I’m not accustomed to driving five and a half hours for a “car show”in the middle of nowhere, but there was something different about this one….

Like many of you, since June of last year, I’d been hearing all sorts of stories about the famed 600 acre Willow Springs racetrack being offered for sale, with many conjecturing that it would be sold off for redevelopment as something not racetrack related. The track had been purchased and managed by Bill Huth and the Huth family since 1962. If you’ve followed motorsports over the years, you know that the list of motorsports facilities across the country has shrunk, the Golden state’s inventory of tracks has followed the same decline. That said, the thought of losing another one to residential or industrial development really tugs at the automotive enthusiast’s heartstrings.

Like many of you, I’d also never been to the famed circuit as it’s not a spectator track, and as I really appreciate now, it’s located in the middle of nowhere…especially if you live in Northern California. Though not a spectator’s paradise, the track is very much part of the story of motorsports in California and beyond. According to the track’s website, the 2.9 mile road course was inspired by iconic tracks in Europe and never changed from its original 1953 configuration. It hosted the first two NASCAR events west of the Mississippi, the first F.I.M. 500 Grand Prix motorcycle race in the U.S., the first 24-hour motorcycle race, the first kart road racing in the country, and the track and facility have been featured in countless TV shows and movies such as Top Gear, Ford v Ferrari, Jay Leno’s Garage, and my favorite Jason Cammisa’s Icons.

Well, the good news is that for the foreseeable future, Willow Springs will not be replaced by tract housing or big box shops. As fate would have it, the parties who purchased it were CrossHarbor Capital Partners, a “boutique” private equity firm, and Singer Vehicle Design. According to a track press release:

“CrossHarbor and Singer do not intend to ever sell Willow Springs and have brought together a group of passionate motorsport enthusiasts to join as co-owners in the facility, all with a long-term, multigenerational goal of preservation and improvement. A number of recognized consultants have been enlisted to support and plan future improvements, including:

• Former Formula 1 driver, Le Mans winner and track designer Alex Wurz, head of Wurz Design, who will enhance existing track design and safety.

• Renowned for its leadership in motorsports entertainment and venue management, Speedway Motorsports’ subsidiary Sonoma Raceway, bringing years of expertise in delivering premier on-track experiences, will oversee track operations to help create a world class motorsports facility.

• Hart Howerton, a world-recognized master planner, will create off-track elements to enhance Willow Springs' customer and member experience.”

How does one celebrate this new partnership?

Lucky for us, the folks at CrossHarbor and Singer wanted to show off the new digs!

On August 5th, as TLP was gearing up for our annual pilgrimage to Car Week, we saw the first announcement for the event.

“Join us on October 11, for a special launch event to celebrate Willow Springs’ legendary history and exciting new chapter.”

I didn’t think too much about it as there were scant details, and as we were about to experience the tonnage of all the things of Car Week, an unplanned late year excursion to some far off mystery event didn’t seem like much of a possibility.

But then….

But then the promoters got my attention. Over the days and weeks after the original announcement, the track’s social media dropped almost daily teases of the event guest list…and the list was no joke. The list was impressive…Singer (obviously), O’Gara Coach, Icon, Dirt Fish, Shelby American, the Petersen Automotive Museum, Hot Wheels, Czinger, Tuthill, the Spikes Car Radio boys, and many more. Literally something for everyone from young kids to super car nerds. Post after post, my FOMO was triggered and the rusty gears in my brain started to hatch a plan.

It started with a hotel reservation in lovely Tehachapi, CA, then got the OK from my wife, then locked down a wingman, my son Vincent (the trip also served as a 19th birthday present for him). We put the event on our calendars and waited patiently for the 11th of October with almost daily social media announcements about what to expect.

When we got to the track, way too early in the morning, it looked exactly as anticipated. The facility was pretty old school, but neat as a pin, and many of the buildings on the sprawling campus had fresh coats of paint and crisp bold retro lettering. Everything looked orderly and well laid out from outside the gate, and we were teased by tons of amazing cars toodling around on their way to be staged. Other event participants then started showing up and getting through the main gates, giving us elevated levels of FOMO. It was a steady stream of awesome while we waited patiently to get in.

Matt Farah and Strawberry Shortcake rolling in at sun up…

Look, a Carrera GT! Oh snap, that looks a lot like Matt Farah in Strawberry Shortcake! Then a brilliant silver Miura…and then, wuh…Ferdi Porsche in, what else, an ice racing ready Porsche 964. It was getting crazy. Luckily, I remembered that I’d put in a request for a media credential about a week before the event and with my pass in hand, I got to get past the security and staff about 25 minutes before the general public, including my jonesing, and now slightly irritated, son was let in with hundreds of other attendees. For a few minutes I had the place pretty much to myself. It was a bit overwhelming.

About a half hour later we were all greeted by Matt Farah and Zak Klapman on stage recording an episode of The Smoking Tire.

The event featured numerous on-track demos, including Lia Block hooning in her dad’s mind-melting Hoonitruck, a gaggle of B-sedan racers, Porsche GT4 RS track cars and a parade of cars on loan from the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA, Cup Car legend Jimmie Johnson destroying the tires of a late model Toyoya Camry cup car, and much more. Also, on Willow Spring’s own devoted (go)karting track, were scores of mostly youngins throwing themselves around in some pretty fast electric go-karts promoting Ferdi Porsche’s blossoming F.A.T. Karting League. There was a lot going on.

The event was also a crazy town car show. We spent a few hours meandering around, seeing what we could see…and there were plenty of cars and stars to be seen.

Czinger

Hoonigan

Petersen

Singer

All in all, Willow Springs Imagined seemed to be a success. Not even the dust storm that developed a couple of hours into the event could dampen the mood for the incredibly diverse crowd who made the trek to this track in the middle of nowhere. Seldom at an automotive event have we seen so many families in attendance. The promoters did an extraordinary job to ensure that the lucky 5,000 in attendance (the event sold out a few days before) were treated to a first class facility, plenty of food options, great new swag for the event and the track, and most importantly, bathrooms everywhere. It was open, inviting, and laid out to deliver a special and memorable experience for all who attended. Granted our five and a half hour drive was extreme compared to the hour and a half to two hour drive from the greater Los Angeles area, I didn’t get the sense that anyone there regretted their decision to go, or get their twenty bucks worth (proceeds were donated to the Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation).

The event’s success points toward a bright future for the facility and for the automotive world in general. It shows that people will give their time and money to preserve something that deserves to be preserved, and that the people leading the effort really care about what they’re doing and are more than willing to share their vision, and the early stages of their work product to the car and racing community in a meaningful way. Now there are still a lot of things we don’t know and can’t be sure of, but only time will tell.

There are still big picture concerns from the outside world about how “open to the public” the raceway will be as improvements are made and Willow Springs becomes a developing property and an actual workplace facility for Singer Vehicle Design, but what we saw that day in the middle of nowhere is that brains and money behind the venture are certainly signaling their intent that Willow Springs International Raceway is still on the proverbial map, and dedicated to remaining engaged with the automotive community from the grass roots on up to ensure that the track’s best chapters have yet to be written. We here at The Loud Pedal certainly wish them all the success in the world and we can’t wait to get back down to the middle of nowhere to see the product of their efforts next season.

Last but not least, I want to give a TLP shout out to my son Vincent for contributing to photography duties, helping on the drive, and just being a pretty solid good guy. Thanks Vince!

As always, because we know our pics are better than our words, we’ve added a mega gallery below.

-Andrew