– Impressively, SCRAMP (Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula) constructed the brand-new 1.9-mile track in a mere 60 days at ‘dry lagoon’ (in Spanish: Laguna Seca). And unbelievably the “Corkscrew” the most challenging corner in the world was created by an unknown bulldozer driver…-
Ferrari 500TR chassis# 0650MDTR – Ferrari Tipo 131; no.0650MDTR 1900cc naturally aspirated inline – 4
At Laguna Seca Raceway (1.900 miles/ 3.058 km), 8th Annual Pebble Beach at Laguna Seca National Championship Sports Car Road Races (20 laps), SCCA National Laguna Seca – Classes: BP+CP+DP+EP, Rd.14 SCCA National Sports Car Championship, Rd.20 Pacific Coast Championship, Rd.2 California SCCA National Points, on 9-10 Nov, 1957
I still feel very much attached to Laguna Seca Raceway because I spent my school days near this track in California. When I was a university student, I often visited to help my friend’s racing activities. The circuit is also the site of the annual Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, formerly known as the “Monterey Historic Automobile Races”.
The storied history of then-named Laguna Seca Raceway officially began November 9, 1957 with the inaugural race called the Eighth Annual Pebble Beach Road Races. Laguna Seca is Spanish for “dry lagoon”, the area used to be once a lake. This was a continuation of the racing through the forest at nearby Pebble Beach that began in 1950 and ended 6 years later.
The “Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP)” signaled an end to racing in there and marked the beginning for what has become a world famous road course. Impressively, SCRAMP constructed the brand-new 1.9-mile (3.058 km) track in a mere “60 days” (The latest racetrack is 2.238 mi/3.602 km long). The first Laguna Seca race in 1957 won by Pete Lovely in Fred Armbruster’s Ferrari 500TR.
– Laguna Seca Raceway-
The primary corporate sponsor of the circuit is WeatherTech since April 2018. As part of the sponsorship, the track is now officially referred to as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Previously, the sponsorship belonged to Mazda for 17 years with the track being known as Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Project by Wallace Holm, chairman of the Site Development and Maintenance Committee for SCRAMP (Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula) from 1951 to 1961
Built by Granite Construction Company
Location; Monterey County, near Salinas, California, United States
・Original Circuit (1957-1987)
Length: 1.900 miles (3.058 km)
Turns: 9
・Grand Prix Circuit (1988-1995); Added the entire infield area in 1988 extending the track from its original 1.9-mile length to meet the minimum-track-length criteria of the FIM for MotoGP events
Length: 2.214 miles (3.563 km)
Turns: 11
・Grand Prix Circuit/ Phase-2 (1996-present)
Length: 2.238 miles (3.602 km)
Turns: 11
The racing made famous at Laguna Seca got its start in Del Monte Forest. For seven surreal years (1950-1956), race car drivers flocked to Pebble Beach to compete for the Del Monte Trophy, traversing the 1.8-mile track ( it eventually grew to a twisting 2.1 miles) and battling in the Del Monte Forest. The first Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was also staged simultaneously in 1950.
The infancy of American road racing in the years following World War II was often a semi-pro or amateur affair, but the 1950 race in here gained credibility when 23-year-old Phil Hill drove a new XK-120 Jaguar, won the first running. Then Hill would win the Pebble Beach Road Races twice in 1950 and 1953, before becoming the first American to claim the Formula One World Drivers’ Championship in 1961.
Carroll Shelby also won to the final edition in 1956 and became the last legacy of the Pebble Beach Road Races. The car was Dick Hall’s Ferrari 750 Monza. (Phil Hill won this event in the same car the year before.) Shelby would eventually capture the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1959. He drove the #5 Aston Martin DBR1/300 for David Brown Racing Dept, with Roy Salvadori.
However after a death of Ernie McAfee, who fatally smashed his Ferrari into a tree in 1956 ended the Pebble Beach Road Races, took a tragic turn. The event was abandoned for being too dangerous and the need for a safer course was deemed paramount. The popularity of the races and the financial impact to the community had impressed military authorities at nearby US Army’s Fort Ord (a maneuver area and field artillery target range).
In mid-1957 the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP) was formed and began working with military officers. SCRAMP negotiated a five-year deal and paid $3,000 to the Army for use of the land which called “Laguna Seca”, and on August 7, 1957 a lease was signed.
The name of land, Laguna Seca is Spanish for “dry lagoon”, the area used to be once a lake. The earliest development of the local area occurred in 1867 with the founding of the nearby “Laguna Seca Ranch”. The ranch had operated continuously for 140 years with grazing and equestrian uses.
The SCRAMP began fundraising and collected $125,000 from local businesses and individuals on part of the area, for track construction that began the first week of September.
They were very lucky to have 2 big things. First of all, there was the wonderful Laguna Seca site that the Army and Defense Department allowed us to lease. The second thing was the excellent help that they had in building the track.
The SCRAMP was fortunate to have one of the best road builders in the world, “Granite Construction Company” based in Watsonville, California, working with them. Granite did work in both public and private sector transportation infrastructure projects that include: roads and highways, bridges, dams, water reservoirs, railroads, seaports and airports. The materials division produced construction materials such as sand, gravel, ready-mix and asphalt concrete.
Granite agreed to build the track at cost and they also agreed to wait for some of their money. Not only were they running a cost-conscious endeavor, but they were building the track on the fly. There were a lot of people working together negotiating deals and working out compromises.
– “Get down the hill any way you can!” The circuit’s signature turn, ‘Corkscrew’ actually came about when the crew, who were going to lunch, told a Granite Construction’s bulldozer driver, like that.-
Heading this task force was Wallace Holm a chairman of the Site Development and Maintenance Committee for SCRAMP from 1951 to 1961, but he said; “The plans that I drew of the track weren’t drawn until after the track was completed (!!)”. They literally drew a rough diagram in the dirt, staked it out, and the bulldozers moved in and went to work. Building less than 2 miles of road was not a monumental task for Granite because they knew where the track was generally going to be.
Another beneficial thing that this great site had going for it was that it was located in “a bowl with a 55m elevation change” where the spectators could see at least 90 percent of the race at all times. As mentioned above, the site where the track now lies was once a lake, and the track was built around the dry lake bed. After the site was reconfigured, two artificial ponds were added.
Like the circuit that snaked through the Del Monte Forest, Laguna Seca features sharp turns. The track’s defining feature has become its “Corkscrew (at Turns 8 and 8A)” that plummets some 6 stories, with gradient up to 16%, just moments after you crest the top of the course. That famous and iconic turn is considered “one of the motorsport world’s most challenging turns”, due to the 18m (!) drop in elevation as well as its blind crest and apex on the uphill approach. It has been reported that the Corkscrew actually came about when the crew, who were going to lunch, told the bulldozer driver, “Get down the hill any way you can.”
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