Let me fill in the three blanks of your blanked-out word: s s a   Just in case anyone misinterpreted where you were going

Yes it would be fun to let it hang on the oval.

GM did hot testing at their Mesa Arizona Proving Ground. It has been torn up and abandoned as of 2009. There are still some sections of it left, as witnessed by the remains of the oval. It is being converted into a large residential development.

Mesa Proving Ground link: https://www.google.ca/maps/@33.3356698,-111.621174,3652m/data=!3m1!1e3

It's kinda sad to see it disappear. I have a neat 1967 article from a May '67 Car Life magazine that features some thrashing of test cars and triple-digit speeds on the banked oval. Chevelle SS396. Impala SS427. A Camaro 427 test mule. The article was appropriately named "Magic at Mesa". I'm sure it was. Anyway not to fret, as it was replaced by a new track in Yuma, AZ.

Just for fun, here's a link to GM's big Milford, Michigan proving grounds: https://www.google.ca/maps/@42.5831611,-83.6762142,5413m/data=!3m1!1e3  Imagine back in the day all the spies taking spy shots of upcoming models through the fence with their telephoto lenses. Then in the summer GM would invite the automotive press to a big preview with presentations, followed by a session thrashing (testing) all the new cars. They'd go back with their write-ups, select photos and put it into the upcoming September magazine issues.

4SPEED427 wrote:

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While we were in Arizona I happened to notice one day while looking at Google maps that there was this huge track just a couple of miles out of town. Little bit of scouting revealed it's the Ni***n test track (bad word!) We went for a ride past there and although you can't see very much of it from the highway, you can see it's pretty huge. Looks like it even has banked turns.

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It's Nissan, Carl, just keep repeating it to yourself, it's not so bad to say it.

I read "The Reckoning" by David Halberstam, and their story is quite interesting, actually.  Their roots go right back to the early 1900s, and it's amazing how many parallels there were between Nissan and the American companies, like General Motors.

I believe it's out of print, but I recommend it if you like to read about such things.  Halberstam was a very engaging writer but unfortunately was killed at 73 in a car accident on his way to an interview for a book he was working on.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/75416.The_Reckoning