The Oldest Permanent Road Course in the U.S. is For Sale
Following the sale of Circuit Mont-Tremblant in Quebec two years ago, another famous race track in North America is about to change hands.
Willow Springs International Motorsport Park, located in Rosamond near Los Angeles, is largely known as the oldest permanent road course in the U.S.—and also nicknamed “The Fastest Road in the West.” Inaugurated on November 23, 1953, it has seen its fair share of upgrades over the decades but has always retained the same configuration, which legendary race car driver Ken Miles helped design.
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The venue was purchased by a man named Bill Huth in 1962 and his family has kept operations going since his death in 2015.
"Five generations of our family have enjoyed being stewards of America’s first purpose-built road racing circuit. Our parents, Bill and Maxine, bought a ghost of a 2.5-mile road course in the middle of nowhere. They had no backing. Dad had $17 the day they paved it. Sacrifices were made,” daughter Stephanie Huth wrote to Road Racing World. “I can’t wait to see what the next stewards will do. Like Dad, I’m still waiting for someone to do a one-minute lap on ‘the Fastest Road in the West.'”
Willow Springs actually features seven different tracks—three road courses (including “Big Willow” and “Horse Thief Mile,” two paved quarter-mile oval tracks, a 3/8-mile banked dirt oval, a kart track and a paved drifting track, not to mention 65 hectares of off-road trails.
In addition to hosting countless races, Willow Springs has long held track days for cars and motorcycles, served as a driving school, been used for shooting commercials (like the one for the new Jeep Wagoneer S) and movies (such as Ford vs. Ferrari), and welcomed journalists for many product launches, from the 1965 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R Competition to the 2022 Porsche Taycan GTS. The Car Guide’s Gabriel Gélinas was actually on hand for the latter.
The listing doesn’t mention a price but invites potential buyers to submit offers. A recent assessment values the location at $2.25 million USD (approx. $3.1 million CAD), which pretty much sounds like a steal. Of course, the new owners are going to have to make additional investments to freshen up the place and keep the legacy of Willow Springs alive.