Calder Park began as a dirt track carved into a paddock by a group of enthusiasts who wanted somewhere to race their FJ Holdens, among them Patrick Hawthorn, a petrol station owner in Clayton. The inaugural meeting on a bitumen surface was run by the Australian Motor Sports Club on 14 January 1962, contested by prominent names including Norm Beechey and Colin Bond. In the early 1970s, champion racer and tyre retailer Bob Jane purchased the track. Jane developed it aggressively, incorporating drag racing and rallycross alongside road racing.
In 1982 the circuit was briefly renamed Melbourne International Raceway. A 1986 upgrade extended the National Circuit from 1.609 km to 2.280 km by lengthening the main straight to just under 1,000 metres, separating it from the drag strip start and increasing runoff at the far end.
Between 1980 and 1984, Calder Park hosted the Australian Grand Prix. The 1980 race, open to Formula One, Formula 5000, and Formula Pacific machinery, was won by Alan Jones in a Williams FW07B — the same car he used to clinch the 1980 Formula One World Drivers' Championship. It remained as of 2022 the last occasion an Australian driver won the AGP. From 1981 onwards the race was restricted to Formula Pacific cars. Brazilian driver Roberto Moreno dominated the period, winning in 1981, 1983, and 1984, while Alain Prost won in 1982. Bob Jane attracted several Formula One World Champions to the event during these years, including Prost, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, and Keke Rosberg.
The most ambitious element of Jane's vision was the Thunderdome, a purpose-built high-banked oval opened in August 1987 at a cost of approximately A$54 million. Modelled on a scaled-down version of Charlotte Motor Speedway and featuring 24-degree banking on all four corners, it was constructed with significant assistance from American engineers experienced in building banked speedway ovals. Jane had conceived the project after visiting Charlotte Motor Speedway and Daytona International Speedway multiple times in the preceding years and striking a deal with NASCAR president Bill France Jr. in 1981.
The track's first race, combining the oval with the road course, was a 300-kilometre Group A touring car event won by John Bowe and Terry Shiel in a turbocharged Nissan Skyline DR30 RS. The first purely oval race was an AUSCAR event; 18-year-old Terri Sawyer won in a shock result from pole-sitter Greg East.
The Goodyear NASCAR 500, held on 28 February 1988, was the first NASCAR race staged outside North America. Nationally televised in Australia by the Seven Network and broadcast in the United States on ESPN, it attracted a field including Bobby Allison, Neil Bonnett, Michael Waltrip, Harry Gant, Morgan Shepherd, Kyle Petty, and Dave Marcis. Bonnett won in a Pontiac Grand Prix. A second NASCAR event, the Christmas 500, followed later that year, won by Morgan Shepherd. Richard Petty set an unofficial lap record at the venue during pre-race testing.
AUSCAR — a series of right-hand-drive oval cars based on the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon — became the Thunderdome's primary tenant. Brad Jones won five consecutive AUSCAR championships from 1989-90 through 1993-94. The last Thunderdome events were held in 1999 as both AUSCAR and Australian NASCAR entries collapsed.
On 11 October 1987, Calder Park hosted Round 9 of the inaugural World Touring Car Championship on the combined road-oval course. The Bob Jane T-Marts 500 was won by Steve Soper and Pierre Dieudonné in an Eggenberger Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500.
The road circuit lay largely dormant for nearly 15 years during the 2000s and 2010s. In 2023, under Bob Jane's son Rodney, the National Circuit was repaired and reopened for club and state-level motorsport sanctioned by Motorsport Australia. The Thunderdome, though reportedly still driveable, remained unused for competition as of 2025.