Guest Blogger: Thurlow Weed’s Racing History: Exposition Park San Luis Obispo

The automobile race track in San Luis Obispo, called Exposition Park, had a brief but significant history in early motor racing in the United States. A number of forces brought the track into existence. The end of the First World War in 1918, and along with it an end to the need of American farmers to feed large Allied armies in Europe, saw an agricultural depression sweep over rural communities like San Luis Obispo. In 1922 a group of local businessmen incorporated themselves as the San Luis Obispo Exposition Park, believing that they could lift the local economy by taking advantage of California’s exploding automobile ownership. In 1910 there were only 36,000 cars in the state, in 1922 however, there were nearly 700,000. These businessmen believed that a race track would be a magnet for both new and aspiring automobile owners, and bring much needed commerce to the city.

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