Former motor racing venue
37°30′14″N
121°58′21″W
/
37.503768°N 121.972511°W
/
37.503768; -121.972511
The
Fremont Dragstrip
was a racing venue for
dragster
automobiles that was located in
Fremont, California
in the
San Francisco Bay Area
, operating from 1959 until the end of 1988. In its final years, it was part of
Baylands Raceway Park
. The site lies in the quadrant just south of the intersection of
Interstate 880
and
Auto Mall
Parkway(formerly "Durham road").
History
[
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]
The track was constructed on land leased from the
Southern Pacific Railroad
, which had acquired the land from the
U.S. Navy
after
World War II
. The Army had constructed a small airfield on the site just prior to the war, which was subsequently taken over by the Navy during the war (Naval Outlying Landing Field Heath). In 1961, after the Fremont Dragstrip was already in operation, another smaller airfield for gliders, Sky Sailing Airport, was constructed on the southern part of the site directly adjacent to the dragstrip, becoming one of the busiest gliderports in the world prior to its closure.
[1]
[2]
By the end of the 1960s and early 1970s, the Fremont Dragstrip was in its heyday. Its booming radio ads were familiar and ubiquitous on all the pop radio stations in the
San Francisco Bay Area
.
The track was used as a location for movies in the late 1970s.
More American Graffiti
, a 1979
coming-of-age
comedy film
written and directed by
Bill L. Norton
, had filmed
Paul Le Mat
's character, John Milner, drag racing here.
[3]
Hot Rod
, the 1979
made-for-television
directed by
George Armitage
and starring
Gregg Henry
and
Pernell Roberts
, filmed races here.
[4]
The track held the
National Hot Rod Association
(NHRA) Golden Gate Nationals from 1981 to 1983 but was snubbed from event TV and video coverage by NHRA of which almost no Known footage exists over the 3 years. .
[3]
[5]
In 1983,
Gary Beck
ran the first Top Fuel time in the 5.3s, a 5.39 seconds, in Larry Minor's dragster.
[3]
[6]
[7]
"Because of its dense, near-sea-level air and outstanding traction, Baylands is a fast track that has been the site of most production-bike record attempts."
[8]
In December 1986, Jay Gleason set the fastest quarter-mile of 9.69 seconds on a street bike,
Yamaha V-Max
.
[9]
[10]
In 1996 the
Catellus Development Corporation
converted the land to the Pacific Commons complex development, and the
Nueva School
.
Evil Knievel performed here.
References
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]
External links
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]