Editor's note: Santa Maria Speedway General Manager David Castaneda told the Sun after the paper went to press that races have been postponed due to logistical issues, and the speedway is holding an open practice on May 11 from 4 to 9 p.m. instead. Residents can come and watch people practice, but no concessions will be available, and it’s $40 per person for a pit pass. The speedway’s first race will be the two-day go-kart race over Memorial Day Weekend, and the regular schedule will resume on June 15.
Racing meant more to the Clayborn family than just a motorsport, Joey Clayborn told the Sun.
“It was a way of life for the Clayborn family; it always has been. It’s something that’s always passed through generations. My grandfather passed it to my dad and uncle, and they passed it to me, and now I have my son that’s now racing,” Clayborn said.
The Santa Maria family’s home base was the Santa Maria Speedway: A Nipomo racetrack that hosted racing for more than 40 years until the raceway closed in 2021 due to a challenging permitting process for additional events and lawsuit costs. The Clayborns were a part of the raceway every step of the way since its inception in 1964, Clayborn said.
“[The closure] was terrible; it’s never been just a racetrack for us. It’s a home away from home. Every year … we got to go out and spend Saturday night with our extended racing family,” Clayborn said. “It didn’t stop us, but now we had to travel everywhere to race. Everyone knows how the price of everything gets really expensive week in and week out, for traveling and fuel.”
When the speedway announced it would be reopening after a nearly two-year shutdown, Clayborn said his family was thrilled.
“It was just a great feeling. We just heard rumors for so long and we didn’t know it was going to happen,” Clayborn said. “When we heard the Pombo family was stepping up, we knew that family for years because they are a huge racing family, it was just exciting.”
Tony Pombo, a multigenerational Fresno-based racer who’s raced his entire life, put in a bid for the property and signed a lease to get racing going again this year, said David Castaneda, the speedway’s general manager and events director.
“The goal was to find somebody in motorsports that would take over the track and continue to run it as a racetrack and not change it to another commercial venture,” Castaneda said. “It’s not like a restaurant; if it closes down it’s gone forever. … It’s a very unique facility and very well known across the Western United States.”
With the lease guaranteed until the end of 2024, the Santa Maria Speedway anticipates hosting 10 races over nine weekends plus another six separate weekends of go-karts, he said. Construction and maintenance crews have been working alongside local volunteers to gear the raceway up for its first race on May 11, followed by a Memorial Day go-kart race, and its first open wheel sprint race on June 15.
“It means different things to different people. You have fans who’ve come and watched racing for years,” Castaneda said. “[To] the race teams it means something different; we’ve had multiple generations of families from the area that started in the ’60s and ’70s where their grandchildren are racing … . They’re excited to get back to racing; they are very hopeful we can get this track back up again.”
The speedway closed in 2021 following a 2018 lawsuit filed by neighbors in the Costa Pacifica Estates development over noise complaints about racing and the live music events the venue hosted, Castaneda said. The lawsuit claimed that the speedway needed an environmental impact report before it could go forward with any live music events.
“That was a very big and very expensive fight we had to drop, but the fact is we were exempt from CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act],” Castaneda said. “No. 1, we were an existing business and did not constitute a material change in operations. We’ve been racing since 1964, concerts since the ’70s. The county told us we had no problems; we were grandfathered in.”
According to reporting from the Sun’s sister paper, New Times, many residents claimed that the raceway operated without proper permitting and on an outdated license, but then SLO County 4th District Supervisor Lynn Compton said that the raceway had a legitimate entertainment license.
Castaneda added that the raceway could only make improvements to current facilities, but not expand them, in order to maintain its status.
“We did the remodel at the end of 2018, and in 2019, we operated with new grandstands, new bathrooms, a safety catch fence, and everybody loved the improvements, but that was when a number of noise complaints came in,” he said, adding that it resulted in the lawsuit. “The county then decided that we weren’t supposed to do concerts and forced us to go through this licensing process, which cost about $70,000.”
Attorneys told the speedway that it had a good case, but fighting against the lawsuit would have cost an additional $75,000 to $100,000 in legal fees “to be found right,” he said.
“We had to have surveyors come out, and it just became so expensive, and on top of that COVID hit. We had no revenue in 2020 at all, so when we got that going again, we were at limited capacity,” Castaneda said. “It just drained this business of all its capital.”
Next year, Castaneda wants to see at least 22 weekends of racing, from April to October, and eventually bring back monster truck rallies and motorcycle racing to the speedway. However, continued community support is vital to keep the track open, he said. While Castaneda’s encouraged by the community response so far, he’s concerned about possible future complaints.
“I have sympathy for people who don’t like noise, but we’ve been here since 1964 and we’ve never made a secret of what we do here,” Castaneda said. “My concern is that it only takes a few people to throw a monkey ... wrench and that can be expensive for a facility like this.”
SLO County 4th District Supervisor Jimmy Paulding, whose district encompasses the raceway, told the Sun via email that his office has not received any complaints about the speedway reopening.
“The raceway is an important community attraction. In fact, I used to enjoy going to the races as a kid, and I look forward to attending the races once reopened,” Paulding said. “Regarding past unresolved permitting issues associated with concert events at this location, it is my understanding that only racing is being pursued from a permitting standpoint at this time.”
SLO County Planning and Building Director Trevor Keith told the Sun that the raceway’s permit allows the venue to host races and other similar racing events, like monster truck rallies, but it can’t host any other events like rodeos or music concerts.
“The raceway received a permit in 1964 for racing and some concessionaire facilities. The raceway did receive a permit several years ago for some music events; however, that permit was ultimately withdrawn by the raceway owner,” Keith said. “As long as the use remains racing, the raceway is in compliance with the 1964 permit.”
Central Coast racers are eager to return to their hometown raceway. Clayborn said he’s gearing up to get back in the driver’s seat for a few races and coach his son in his rookie year.
“You can race other places, and it’s fun, but I’m looking forward to [watching] my son experience the Santa Maria Speedway,” Clayborn said. “I had many years out there and wins and track championships. It’s just exciting that I’m going to be able to wake up on May 11 and be able to take my son and race the speedway for the first time just like my dad did; just like his dad did.”
Reach Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor at [email protected].
