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The Beverly Hills Speedway, built at a cost of $500,000 and opening 02/28/1920, was one of several wood plank tracks operated by auto racing enthusiasts in Southern California, an early hotbed for the sport. (Others included the early Ascot Speedways, Los Angeles Coliseum Motordome and Venice Speedway.) Wood plank tracks proved superior to dirt tracks as they did not develop as much dust to get into drivers' eyes. Originally, this racetrack was located in the hinterlands of Los Angeles, but, by the 1920s, with widespread ownership of autos, once-peripheral suburban locations, like Beverly Hills, began to grow rapidly. Land prices boomed, making the speedway's land too valuable to use for auto-racing. Following the track's last race on 02/24/1924, the owners sold the land and moved to a new racing facility in Culver City, CA. The track existed just less than four years, but proved very popular in that time. 85,000 spectators viewed the speedway's last race.

Demolished in 1924. The parcel covered 275 acres, on which much Downtown Beverly Hills was later erected. Occupying portions of the track's site were The Beverly-Wilshire Hotel (Walker and Eisen, Architects, 1926), Beverly Hills High School and the Regent Beverly Hills Hotel.

PCAD id: 3272