Why is Auto Club Speedway Becoming A Short Track

[@jenkx11]

The local race scene hates this because the infield track is being demolished. No more motorcycle track days for me. The next closest tracks are hours away, way north and way west of Fontana.

[@moshpitsandbongrips6998]

We still have chuckwalla 🤷🏾‍♀️ imma miss the karting facility though

[@salxworld1508]

Short tracks fucking blow. It was so nice having a race nearby home and listening to those cars soar past the stands at their top speed. Gonna miss it so much. Keep the short track in LA. But leave us the Auto Club speedway ffs.

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

As an IndyCar fan, R.I.P chances of seeing IndyCar returning at Auto Club as a 500-mile race again

[@KellieLeigh48]

That hurts because the last one was amazing racing wise

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

@@KellieLeigh48 sadly, the epic race had to be on a bad humidity day for a race. 3K fans were there. Idk what Mark Miles was thinking

[@KellieLeigh48]

@@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT he didn't know what the weather was gonna do. If they had turned a big crowd for that race. It'd be considered easily top 5 all time. It's still up there for me though

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

@@KellieLeigh48 I guess Mark didn’t know what the summer weather is like in the summer

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

@@KellieLeigh48 it’s not the weather he had to worry about (well, not just that), the humidity is a big concern in the west

[@donkikeazul8107]

Completely disagree in this decisión. I really like the big tracks like Daytona and Talladega, Fontana was one of them and Now Gone! At least I attended the last race.

[@FrosteeWusky]

Here's the issue with their decision making: They put the short track idea on hold for various reasons and decided to let the next few races make their decision for them. Those next few races ended up being good - great and the track proved its worth. But because they're worried about an eventual repave they're ruining a near perfect track for the Cup series (and it's very good for Xfinity too). Yes a repave will create boring racing for some time, but can't we be patient knowing a good race is on its way? Also, here's the message they're sending with this now being the second reconfiguration due to a need of repave: They're basically telling us that reconfiguring tracks is going to be the norm. If the track is an intermediate and it needs a repave, they're gonna either make it a Superspeedway or a short track now. There has to be a better solution than this. The cons outweigh the pros here.

[@JettMDK]

I understand that being patient about a repave aging but the issue I have is that nowadays tracks use a mixture so that when a repave takes place, the track ages very slowly so its gonna take a long time for the track to have multiple grooves But you do bring up a good point about the future of repaves as I agree that I don’t want NASCAR to follow the trend of reconfiguring every track that gets old. Maybe a repave that would basically take a decade off instead of fresh pavement but i think in this case for the direction NASCAR wants to take with the state of California as a whole, this is a good decision

[@crippledcrusader1321]

If that second part is true, nascar is headed down a very bad path

[@wheel1775]

The only reason they went with the short track is so they could sell off the surrounding land. Fontana used to be a vacant dump. Now every square inch is occupied by some kind of Amazon or logistics warehouse. That’s why as soon as they cleared the land where the track used to be, they immediately laid warehouse foundations everywhere. If not for the value of the land increasing so exponentially I doubt they’d have reconfigured the track.

[@fastfreddy164]

They should have made it a high bank super speedway like Talladega. They would’ve done that in the beginning this wouldn’t be happening now.

[@jessecardinaels]

I see you with that gran turismo 3 music. Nostalgic right there.

[@NASCARFAN93100]

RIP Auto Club Speedway

[@denniswilliams2385]

While the infield parties at Fontana were legendary and the starts/restarts were epic, the racing itself was boring as hell and that’s because the field was always so stretched out.

[@CharlesB9496]

Honestly, I'm kind of against it, but I do understand that it was pretty much all but inevitable after it was announced. Now we just gotta see how MIS races. Also i disagree with your statement that the racing would be boring on a repaved Auto Club. I think with the gen 7 car, it would have been pretty good, but who knows lol

[@JettMDK]

I mean I hope I’m wrong about it with future repaves with this car but time after time again even in repaves with the Gen 4 and COT, repaves has just never worked

[@Harlo86]

Is there still going to be a dragstrip? I work down the street from there and drive by all the time. They've demoed the entire parking lot where autocross was held and most of the dragstrip it looks like.

