Santa Clara Speedway

Also known as San Jose Speedway, this fairground dirt track opened in 1948 as a half-mile oval with a one-mile version added in 1951. That longer layout was chosen to hold AAA National Championship races (now IndyCar Series) races in 1951 and 1952 which were won by Tony Bettenhausen and Bobby Ball respectively. Joe James crashed out of the lead of that latter race and succumbed to his injuries three days later. The 0.5-mile course was chosen when NASCAR Grand National visited for the only time in 1957. Reduced to 0.333 miles in 1990, the speedway closed in 1999 with the grandstand demolished two years later.