CAJON SPEEDWAY TRACK HISTORY For forty ... - City of El Cajon

Here are three of the top drivers during the super stock era at Cajon Speedway. Mike Hageman
(2) leads Ron Esau (3) and Gary Crossland (4) in the middle of the third and fourth turns at the
3/8 mile paved oval. Esau was the 1978 titlest. Hageman won three championships – 1979,
1980, and 1986. Having finished second in points four times (1974, 1978, 1980, 1981) Crossland
no doubt was “the best driver who never won a championship”.
After several seasons the modifieds of SDRA gradually lost their following as the super stocks
gained in popularity. In 1971 the super stocks became the sole tenants except for an occasional
sprint car or midget show. Cajon Speedway ran but one race in 1972 as the county
unsuccessfully sought to alter the terms of the lease.
So on April 28, 1973 the super stocks returned to action on the Gillespie Field track after
competing the previous year on the 1/2 mile dirt South Bay Park Speedway on Otay Mesa. The
middle of the 1970's were the glory days for Cajon Speedway and the El Cajon Stock Car Racing
Association as nearly 100 super stocks jammed the pits each Saturday night and competition
was exceptionally tight. But that passed. By the mid‐1980's the super stock fields were thinning
due to escalating costs and they too became history at the end of the 1988 season. They were
replaced by the sportsman stocks, which was designed to be a more economical form of racing.
That division is still the premier class on the track today, but shares the oval with the Grand
American modifieds, street stocks, pony stocks, bomber stocks, and factory stocks.
Cajon Speedway joined the NASCAR alliance prior to 1986 and today is one of about 100 short
tracks across the nation participating in the weekly NASCAR Weekly Racing Series presented by
Dodge.
Since 1961 more than 3,965,000 fans have attended the racing events at Cajon Speedway,
making the track one of the most successful and longest running race tracks on the west coast.
There have been 1299 nights of oval track racing during those 43 years with 595 different
drivers visiting victory lane following the 3195 main events. The Brucker clan continues to run
the facility. Over the years Earle Brucker Jr. turned over the daily management chores to sons
Steve and Kevin. Kevin is now responsible for the track's operation following the death of Steve
Brucker, who was murdered in his home in April 2003. In 2003 nearly 67,000 fans attended the
races during the season, an average of about 2560 per night.
It certainly can be said the proposed baseball facility has come a long way.
Thank you to Bob Gardner for providing this information and accompanying photos.