Location | Kern Canyon Road (CA 184), Bakersfield, California |
---|---|
Owner | Marion Collins |
Opened | 1977 |
Closed | October 16, 2005 |
Oval | |
Length | 0.8 km (0.5 mi) |
Mesa Marin Raceway was a 0.5-mile (0.80 km) paved oval race track, located near the junction of CA 178 and CA 184 (Kern Canyon Road), east of Bakersfield, California. It opened in 1977 and was owned by Marion Collins throughout its existence. The Collins family helped start the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (then-Craftsman SuperTruck Series) in 1995, and hosted eight races in that series at the track between 1995 and 2003. Mesa Marin also hosted 45 races for the Winston West Series and for NASCAR's Southwest Tour. The last race was held at Mesa Marin on October 16, 2005, as the track was sold for a housing development to be constructed on the site.
Many of Mesa Marin's events were broadcast on television, including the 1995 Craftsman Truck Series race on ABC's Wide World of Sports and the NCTS on The Nashville Network and later ESPN. Local races were featured, as well as both the NASCAR West Series and Southwest Tour (sanction of that tour changed to SRL in 2007), on Speed Channel and HDNet.
It ran NASCAR-sanctioned local racing, including the NASCAR Camping World Series West, United States Auto Club open-wheel racing, the NASCAR Southwest Tour, and other notable local racing. Nearly 4 million spectators attended Mesa Marin Raceway during the track's 28-year existence.