At the beginning of the Second World War an airfield named RAF Croft was built on the site now occupied by the circuit.

It was home to a number of different aircraft types including Wellington, Lancaster, Whitley, Stirling and Halifax bombers.

One bomber made it all the way back from Germany only to crash into a tree at Atley Hill, about 4-mile (6.4 km) away; all the crew were killed.

The dead stump of the tree survived as a grim memorial on Atley Hill until it was grubbed out by the landowner in the mid 1990s.

The verges along the public access road to Croft Aerodrome were used to store racks of bombs and other military equipment, a fascinating attraction to local children at the time.

In 1947 businessman and councillor John Neasham acquired the lease to the land and formed Darlington and District Aero Club.

However, slowly attention focussed on circuits in the south of England such as Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Lydden and in December 1967 Croft began hosting Rallycross.

Local farmer, George Shield, agreed a lease to run Rallycross and, in conjunction with Darlington & District Motor Club, successfully developed the track for this sport.

This was claimed to be having an effect on some people's health, although Darlington Borough Council later quashed this, Croft Circuit gives a number of free tickets to local residents as compensation for the noise.

In 2021 British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) boss Ben Taylor issued a statement announcing "that Croft Circuit will not host rallying or rallycross events next season".