Mesa Marin Raceway

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Facility statistics
Mesa Marin Raceway


Location	Bakersfield, California
Broke ground
Opened	1977
Owner	Gary Collins
Operator	The Collins family
Construction cost
Architect
Former names

Major events
Craftsman Truck Series
Seating capacity
{{{seating_capacity}}}
Current dimensions
Track shape	oval
Track length	0.5 mile
Track banking	17 degrees

Mesa Marin Raceway was a high banked half mile racetrack in Bakersfield, California that was demolished following the 2005 racing season to make way for housing developments in the foothills of northeast Bakersfield.

1 History
2 Role in Craftsman Truck Series formation
3 Notable drivers
4 Trivia
5 Reference
6 External link

[edit] History

The track was built in 1977. The track held events that were televised on ABC's Wide World of Sports, TNN, Fox Sports, Speed Channel, HDNet and ESPN. It is now closed. ^[1]

[edit] Role in Craftsman Truck Series formation

Mesa Marin was critical to the formation of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Mesa Marin was the site for design, construction and testing of the prototype NASCAR Craftsman Trucks. Track owners son Gary Collins (a former racer) led the team of designers and fabricators who built the first truck.

The track hosted nine NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events between 1995 and 2003. ^[2] The track added 4,500 seats in 1999, and had a capacity of nearly 12,000. ^[1] The track was demolished after the 2005 season. A new half-mile tri-oval track is being constructed in its place ^[1] west of Bakersfield and is set to open for the 2008 racing season. This new track is currently known as "Kern County's Home to NASCAR" and is located next to Interstate 5 at California State Route 43 (Enos Lane) along the Kern River. Speeds are expected to reach 140 mph or greater on this track which will also feature a drag strip.

[edit] Notable drivers

[edit] Trivia

Of the 900 short tracks in that nation, Mesa Marin Raceway's October Classic was voted the Premiere Event of the Year by National Speed Sport News. ^[1]
Nearly 4 million spectators attended Mesa Marin Raceway over its 29 year lifetime. ^[1]