Petaluma Fairgrounds Speedway

This place should be shut down. There is no reason that a small group of mostly out of town folks should be allowed to create so much noise. There must be local, county and state ordinances that can be imposed to get them to either quiet down the cars, or move
. The track basically disrupts most outdoor activity every summer weekend night. I have no issue with racing, but Petaluma is not a cow town anymore. Move it out to the actual country where you can have your fun without disturbing 60K other people…

I have no problem giving this place five stars just for being what it is. This place may seem like a oval piece of dirt, but some people invest their lives in it. Racing is more than a hobby for a lot of these people. It’s loud and it goes late and bugs our new petalumans, the marinites who came here because Marin is too expensive. But hey! It’s inly once a week and people was built on this type of thing. Racing, eggs, cows, wrist wrestling etc. this track needs to stay here forever regardless of what any group of people want. It’s been here for 60+ years and it’s here to stay.

Fun as fun gets! Long live the Petaluma Speedway!!! I love this place. It’s good old fashioned Petaluma family fun. Yeah it could use some updates but what the heck!?! It’s something to do with your family.

I was invited to the races because I told someone that I’d never been. We went on a chilly Saturday night and I had a blast!
The price was $ 20/​person — not terrible.
It was so cold the first thing we did was get some hot cocoa! I was pleasantly surprised with the cocoa! Very good!
Then we found some bleacher seats that got colder as the night went on.
There were 3 races that we saw & I enjoyed all of them! I think I like the minis the most — so many things going on!
It lasted almost 4 hrs and if it wasn’t so cold, I could have stayed all night!
I was also impressed with a real bathroom! Not a portapotty!
I hope to go back another time!

I have been coming to Petaluma Speedway my entire life. The races are excellent! I try to never miss a night when the Sprints are racing. The staff gets everyone to interact and despite the cold weather 99% of the time, the fans are engaged. I thought, what a great idea to bring my whole family! It cost $ 50 for three of us to get in which is totally fine, but what took place at the snack shack was uncalled for. They were mildly busy, with more people waiting to pick up food then to order food. We ordered 2 chicken sandwiches, a bowl of chili, and 1 fry. After waiting 20 minutes for our food, we made sure they didn’t forgot about our order since everyone who was behind us in line had already gotten their food. They rudely assured us it would be out soon. 10 minutes later, still no food. Yet again we commented to the lady and man behind the counter, but no answers. By this time we had missed qualifying. We told them we would be taking someone else’s food since they couldn’t seem to get us ours. By now it had been 40 MINUTES!!! The woman working behind the counter was EXTREMELY rude and beyond unpleasant. Her shirt was way too low cut for a family event and her attitude was horrendous. After 40 minutes of horrible service, no food, and unpleasant staff, we demanded a refund of $ 25. The woman threw a huge hissy fit like her world had come to an end, and basically threw our money back at us. After 40 minutes of waiting, missing the races, and no food, we walked away and got cold nachos from the other unpleasant lady at the tiny snack shack. So a little piece of advice, eat before you come or sneak your dinner in to avoid dealing with the horrible, inappropriate staff at the straightaway snack bar. (We decided to not take this problem to higher authority because we figured they must get complaints about the snack shack and those staff members all the time, so what’s the use)

I used to work on a drivers car, the people in the pits may not be very friendly to family in the pit, especially female mechanics BUT this place puts on a good show. It’s loud, don’t let them pressure you, bring some ear plugs. It’s hard to be a tough guy when you’re deaf. I’m sure the neighbors grow tired of it but then, why move in next to a speedway? Cheers Unilocalers!

ok, i have nothing against good family fun and racing. BUT… NOT AT THE EXPENSE of DISTURBING AN ENTIRE TOWN with the HUGE amount of UNGODLY NOISE !
The decibels are huge throughout 75% of the entire city every saturday evening during spring/​summer. It is a disgusting disturbance, almost uncivilized. Sure, in the old days when petaluma was a small cow-​town, largely out in the countryside. But not now, in a civilized society– a city of 55,000 people being held hostage to a small minority of racing enthusiasts.
I mean, the speedway is bang right in the middle of the entire town! The Petaluma Speedway should be moved out of town into the country, where the screaming screeching noise of cars can be enjoyed by all, and the only living beings being disturbed are a few crows, chickens and cows.
Again, nothing against racing enthusiasts and ordinary citizens enjoying life. But NOT AT THE EXPENSE of disturbing 10s of thousands of other citizens.
Makes sense, if one thinks about this calmly and rationally, don’t you think?
Thanks for listening…