[@JamesOneal-l4c]

Looks sad ....my dog n I walk in front entrance.. now looks so sad... I party inside n at the parking lot.. good times. The track put Fontana on the map

[@NavyOU37]

Nascar better figure out short track racing for this change to be legit in the eyes of fans.

[@1americanfrmsocal529]

They're going to make more money by bringing in all the warehouse buildings on the land. Do you really believe this is not about a way for someone to make more money, come on this is what it's all about

[@chriscarson8218]

I hope they don't make a small track like LA Coliseum that's a joke

[@jeffbutler6100]

Short Tracks are BORING! It's like watching bumper cars in an amusement park. Just cars running nose to tail lap after lap, I have lived in Southern California all my life and during that time, I have seen so many great racetracks come and go. Riverside International Raceway, Ontario Motor Speedway, and now, Auto Club Speedway. All of these tracks have been lost for the same reason. "Developers" They hate seeing all this valuable land "wasted" on a race track, where as they can make a ton of money, tearing the tracks down and building subdivisions, Condos, shopping malls and Warehouses. Another advantage of Auto Club speedway, is that you could also have road racing inside the track, plus it also had a Drag Strip If it has to be a short track. at least make it a mile track, to make it much more interesting.

[@Dxkookie]

Atlanta was repaved and they added some more banking . That worked out good

[@Cajundaddydave]

Fontana was my home track for regional sports car club racing on the IRL road course. I will forever miss this facility and a half mile oval is not interesting to me but often does make for exciting oval racing. Land values have simply skyrocketed in SoCal since building the original facility so I do understand the tradeoffs here.

[@bussinblaney3951]

I'm against it now with the great racing it put on earlier this season

[@teddybesplitinlanes5500]

Quarter mile track closed now we have a crazy amount of street racing and sideshows

[@robbnutter4665]

If this actually happens, I will be surprised, and I live here. The land is worth too much so NASCAR will eventually sell the rest (they like money too) and it will turn into warehouses, etc.

[@rogercarter2521]

Wish they would have made it a high bank super speedway like daytona and talladega. Wondering now if there will be a track at all.

[@francostrong202]

I'm not a Nascar guy, let me preface with that. But does anyone know how much money Nascar makes at the Auto Club Speedway by allowing other clubs to do other stuff? I've personally done autocross, SCCA track night in America, and I've seen a spec porsche boxster race there. I know they also do drag race stuff. And there's a kart track as well. It seems like they always have events going on. I imagine all that will he gone once the speedway is turned into a short track (which sucks for the locals out here). Are all the grassroots motorsport events really that insignificant to financial bottom line of the speedway? On another note I imagine there are quite a few enthusiasts like myself who are kinda upset that Nascar is taking away another track in Southern California's dwindling options for track days. But who knows 🤷🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️

[@saltbombcreations8336]

The west coast has too little Nascar tracks, so why can’t Nascar discontinue their partnership with SMI and take Texas off the schedule and replace it with a 1/2 mile short track not far from Fontana, that short track is called Irwindale, less money will be spent, there’s quite enough Intermediate Tracks so bye-bye Texas, and we can still keep the 5 Super Speedways, easy

[@ethantaube2512]

We should run the oval indy next year

[@jc1424]

2:18 this gives me PTSD

[@naparacingfan9275]

I totally respect this decision but I disagree. I really wanted IndyCar to come back here to hopefully have 3 500 mile races on the calendar again someday. In my opinion, Auto Club had the best cup race this year. I do understand that Penske no longer owns Fontana and ISC (NASCAR) owns it. As a NASCAR and IndyCar fan, I wish they would keep Fontana as is and put Iowa and other short tracks on the Cup schedule instead of converting one. I'm OK with the decision on making Auto Club a short track in 2024 and having 1 more race on the original layout in 2023. It is a great decision for NASCAR but hurts IndyCar as they try to find more ovals for their schedule. NASCAR is probably making this move to sell off land and eventually host a championship race at the short track. It would be better than Phoenix as the finale.

