MARYSVILLE, Calif. — Marysville Raceway promoter Dennis Gage will be retiring at the conclusion of the 2026 season.
Gage’s long career in racing will lead to the beginning of a career for Thomas Arbogast, who takes over the reins at the quarter-mile dirt track.
The depth of Arbogast’s feeling for racing is shown in this article he wrote, as we turn this space over for the remainder of this column.
The Clay That Built California
By Thomas Arbogast
There was a time when you could hardly drive across California without finding a dirt track.
Long before streaming television, before social media, and before professional sports filled every channel and every weekend, America’s original Saturday night entertainment was found beneath the glow of stadium lights, where the smell of methanol, race fuel and fresh clay drifted through the evening air.
California wasn’t simply home to dirt racing.
For decades, California was dirt racing.
It began humbly.
In the years following World War II, communities across the Golden State transformed horse tracks, fairgrounds, and vacant fields into makeshift speedways. Veterans returned home with mechanical skills learned overseas; inexpensive surplus parts were plentiful, and ambitious young racers-built machines in garages, barns, and backyard sheds.
Those early jalopies, roadsters, and midgets weren’t polished race cars. They were extensions of the men who built them, rough around the edges, innovative, and driven by determination more than money.
Families packed wooden grandstands every weekend. Entire towns shut down on Saturday nights because everyone knew where the excitement was.
At the race track.
As the 1950s rolled into the 1960s, California entered what many still consider the golden age of dirt racing.
Legendary speedways became household names.
Ascot Park in Southern California grew into one of the most famous sprint car venues in America, hosting the nation’s greatest drivers while appearing on national television. Bakersfield Speedway developed into a proving ground for generations of stock car racers. Placerville, Watsonville, Antioch, Petaluma, Tulare, Merced, Santa Maria, Cycleland, Chowchilla, and dozens of others became cornerstones of communities that proudly called these speedways their own.
And here in Northern California, one little oval quietly carved out its own place in racing history.
What began as Triple M Speedway eventually evolved into Twin Cities Speedway, then Marysville Raceway Park, later Marysville Raceway, and now simply MRP.
Through changing names, changing ownership, changing race cars, and changing generations, one thing never changed.
People came to race. They came to compete. They came to cheer. They came to belong.
That simple formula built the foundation of grassroots motorsports across California.
The 1970s and 1980s brought larger purses, better equipment, national touring series, and some of the finest sprint car racing the country has ever witnessed. California became the destination for open-wheel racing, producing legendary drivers, innovative chassis builders, and championship crews that helped shape the sport nationwide.
But as the years passed, the world outside the race track changed. Cities expanded. Housing developments replaced open land. Property values soared. Insurance costs climbed. Environmental regulations tightened. Weekend entertainment options multiplied.
One by one, tracks that had thrilled generations disappeared.
Ascot closed. Saugus fell silent. Corona became a memory.
Many others were lost to shopping centers, warehouses, industrial parks, or neighborhoods whose newest residents often had no idea a racetrack had ever existed beneath their streets.
Each closure represented more than the loss of another oval. It meant the loss of family traditions. The loss of local heroes. The loss of places where lifelong friendships were forged in pit areas and grandstands.
And yet…
Some tracks refused to disappear. Because communities refused to let them.
Across California’s agricultural valleys and rural towns, dirt racing endured. Bakersfield continued writing history. Placerville remained one of the country’s most respected sprint car venues.
Tulare’s Thunderbowl grew into a national showcase. Petaluma, Watsonville, Merced, Antioch, and others continued carrying the torch. Marysville remained among them.
For generations, Marysville has welcomed everyone, from first-time spectators discovering the excitement of sprint cars to seasoned veterans who have spent decades chasing checkered flags.
Its clay has hosted future champions, hometown favorites, and families whose names have become woven into the fabric of Northern California racing.
Now, another chapter begins.
Beginning in 2027, Motorsports Racing Promotions, Inc. has the privilege of becoming the next caretaker of one of California’s historic dirt tracks. Notice the word caretaker.
No promoter truly owns the history of a race track. We simply inherit it for a while.
Every grandstand seat tells a story. Every trophy has a name behind it. Every patch of clay carries tire marks left by someone who chased a dream. Our responsibility is not to erase the past. It is to honor it.
That means preserving the traditions that made Marysville special while embracing new ideas that will keep this facility thriving for future generations.
It means creating affordable family entertainment.
Supporting racers through practical, racer-first decisions.
Welcoming new fans while never forgetting the loyal supporters who have stood by this place for decades.
Partnering with local businesses, schools, nonprofits, and service organizations.
Celebrating the history of Northern California motorsports while building opportunities for tomorrow’s drivers, crews, officials, and fans.
Because if history teaches us anything, it’s this:
The race tracks that survive are never just race tracks.
They become part of their communities.
As we look toward the future, we don’t see ourselves simply preparing for another racing season.
We see ourselves becoming the next stewards of a California tradition that stretches back nearly a century. The names on the signs may change. The race cars will continue to evolve. Champions will come and go.
But as long as there is clay beneath our tires, families filling the grandstands, children dreaming of one day climbing into a race car, and a checkered flag waiting at the finish line, the story of California dirt racing will continue.
And we’re honored that Marysville Raceway will help write its next chapter.
Because the greatest races are never just about who wins.
They’re about making sure there will always be another Saturday night.
