The opening AAA-sanctioned races of 1911 were held on a temporary 11-mile San Leandro road course outside Oakland, California. What is now known as Indycars made a one-off return to the area in 1932 on the recently opened 1-mile Oakland Speedway dirt track. That race was won by “Wild” Bill Cummings and 500-mile events for “big cars” were held when the track was paved in 1938. The grandstand burnt to the ground in 1942 and the facility did not reopen. The shorter Oakland Stadium was built on the same site with a flat dirt oval inside a high-banked paved 0.625-mile track. Marvin Burke won on the outer track in 1951 on his only NASCAR start. Two rounds were held in 1954 using the paved straights and dirt turns of the inner track. Oakland Stadium closed a year later with the land redeveloped as a shopping centre.
