Costa Mesa Speedway

88 Fair Dr, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

“Pitch’n It Sideways!

This Saturday, October 12, 2024, is the 54th U.S. National Speedway Championship and is being held at the Costa Mesa Speedway at the Orange County Fairgrounds. So, I thought this would be a good topic to post.

There are speedway races various Saturday nights from April to October

What is speedway?

A speedway motorcycle is very simple. One gear, one cylinder, one footpeg on the right, alcohol for fuel, and NO BRAKES. It only needs to turn left around the oval.

The races last about 90 seconds, with the bikes sliding sideways and spraying the track sides (and often the fans) with dirt clods. They hit about 50-60 mph.

There are also sidecars that race speedway. They go clockwise (rather than counterclockwise like a solo racer) around the track with a passenger called a “monkey”.

History of the track

Costa Mesa Speedway opened on June 13, 1969¹ by Harry Oxley and 1937 Speedway World Champion Jack Milne. Milne had a motorcycle shop in Pasadena and Oxley worked for him. They were promoting speedway events in Van Nuys until they found the dirt track in Costa Mesa at the fairgrounds. It is a family-owned and operated track, with the son of Oxley now the event promoter along with his wife.

This 1969 JAWA, built in what was then Czechoslovakia, is the kind of speedway motorcycle that was raced when the Costa Mesa Speedway first opened. They haven't changed all that much.

It is a bullring oval, meaning that its 185-yard length is smaller than a normal oval. It has attendance of about 5,000 people.²

Other events take place there during the OC Fair, such as rodeos, concerts, BMX, and demolition derbies. It is called the Action Sports Arena then.

Go out and enjoy the races, even if you get hit by a dirt clod or two (we have!)

Costa Mesa Speedway website

1. Erika Taylor, Voice of OC, October 15, 2022.

2. Taylor Hamby, OC Weekly, September 26, 2013