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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| Mesa
Marin Raceway by Norm Bogan |
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In
the mid sixties, Marion Collins operated Oildale Tire Company with his brother
Frank and spent his leisure time racing a sportsman car at some local short
tracks.
By 1969, Marion and his brother Pete had constructed a Dodge Charger and
entered the Grand National(now Winston Cup) race at Riverside Raceway.
Like many racers, who have suffered frustration at various tracks and
with different associations, Marion had a dream of building his own track and
operating it with his philosophy of treating the racers and fans like friends. Initially,
work started on Marion's dream in 1970, as a deposit was made on a parcel of
land and preliminary design and engineering work started to develop this racing
venue. It took five years to get
through all the governmental red tape and finally secure their Use Permit.
Construction time was another one and a half years, with the track's
inaugural race in the spring of 1977. In
the beginning, Marion and Frank ran the tire company during the day and also,
operated the racetrack. The origin
of the track name is interesting, since it was coined from the track location on
a mesa overlooking the valley floor, and the name of a daughter of one of the
original investors, Marin. As
Marion's sons, Larry and Gary grew up, they were brought into the track
business. Larry works in the front
office and serves as the General Manager, while Gary pursued a racing career and
operates a racecar fabrication shop on the premises.
Gary has won several championships, including Copper World Classic
victories. He did the initial
design and fabrication of the first five racing trucks, which grew into the now
popular Craftsman Truck Series. The
first race ever held for this class was run at Mesa Marin in July 1994.
Larry in the meantime, has been scheduling special events at the track
such as, annual Winston West, South West Tour and now Craftsman Truck Series
dates for the speedway. Beginning in 1994, there has been a weekly NASCAR Winston
Racing Series program. Over the
past few years, Larry has scheduled some concert dates at the track. The
track has seen racing by many different classes, both full-bodied cars and open
wheel racers. During its existence,
various classes of stock cars, from entry-level street stocks through foreign
stocks and sportsman cars to the powerful Winston West racers, have
participated. Open wheel classes
have included midgets, sprints, the beautiful supermodifieds and one USAC Silver
Crown race. The program has changed
over the years, due to diminishing car counts or fading popularity of certain
classes and adjustments made by sanctioning bodies. Some
of the racers who have roots at Mesa Marin and have gone on to greater fame
include Lance Hooper, Ron Hornaday Jr., Mike Skinner and Joe Ruttman.
A young Jeff Gordon won a sprint car feature, before becoming a
"rainbow warrior". Rusty
Wallace would make a race or two a year, as his schedule permitted. Several
years ago, Marion was suffering through the renewal procedure for his Use Permit
and realized that many of the governmental agencies had no idea of the impact
that racing at Mesa Marin had on the community.
He now devotes about eight to ten hours per week, to meeting with the
various agencies, providing them with attendance figures, motel rooms rented,
restaurant meals bought and other pertinent information that helps to understand
the track's contribution to the community. The Mayor now attends events at the track and has a booth at
the entrance, for one of the major races, to meet and greet the public. Marion's
efforts with county and state government, have been fruitful, as they have just
approved expansion at the track. Seating
will be increased from the current 6300 permanent seats to 40,000.
A three-story building, providing VIP suites, is to be constructed
outside of turns 3 and 4. An
additional twenty acres will be dedicated to parking.
Marion
and Larry stress that their years as racers and track operators have made them
aware of the needs of both the racers and the fans. They want to continue the family atmosphere and make
themselves available to the public. The
dream isn't over yet. On the office
wall is an artist's rendering of a domed Mesa Marin, with air conditioning and
rooftop ventilation fans. A hotel
would also be located on the grounds. Marion
and Larry would love to secure a Winston Cup or Busch Grand National date in the
future. Imagine participating in
the event in air-conditioned splendor. |
