The Rise And Fall Of Orange County International Raceway

Orange County International Raceway has been gone 25 years, eight years longer than it was in business from 1967 through 1983, but it’s still fondly remembered by those who worked, raced, and played there. When it was built, it billed it as “the Super Track,” and when it opened its doors to the public Aug. 5, 1967, it was crystal clear that it was not simply marketing hype. Much as today’s racers and fans are wowed by the opulence of Bruton Smith’s new zMax Dragway, such was the case 41 years earlier when OCIR was born. It was that good and that far ahead of its time.

OCIR actually grew out of a partnership brokered by longtime NHRA Vice President Bernie Partridge, uniting the efforts of two dynamic duos: Larry Vaughn and Bill White, who had grown up on the 80,000-acre Irvine Ranch and knew that the vast area would be a great open spot for a new facility, and Mike Jones, a former designer and draftsman (but then employed as a racing engine designer) and a former competitor in drag racing, dry lakes, and road racing, and his financial backer, newspaper publisher and auto dealer Mike McKenna… read more >