, construction time, and seating capacity, with an opening date scheduled for 1970. After previous separate failed attempts to obtain an underwriter from the Santa Anita Park, the Music Corporation of America, and a subsidiary of the Penn Central Railroad, in April, the Times reported that "some $25 million" worth of bonds were underwritten from Chicago company John Nuveen and Co., with writer Bob Thomas stating that the project would happen "beyond a reasonable doubt". In July, track officials announced plans to start construction in the fall of 1968, with construction being planned to finish within 24 months. Within the month, $25,500,000 (adjusted for inflation, $) worth of tax-exempt revenue bonds were offered at a yield of 7.5%, which The New York Times described as "one of the most unusual sales of tax-exempt securities since passage of the income tax amendment in 1913". In later interviews, OMS director of special activities and racing driver Rodger Ward stated to the Progress-Bulletin that the $25.5 million was for financial security, stating, "The $25.5 million contract means that we could operate for 2½ years and not take in a dime and still stay in business." On the 19th, San Francisco Examiner writer Miles Ottenheimer reported that groundbreaking would take place in early August. However, in August, David B. Lockton, operating director and one of the main financiers of OMS, stated that groundbreaking would occur in September; a finalized date of September 24 was later given.