Written By: Ken Hulsey
The city of Fontana, located in Southern California, has a rich history in auto racing. As many know, the Auto Club Speedway, situated within the city, hosts a major annual NASCAR race along with other racing events. However, less known is that in the 1950s, the area was home to the renowned Mickey Thompson's Fontana International Dragway, considered one of the premier drag racing venues in the country. The dragway operated for nearly two decades before a series of fatal accidents led to its closure in 1972. Today, the site is occupied by a housing development known as the Village of Heritage, located about a mile east of Etiwanda Boulevard on the north side of Foothill Boulevard.
For two decades, a series of popular racing events in the area attracted not only legions of die-hard race fans but also a curious entity known as the "Speedway Monster." This giant, hairy, Bigfoot-like creature was regularly spotted crossing a field adjacent to the racetrack, clearly visible from the grandstands, during the height of these sightings in the early 1960s. Despite being witnessed by hundreds of people, the mysterious creature was never investigated, as no one seemed willing to approach it.
It's puzzling why a typically reclusive and shy creature would venture so close to a crowded racetrack, given the loud noise from the cars. The most likely explanation is that it was drawn by curiosity about the commotion or the prospect of finding leftover food in the track's trash cans after events.
The Fontana area has long been a hotbed of reported Bigfoot sightings, even after the local speedway closed in the early 1970s. In 1975, a group of Boy Scouts camping near Barton Flats were awakened by a Bigfoot rummaging through their campsite. The following year, a young man had a face-to-face encounter with the creature outside his cabin near Big Bear. The Lytle Creek area of Cajon Pass, just outside Fontana, has been a particular "hot spot" for Bigfoot reports for decades. In 1991, a Fontana resident named John Davis reported that a hairy, bipedal creature had raided his chicken pen. Perhaps the most intriguing post-speedway sighting occurred in 1992 when multiple motorists on Foothill Boulevard spotted a family of Bigfoot walking along the railroad tracks that crossed the busy street near the local Ace Hardware store. This was particularly remarkable given that by 1992, the Fontana area was no longer the rural, agricultural landscape it had once been but rather a rapidly developing community with new housing and commercial developments. The continued sightings of the "Speedway Monster" in an increasingly urbanized setting only adds to the fascination with the possibility of Bigfoot's presence in the region.
In 2009, an anonymous eyewitness contacted me with a report suggesting that the "Speedway Monster" may have returned to its old haunts near the former dragstrip location, now part of the residential neighborhoods of Las Colinas in Rialto, California. According to this source, a Bigfoot-like creature was spotted visiting the area several times in 2004 and 2005, traveling along a dry riverbed that connects to Lytle Creek, a known hotspot for such sightings.
The eyewitness recounted, "Around 2 AM, about twice a month, I would hear a cacophony of loud howling, screeching, and growling noises coming from across the main road, in the dry riverbed leading to Lytle Creek. My grandfather, who lived with me at the time, also heard these sounds and said they were reminiscent of 'The Screamer,' a creature from his home country. I hadn't heard calls like that again until a couple of years ago when I recognized them on a TV show about Bigfoot. Hearing those sounds on television gave me goosebumps, confirming my belief that the noises I experienced were real."
Initially, the creature seemed content to make noise and remain in the dry riverbed. However, one night it mustered the courage to venture into the nearby neighborhood. Later, the source's older brother called, asking about his Louisville Slugger bat. When the brother explained, he said he had been in the second-floor bathroom and looked out to see a tall, hairy creature peering up at him from behind the 9-foot hedges separating the houses. The creature, which the brother believed was some kind of Bigfoot, had a grayish-tan, hairy, human-like appearance. When the creature noticed the brother looking, it ducked its head back down. The brother, who had never believed in Bigfoot before, was genuinely frightened by what he had witnessed.
Has the "Speedway Monster" returned to its old hunting grounds near the former site of Mickey Thompson's Fontana International Dragway? According to eyewitnesses, the answer appears to be yes. It may seem hard to believe that a creature like Bigfoot would venture from the safety of the nearby mountains into the now-dense suburban area. However, the sighting location in Las Colinas is more remote than other nearby housing developments, with a large undeveloped area adjacent to it. This area, connected to the San Bernardino Mountain range via a dry riverbed, has long been a hotspot for Bigfoot sightings. If the creature indeed lives just outside the Los Angeles metropolitan area, this location may be its home territory. For now, this remains speculation, but if the reports are credible, one of the world's greatest mysteries may have arrived at the doorstep of unsuspecting urban residents.
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