- Willow Springs was bought earlier this year, and the first track updates are being revealed.
- Improvements to safety were priority one, and the track has a handsome new signature livery.
- A debut event is planned for mid-October, with cars in attendance from Singer, The Petersen Museum, and several supercar specialists.
Established in the early 1950s, Willow Springs is one of the oldest road courses in the United States. The largest track configuration is a big, fast course with plenty of elevation changes to have your stomach dropping like riding a rollercoaster. So, when the track was put up for sale in 2024, there was plenty of concern in the local racing community. Now, the latest track upgrades are being shown off, and it looks like nothing but good news.
Updating an Icon
Change isn’t going to delight everyone, especially when it’s at a historic racetrack. However, Willow’s tracks were laid down at a time when people were still racing modestly powered MGs, so some safety upgrades were badly needed.
The complex’s 1.8-mile Streets of Willow Springs course has been repaved with new asphalt, with new curbing installed as well. The track’s perimeter now has gravel to slow down any unintended off-track excursions, and there’s more runoff.
Designers also added three chicanes, which will bring speeds down a little and make things a bit more technical. Future plans include tire barriers, Armco railing, and catchfences for when things go really wrong.
The kart track was also refurbished, and Willow Springs’ new owners are saying this work is just phase one. That ownership group is a collaboration between CrossHarbor Capital, a private equity firm, and Singer, the company well known for its restomod reimaginings of the Porsche 911.
It’s little surprise then that the inaugural event to show off all this work is called Willow Springs Reimagined, and it’s set for October 11. The event also has The Petersen Automotive Museum on board, so there are sure to be some serious classics for the car show portion.
The big track—all 2.5 miles of it—will also need some upgrading, and it will likely receive some of the track’s new off-white and green livery on its curbs and runoff areas.
Just as Singer does with classic air-cooled 911s, the intent is to modernize and enhance the track, without losing that nearly 75-year-old California desert racetrack feel. Further planned updates extend to off-track facilities, with a tech hub and Singer owner’s club on-site.
Seeing as Willow Springs’ new owners only struck a deal in late spring of this year, it’s reassuring to see progress coming along so quickly. The track’s been a jewel in the desert for decades. It’s nice to see it getting a bit more polish and hope for a long future ahead.
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Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.
Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