[@JettMDK]

IndyCar at Fontana was always a gem, especially 2015 but I think when NASCAR took over Fontana. The likely hood of it ever returning was small. I think big reason why IndyCar has very little ovals is that NASCAR owns majority of them and don’t care to support an IndyCar race

[@LAUSTINDASAUCE]

As someone who grew up watching every year from turn 1 row 3 spot 1 (Party Pit) I hate this… I wish they’d just nut up but land in Reno and make that a short track.

[@brianpeterson6872]

They made it a short track because that land will be extremely profitable as warehouses and industrial space... It will make them way more money than the parking lot did..

[@AscheWholeProductions]

SoCal and auto racing seem to hate each other for whatever reason. It could wind up being due to land value. Once the land becomes too valuable, a race track doesn't make the cut.

[@j.cbutterfly3293]

Because NASCAR wants to recreational of Short Track at Auto Club Speedway will changing until in 2024.

[@jimmydrew4215]

Darlington, Daytona, and others are older than the Auto Club Track and they haven't changed the size of their tracks and they still draw large crowds. I have been a ran for a long time and I haven't seen Nascar make a good decision since I started watching. It would have been much cheaper to repave it, tear all the way down to the dirt and redo it if neccecary and do it right. This is a track that is wide and gives the drivers room to race.

[@JamesOneal-l4c]

So many good times so many memories.... Is like #$$& you people is all about the money... RIP speed way

[@777HPNEXTGEN]

The new auto club is going to be great but now we need another flat 2 mile track.

[@alexandersmith440]

Do we?

[@crippledcrusader1321]

Yep, rip the only good oval the west coast has

[@moshpitsandbongrips6998]

@@crippledcrusader1321I love Vegas and Phoenix. And this is coming from an Inland Empire-born, Jimmie Johnson super fan

[@Chimp_6]

NASCAR wants a shorter track to guarantee more crashes which is their bread an butter.

[@EdwardGracia-r6q]

They changed it because as soon as it fails they won’t have much to remove it and sell the rest for more warehouses.

[@MarinerLain56]

Let's be real... Nothing to race track is ever going to be built here again. When the speedway had its last race, there weren't even permits obtained yet.

[@projoebiochem]

NASCAR owned a short track in Colorado Springs, but they screwed it up.

[@rl3454]

This is all bull shit talk. It’s all about the money and investment cronies. This track was a fun track. Just repave it. But money talks. We don’t have a track. Riverside Raceway is gone Ontario motor Speedway is gone and now California Speedway is gone.

[@Lucas_inTheLIGHT]

Why not just put a short track in the middle of it…

[@Contract32Killa]

But they miss the fact it makes thousands for race events and infield camping, numerous track days and race series than utilize the road course. I understand it’s a large renovation, but it’s bringing the track to MANY, for the chance to give a new track to some… I’m really against this for many reasons. And personally don’t see it bringing in the same revenue long term the Roval course and infield does annually. I don’t religiously watch nascar events. But I especially don’t watch short track. It’s boring to race, boring to watch because it’s a high paced clusterfuck of traffic. I watch nascar for the racing not the wrecks..

[@jodybeard7715]

I love to see the new track cuz I can't be best for the sport and that track

[@MARINERS_UNDERRATED]

Nascar dirt race at Fontana!

[@stevewthespider]

Short track racing sucks

[@mr.manfredjensenjen7294]

I’d have to agree. We’ve gone ever year for almost two decades and are optimistic about the changes.

