Written By: Ken HulseyThe southern California city of Fontana has had a long and glorious history in auto racing. As most of you probably know, the city is the present home of the Autoclub Speedway which holds a yearly major NASCAR race along with other racing events of different types.
What many of you might not know is way back in the 1950s there was a drag-strip in the area that was considered one of the best in the country. The Mickey Thompson's Fontana International Dragway, as it was called, lasted for almost two decades before a series fatal accidents forced it to close in 1972.
The area is now a housing tract known as the The Village of Heritage and lies about a mile east of Etiwanda Blvd on the north side of Foothill Blvd.
It seems that these race events that took place for two decades in the area attracted more than legions of die-hard race fans, they also attracted a very curious monster.
The height of these sightings took place in the early 1960s when race patrons would regularly spot a giant, harry, Bigfoot-like creature crossing a field adjacent to the track in full view of the grandstands.
The Bigfoot was seen so regularly that it earned the name "Speedway Monster".
Though the animal was witnessed by hundreds of people, no one ever worked up the courage to investigate it.
It is hard to speculate why a creature that is known for being reclusive and shy of humans would trek so close to a race track filled with people and to mention the load noise produced by the cars?
One can only assume that it was curious about what all the fuss was about or more likely that the creature was making plans on rummaging through the tracks trashcans for left-over burgers and hot dogs after everyone cleared out.
Though the speedway closed it's doors in the early 70s reports of the "Speedway Monster" continued in the city of Fontana and the nearby San Bernardino Mountains.
In 1975 a group of Boy Scouts were woken up by a Bigfoot rummaging through their campsite near Barton Flats, likewise in 1976 a young man came face-to-face with the creature outside his cabin near Big Bear.
The area of Lytle Creek, in Cajon Pass, near Fontana has been a 'hot-spot' for Bigfoot sightings for decades.
In 1991 Fontana resident John Davis reported that a harry creature on two legs raided his chicken pen.
The most interesting, post Fontana Speedway, story came in 1992 when several motorists on Foothill Blvd spotted a family of Bigfoot walking along the railroad tracks the crossed over the the busy street. The location was reportedly close to the local Ace Hardware store.
This report is so interesting to me personally because my wife's family had move to nearby Rancho Cucamonga at about that same time. I can tell you from first hand experience, that the area of Fontana was no longer a rural area filled with farms and vineyards in 1992. It was an up and coming community with new housing areas and shopping centers.
To believe that a family of Bigfoot would have wandered into this busy area is nothing short of fantastic if it is to be believed?
Then again the "Speedway Monster" has never been known to shy, so who knows?
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