| California State Fairgrounds | |
| Location: | Sacramento, California |
| Closed: | 1970 (first track) |
| Events: | Golden State 100 AAA/USAC National Championship |
| Miles First: | True |
| Layout1: | Oval |
| Surface: | Rice hulls[1] |
| Length Km: | 1.6 |
| Length Mi: | 1 |
| Layout2: | Road course (1955–1969) |
| Surface2: | Asphalt |
| Length Km2: | 3.4 |
| Length Mi2: | 2.1 |
| Turns2: | 9 |
California State Fairgrounds Race Track has been the name of two dirt oval racing tracks located in Sacramento, California. The track was built in 1906 for horse racing on the site of the California Exposition. It was active for auto racing in 1907, 1912, and from 1946 until 1970.[1] The Exposition moved to a new site north of Downtown Sacramento in 1968, and the old fairgrounds were closed and sold for development in 1970. The final day of the track was marred by tragedy when three drivers were killed in the 100-lap super-modified caged sprint car competition.[2]
From 1949 to 1970, the track hosted the Golden State 100, a round of the AAA/USAC National Championship. The race was revived at the new Cal Expo site as a USAC Silver Crown race from 1989 until 2000. Motorcycle racing's Sacramento Mile continues to be held at the new California Exposition as part of the AMA Grand National Championship.
A 2.1-mile (3.4-km) road course was laid out in the parking lots surrounding the oval, and used for sports car racing between 1955 and 1969.[3] [4] It hosted a SCCA National Sports Car Championship round in 1955.
| Race Title: | Golden State 100 |
| Location: | Sacramento, California |
| First Race: | 1949 |
| First Series Race: | 1970 |
| Most Wins Driver: | A. J. Foyt (5) |
| Most Wins Manufacturer: | Meskowski & Watson (tied 5) |
| Length Km: | 1.6 |
| Year | Date | Driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | October 30 | Kurtis-Offy | |
| 1950 | October 15 | Kurtis-Offy | |
| 1951–1952: not held | |||
| 1953 | October 25 | Kurtis-Offy | |
| 1954 | October 17 | Kuzma-Offy | |
| 1955 | October 16 | Kuzma-Offy | |
| 1956 | October 21 | Watson-Offy | |
| 1957 | October 21 | Lesovsky-Offy | |
| 1958 | October 26 | Kuzma-Offy | |
| 1959 | October 25 | Kuzma-Offy | |
| 1960 | October 30 | Meskowski-Offy | |
| 1961 | October 29 | Watson-Offy | |
| 1962 | October 28 | Meskowski-Offy | |
| 1963 | October 27 | Watson-Offy | |
| 1964 | October 25 | Meskowski-Offy | |
| 1965 | October 24 | Watson-Offy | |
| 1966 | October 23 | Watson-Offy | |
| 1967 | October 1 | Meskowski-Offy | |
| 1968 | September 29 | Meskowski-Offy | |
| 1969 | September 28 | King-Ford | |
| 1970 | October 4 | King-Ford | |
| [5] [6] | |||
The race was revived in 1989 at the new Cal Expo mile track as a USAC Silver Crown event.
| Year | Date | Driver | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | June 4 |  George Snider[7] | |
| 1990 | June 3 | Jimmy Sills[8] | |
| 1991–1992: not held | |||
| 1993 | October 9 | Jimmy Sills[9] | |
| 1994 | October 8 | Jimmy Sills[10] | |
| 1995 | October 7 | Donnie Beechler[11] | |
| 1996 | October 12 | Donnie Beechler[12] | |
| 1997 | October 11 | Dave Darland[13] | |
| 1998 | October 10 | J. J. Yeley[14] | |
| 1999 | October 9 | Jimmy Sills[15] | |
| 2000 | October 7 | Dave Darland[16] | |
Several NASCAR Grand National Series (today's NASCAR Cup Series) races were held on the dirt oval.
| Season | Date |
| Winner | Track length (mi) | Race length (mi) | Purse ($USD) | Pole speed (mph) | Cautions | Caution laps | Avg. speed (mph) | Lead changes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Start pos. | Car make/model | ||||||||||||
| Jun 8, 1956 | 21 | 15 | '56 Mercury | 1.000 | 100 | 4,285 | 76.612 | – | – | 74.074 | – | |||
| 1957 | Sep 8, 1957 | 27 | 1 | '57 Chevrolet | 1.000 | 100 | 4,075 | 78.007 | – | – | 68.663 | 0 | ||
| Sep 7, 1958 | 28 | 1 | '56 Ford | 1.000 | 100 | 3,885 | 77.922 | – | – | 65.550 | – | |||
| Sep 13, 1959 | 26 | 19 | '59 Ford | 1.000 | 100 | 3,885 | – | – | – | 54.753 | – | |||
| Sep 11, 1960 | 23 | 1 | '60 Dodge | 1.000 | 100 | 4,625 | 78.450 | – | – | 70.629 | 4 | |||
| Sep 10, 1961 | 32 | – | '61 Ford | 1.000 | 100 | 5,125 | 79.260 | – | – | 0.000 | 1 | |||
Several NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Division/NASCAR Winston West Series (today's ARCA Menards Series West) races were held on the dirt oval.
| Season | Date | Race name | Attendance |
| Winner | Track length (mi) | Race length (mi) | Purse ($USD) | Pole speed (mph) | Cautions | Caution laps | Avg. speed (mph) | Lead changes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Start pos. | Car make/model | |||||||||||||||
| Jun 8, 1956 | 21 | 15 | '56 Mercury | 1.000 | 100 | 4,285 | 76.612 | – | – | 74.074 | – | [18] | |||||
| Sep 8, 1957 | 27 | 1 | '57 Chevrolet | 1.000 | 100 | 4,075 | 78.007 | – | – | 68.663 | – | [19] | |||||
| Oct 04, 1964 | Sacramento 100 | 8,500 | 24 | 1 | '64 Mercury | 1.000 | 100 | 6,000 | 85.653 | 2 | – | 68.182 | – | [20] | |||
| Oct 03, 1965 | Sacramento 100 | 26 | 1 | '64 Mercury | 1.000 | 100 | 6,000 | 82.286 | 1 | 6 | 75.538 | 2 | [21] | ||||
| Oct 9, 1966 | Sacramento 100 | 5,860 | 25 | 5 | '64 Ford | 1.000 | 100 | 6,000 | 85.714 | 4 | 15 | 62.915 | 2 | [22] | |||
| Apr 27, 1969 | Sacramento 100 | 5,000 | 28 | 10 | '67 Chevrolet | 1.000 | 100 | 7,500 | 89.021 | 6 | 23 | 78.880 | 4 | [23] | |||
| 1970 | May 10, 1970 | Sacramento 100 | 4,235 | 28 | 1 | '69 Ford | 1.000 | 100 | 5,250 | 90.475 | 3 | 11 | 85.633 | 5 | [24] | ||