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  *Comments on Altamont Motorsports Park:*
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  1.   chris o posted:
  07.25.2012 - 1:45 pm
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closed in October of 2008


  2.   RaceFanX posted:
  09.29.2012 - 4:54 pm
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Track had first opened in 1966. It had several layouts including the
NASCAR 1/2 mile oval plus a 1/4 mile oval, a 1.1-mile road course and a
figure 8. It was the largest oval in California north of the LA area.

Track is perhaps best known for a non-racing event, the infamous
Altamont Free Concert held on December 6, 1969. The event was supposed
to be a Woodstock-like mega-concert featuring top acts like The Rolling
Stones, Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Santana and
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young but it ended in a riot when members of the
Hell's Angels motorcycle club hired to provide security for the event
ended up in an all-out battle with the crowd of 300,000 (The bikers had
been provided large amounts of free beer over the day while the crowd
loaded up on illegal sustances like LSD and both combined for a bad mood
that led to the riot). Four people died including one deliberate killing
when concert goer Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by the bikers
after he pulled out a gun and may have fired it into the air.

The Grateful Dead were also supposed to play at that concert but
cancelled at the last minute because they, apparently rightfully so,
thought violence at the venue was too high. Rock concerts were banned at
Altamont afterward and the event, held four months after Woodstock, is
widely seen as the one that marked the symbolic demise of the 1960s
'Hippie' era.

The concert was actually originally scheduled to be held in Sonoma at
Sears Point Raceway but the wine country road course backed out and the
event moved to Altamont two days before it was held.


  3.   SeanS posted:
  10.02.2020 - 7:53 am
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Miss this place dearly. Drive past it all the time going to other tracks
in the area. Heard from a local driver that a lawyer built a house on
top of a hill nearby then complained about the noise. Such a shame, if
true.


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