The Onderon swoop race track began its existence as a course for swoop racing that was unsanctioned by the government of Onderon; the sport had become legalized only a few years prior to 3951 BBY. The track primarily ran under and outside of the Iziz defense walls, through caves and ruins. The circuit was considered challenging by some of the local swoop racers due to the course's unusual feature of changing elevation; most swoop tracks throughout the galaxy were designed to be level. Additionally, there was the hazard of wreckage left over from the circuit's competitive and dangerous past.
Swoop racing on Onderon, as with many other matters, was imbued with a political context. On one end of the spectrum was the Onderonian government's (headed by Queen Talia) strict adherence to the galactic three round system of racing as a show of support towards the Republic and the other end by champion swoop racer Jonra Far's enthusiastic and vocal support of General Vaklu's political opposition after every race. Furthermore, the seriousness with which swoop racing was viewed was evidenced by enforcement of good conduct by the swoop racers. Any racers caught "misbehaving" were subject to the loss of their racing privileges. Swoop racers were expected to settle their grievances on the race track.