Amaroo Park was built by industrialist Oscar Glaser as part of an ambitious but partially realised motorsport complex plan. The full development included a hillclimb track, a dirt short track, a motocross track, a speedway track, and the main bitumen road circuit; a full-length grand prix circuit was planned but never constructed. The first motorcycle meeting was held on 26 February with a production race won by Larry Simons. The official opening for the road circuit took place on 12 March 1967, though attendance was initially restricted to motor club members. Poor facilities contributed to a temporary closure in mid-1968.
The circuit reopened on 31 May 1970 with improved spectator facilities, now under management by the Australian Racing Drivers Club, which also promoted the Bathurst circuit at Mount Panorama and later Sydney's Eastern Creek Raceway.
The circuit began on a short pit straight before a right-hand kink leading up to Bitupave Hill, where the fastest cars reached over 220 km/h. From there the track dropped left into the Dunlop Loop and along a back straight with a right-hand kink leading to the tight left-hander at Honda Corner. Prior to 1983, Honda Corner had no runoff, with earth banking directly backed by a concrete wall — a configuration regarded as dangerous. After Honda Corner, a short right-hand kink led up to Stop Corner, sometimes called the Lake Corner, then a straight to the final turn at Wunderlich Corner — named under various sponsorships, including Ron Hodgson Corner during the 1970s — which returned onto the pit straight.
Dunlop Loop, Honda Corner, and Stop Corner were recognised as the primary overtaking points. In the late 1980s, a chicane was built inside the final turn to reduce motorcycle speeds through an area with zero runoff.
Amaroo Park first hosted the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1974, with Peter Brock winning in a Holden Torana GTR XU-1. The circuit went on to hold 15 ATCC rounds between 1974 and 1994, the last of which was won by Mark Skaife in a Gibson Motorsport Holden VP Commodore.
The circuit held its own touring car series from 1971 to 1993, running initially as the Sun-7 Chesterfield Series and later under various sponsor names before becoming the AMSCAR Series from 1982. The AMSCAR Series was a significant Sydney institution: its grid sizes regularly exceeded those of the nationally televised ATCC rounds, sustained by a large pool of Sydney-based privateers who rarely travelled interstate. Frank Gardner's JPS Team BMW, with drivers Jim Richards and Tony Longhurst, dominated from 1985 to 1987; Richards was unbeaten at Amaroo in 1985, winning all 12 AMSCAR races, the ATCC round, and the endurance championship race. Gibson Motorsport also competed with Nissan and later Holden, while other major teams including the Holden Dealer Team, Dick Johnson Racing, and Colin Bond's Caltex squad contested the later Group A years. The series was discontinued after 1993 as growing national ATCC profile and the 1991 recession reduced privateer grids.
The Amaroo Park 300 was an annual endurance race held between 1980 and 1987, run over 155 laps for a total of just over 300 km, and from 1983 counted as a round of the Australian Endurance Championship.
The outright lap record was held for almost a decade by Kevin Bartlett at 46.2 seconds, set in a Lola T332. John Bowe broke it in 1985 with a 44.60 lap during the Australian Drivers' Championship, then set the final record of 44.36 in 1987 in a Chevrolet-powered Veskanda C1 sports car — a mark that stood until the circuit closed.
The Australian Racing Drivers Club suffered significant losses promoting the Super Touring Bathurst 1000 from 1997 to 1999 and sold Amaroo Park to recover costs. The circuit's final meeting was held on 23 August 1998. The closing race, known as The Last Race, the Main Event, Amaroo's Final Fling, was run over 10 laps as a Butchers' Picnic — a format honouring the circuit's earliest events — and was won by Ray Lintott in a twin-turbocharged Porsche 911 Turbo. The circuit closed permanently after more than 31 years of continuous operation, ending its role as Sydney's home of grassroots and national-level racing.
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