Great place with great people and great races! My boyfriend races sprintcars here, and its a ton of fun. Everyone that works there is friendly, love the announcer [he’s funny], and it’s not full of garbage on the ground like lots of other places. people actually pick up after themselves! good job!

I come for the dirt track racing and it is great if you are a race fan then this is the place to be on Saturday nights!

I effin love this place!!! Everyone in the Bay Area as well as out of town visitors MUST stop by during the race season to have a truly amazing time.
First off what is better than watching cars hauling around smacking into each other and pushing with everything they have to finish first… yup you guessed it add mud and dirt to the track. These guys and girls really put on a fabulous show. Now add a couple hundred fans plus some Budweiser and you are set to go.
Plenty of paid parking as well as free parking in the area. The fans are some of the best people you will ever meet. I have been going to the races since I was about 13 and not once have I had a bad experience there.
Once in awhile you might get hit by a little piece of mud but hey don’t complain you paid to get into the dirt races!!! It does get VERY cold there once the sun goes down so dress warm or at least bring warm clothing or blankets. You will really want something to sit on due to the fact the bleachers are metal.
This place has real fans having real fun.
Of course the sprinters are my absolute favorite and I feel like for the best experience of a first timer you need to go during a sprint car civil war match up. You can view the schedule on line. But don’t get me wrong even if it is not the sprint car civil wars you will have a great time. The midget cars are fantastic and the modified cars are also awesome.
Just take my advice and dress warm.

Thank goodness I’m not the ftr. But gracious, second? For reals?
Hey Unilocalers — I know it isn’t the season right now, but maybe this tip will get you to planning for the summer to come.
So clearly, this isn’t a current experience. The cars stop running in October. But the track’s there and I drove by it the other day and as a consequence feel no compunction sharing this with you today.
Quick tips — dirt track, domestic beer, easy freeway access, near luscious downtown Petmylama, real people, grandstand seating, flying mud and rubber and eau de supercharger.
Serious fun.
The races start early evening, check the schedule for the class running and what down-​home special event might be on the docket. Have a beer at McNear’s before, arrive properly prepared for a night of edge-​of-​your-​seat racing adventure.
I have to ask here — why for so few Unilocal (with me it’s two) for the speedway? Is it the not haute cusine? Or is it simply off the radar screen? Mabes Unilocalers are more an Infineon crowd. Your loss, if you are. Infineon is fun, if you’re groove is high-​priced commercial crowded bad parking afternoons (don’t get me wrong, the racing is cool there too; I just don’t think you need to get your nails did before you head out to the track).
For those who just haven’t given it much thought — do. Think about it, check the 2011 schedule when it comes up next year, and plan yourself a different kind of night.
You’ll send me five stars of thanks for the steer the morning after.

Yes, as good as it gets!!!
If you haven’t been… GO. It is a great experience.
I know a lot of people who complain about the noise of the race track on Saturday nights but none of them have been to the track. Once they go and see what a great family venue it is they are hooked.
They have very good concession stand food so plan on having dinner there. Also, bring warm clothes and a blanket to sit on. The seats are fine but you will be much happier and warmer with a blanket to sit on. They don’t call it «Candlestick North» for nothing.
My advice, sit as high up in the main stands as you can. That way you have the best view of the track and you will be relatively well protected from the wind (the auxilary grand stands aren’t protected) but it will still be cold.
I would also advise bringing ear plugs, at least for the kids. There is no reason to blow their ears out at such a young age. I usually forget mine and my ears sometimes ring the next day. Not a huge deal but I definitely find it more pleasant to bring them.
Parking is free outside the fence and is close enough to walk in and save on the parking fees.