[@KidTonyGaming]

Does you just call Tennessee and Virgina South East? In college football terms yes, in geography terms no

[@theblackimposter8781]

Auto club speedway should just be retired all together and replaced with a wide spread 122 mph. Intamin Terra Coaster and an intense B&M Giga Dive Coaster. And if an option can do a multi launch semi shuttle 4D Hyper coaster. The track itself should be converted to road

[@KellieLeigh48]

I'm all for this honestly

[@southeastcupseries]

I’m for it. I assume it’s not getting changed next year so we’ll have one more race there

[@markoflb]

Sorry Jett, but the SoCal fan won’t stand for a short track. Right up the road is what even NASCAR called the best half-mile track in America, Irwindale Speedway. It’s gone bankrupt twice! You look too young to know this but I began as a motor sport’s broadcaster in the 1970s , long time NASCAR observers have known that the best races ever run were at Michigan International Speedway (Auto Club) California Speedway’s original sister track. In addition, two of America’s three sanctioning bodies INDYCAR & IMSA won’t even run there. Running only one NASCAR event this “new” track doesn’t make it financially viable.

[@TCHSDragonflicks]

I refuse to go to this Frankenstein track.

[@markbogle8062]

Don't like it because they took the drag strip out tp put wherehoues in and u you the ticket prices are are going way up.

[@fastfreddy164]

The track was too flat to begin with, should’ve been high banked

[@klacy5555]

Change a super speedway into a half mile track is a joke.

[@stormsmith6772]

Mis probably will be converted to a short track also………..

[@petershifman9005]

L.A. already has a great short track in Irwindale which could easily be upgraded to a NASCAR spec plus LA has the coleseum race which is a joke and is poorly attended.. Fontana created great racing for a number of years. It will missed. This is another disaster delivered by the France family.

[@BIGKEV89]

Track didn’t need to be repaved. The races there where boring as hell

[@Micky-mi1pu]

Just making it a circus shott track is bullshit nothing gets better

[@SgtRock-cr2sh]

NASCAR in all its stupidity needs to get out of the southern California market. We need to put Rockingham back on the list and North Wilkesboro for at least 1 points race. It's time to get back to our roots in the sport and stop the current i.nsanity

[@jackfrost3254]

BOOOOOOO!!!

[@Brian_rock_railfan]

i say Nascar do this! 🏁🏆

[@johnvandeventer8668]

Personally I would want them to reconfigure it to a half-mile short track than to keep the 2 mile track and either give it a simple repave or make it a 2 mile Daytona/Talladega/Atlanta

[@FrosteeWusky]

We do not need more Superspeedways

[@johnvandeventer8668]

Like you guys wanted more short tracks

[@bussinblaney3951]

Not anymore

[@leebrady6326]

Short circle track racing sucks..! Road course racing is way better..!!

[@liogonzalez8813]

Nascar is dying. Nascar is not the future of motor sports.why short track? Kinda sad.

[@Micky-mi1pu]

Just boycot this stupid bulshit shorttrack gone let nascar go bankrupt

[@howardrose8817]

If they turn it into a short track then why not just make it a dirt track? It's in California so weather shouldn't be an issue and you could then stop turning what I think most fans consider the best short track on the schedule (Bristol) into a dirt track. Not to mention the money Nascar would save by not hauling the dirt in and out of Bristol every year although that savings probably wouldn't trickle down to the fans in the form of lower ticket prices. The facility could also host other dirt car events throughout the year such as World of Outlaws.

[@Dexter037S4]

California has a serious dust issue, I remember in 2006 when the X-Games attempted to hold a full special stage rally, many cars were uncompetitive because of the dust being kicked up by Patrick Richard, Travis Pastrana and Colin McRae basically combining into one.

[@moshpitsandbongrips6998]

@@Dexter037S4that’s why we don’t have monster jam in the IE anymore

[@TheKaurajuoma]

This sucks so hard......

[@gripdept]

You are so wrong on so many levels .

[@bobcrossley917]

Since it is small. Do what bristol did with dirt. Use real dirt cars, late model, IMCA, big block mods, 410 sprints. Do not use pavement cars on dirt. Hence the name DIRT CARS. 🤔