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Sunday will be the final race on the 2-mile version of Auto Club Speedway. What will NASCAR do in Los Angeles the next couple of years? Will Auto Club Speedway EVER become a short track?
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67 comments
After last years Race and probably this year I can’t believe they’re still going through with this
That’s because of all the braindead restrictor plate fans still calling it “boring.” And these days NASCAR only listens to those casual goons. Sadly casuals spend more money when they go to the races than the diehards do. Most of the diehards go with a “make this as cheap as possible” mindset….. this all concluded via numerous fan votes via the fan counsel. Another interesting stat is that 71% of NASCAR fans outside of California live in poor states with high welfare percentages… such as Mississippi and Alabama… so they’ve essentially be priced out by the middle and upper class fans from better states.
@Captain Nebulous sounds like F1
Well they just sold the land for 100 million so probably a no brainer for nascar
Well the fans wanted it in the first place. I never wanted it to happen because Auto club was unique. It had bumps in the track on the backstretch, you could go 5, 6 wide, and it had great passing and a great multigrove race.
@Momentum Racing i wasnt one of those fans, i love autoclub and it was the last intermediate standing with an old surface they could run all over, its sad whats happening to all the good tracks like autoclub atlanta and texas
I live 80 minutes away from Auto Club and turning it into a short track is a stupid idea
I think they want short tracks outside of the area they are at currently. They are all located pretty close together and with money being short for the average person those 6 races are starting to suffer in attendance. I’d love to see short tracks in other locations
May i ask something? only one thing has been consistent over the last 20 years and thats fans wanting more short tracks… why do yall think this is stupid? Because a decent track is being converted to one? im excited for the new layout looks interesting if it comes to fruition. Yall also hate Bristol Dirt randomly?… maybe a top 10 race this past year? yall confuse me.
@NamlatWell some of us hated bristol dirt from the start, I am one of them.
Its time for a short track to be in the west. Auto club hasn’t had good racing in years. Its just a cookie cutter
Lol yeah 3 years ago, if it hasn’t happened by now it won’t, I bet this track will be gone completely
This is an outside the box theory for replacing Auto Club in 2024: what if the cup series went to Portland? They got a footing with Xfinity with a large turnout. If Xfinity can get a big turnout, surely the cup series can do the same if not more.
If they replace it with a road course I’d like Willow Springs more, especially since it’s closer to the LA area.
They need to simplify the west end of Portland’s track for nascar(the east section is ideal though). Cars are way too bulky and cumbersome for 145° turns. There’s a reason Watkins Glen is the golden standard, everything is relatively fast and sweeping, and it’s ideal for glorified physical speed tanks to roar around
I do like the more road courses idea but they need to be more custom to nascar sensibilities not the ones they are going to. Portland was not built with nascar in mind whatsoever
Do you think the Auto Club Short Track conversion will still happen?
Uhhhhh … somehow, uh. Don’t think so!!
Really hope not. Bring those plans down to Texas Motor Speedway!
The new investment wouldn’t be worth it for that extremely watered down sports market just like you pointed out. Plus, the racing is great!
I fear it goes the way of Ontario and Riverside
No. I think Fontana is destined for the dumpster unfortunately. Thanks for the promo code for the magazine! Ordered mine today!
I get the feeling that this is going to be the last race at all and their going to sell/close completely
Given the recent history of losing Riverside and Ontario to developers, you are probably right.
One could hope.
I don’t want to think about Autoclub disappearing
At all
Autoclub speedway is my home track. I’m only 30 minutes away and I’ve been there a lot last year, hell, i got to race on it and it was so much fun. With what we saw last year, a short track does not seem like a good idea with this next gen, that made tracks like Autoclub thrive. I don’t mind trying to make it maybe like a 1 1/2 high speed track almost like Charlotte or Atlanta, but making it a short track feels like a suicide run
Also note: my hate towards real estate from wanting to destroy tracks for their land is now personal
As slapshoes said: it’s a “booming real estate market”
@Patrick Kennedy thats the unfortunate truth especially in Gayifornia
Well, tracks sort of can be a waste of good real estate too.
As long time fans of Auto Club Speedway we are so disappointed in the possible change to yet another short track. There won’t be any big tracks like this ever built again and we can’t believe the shortsightedness of NASCAR to get rid of this one. Having experience in dealing with the State and local governments in the LA region, it is safe to say that Auto Club will never reopen. Remember, this is a State that will prohibit the sale of gas powered vehicles by 2030.
Yea but you realize that doesn’t mean gas powered cars stop existing in 2031 right? They’re doing that because they understand most of those cars will be in use until 2050 at least.
not to mention if it will need to be repaved in a few years anyways, why don’t we at least wait until then to do this
@Blake Andrews the repave was needed last year… We’re at an ATL style crossroads with Auto Club right now. The track is coming apart.
I never want Auto Club to be changed into a short track. I never wanted it to happen because Auto club was unique. It had bumps in the track on the backstretch, you could go 5, 6 wide, and it had great passing and a great multigrove race. And with last years race at an all time high with great racing, i was hoping the 2 mile would live another day. I’m still gonna push the new auto club short track to be pushed back to the 2 mile oval.
Unique as Michigan maybe
Well you’d have to wait 10 years for it to be decent again and any bumps would be paved out and smoothed over.
@Trackside Views More like 20 probably.
Pretty sure they already sold the land
@Existing in a space Yeah, selling the land is pretty final
I remember when Darlington was close to getting axed from the schedule, but a great finish saved it in 2003. Maybe the same could happen..?
We’ll find out this Sunday…
History rhymes I hope.
Irony considering Darlington lost a date to here and Texas lost All Star Race to Wilkesboro.
History might rhyme.
@Daniel Moorefield I was just thinking the same thing. Darlington got its second date (400 miler) back. Wilksboro got its date back from Texas. Atlanta got its second date back. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Kentucky take Atlanta’s second date in 2011? We all know how Kentucky’s doing right now.
@Rails and Racing
Yep.
We need a great race and a 6-wide finish at end for the win
As I have said other places..ironic that Auto Clubs final race, in it’s current configuration, will also be Harvick’s final race at his home track in his final season. Fitting.
The question is what’s going to prevent the people who move into the real estate that will be built when they turn Auto Club into a short track to eventually want the short track gone
That’s what happened at Pomona drag strip. They built homes across the street from the end of the track and now there’s a curfew for the races because people complained of noise coming from a track that stood 25 years before the homes were even built.
The building plan has industrial buildings going up not houses thankfully.
Its already in an industrial area. No homes are goin in around it
@Micheal HockThat would be good. Think it should be turned into a tourist areas with casino and shopping center like they did with Kansas City.
Auto Club might be the biggest “be careful what you wish for” scenario in NASCAR right now
Eh, as a viewer I’d rather have the chance to have something great than be guaranteed another twenty years of mediocre to bad 2 miler racing to maybe get another 2-3 years of actually good racing.
The Playoffs exist. Fans wanted to see wins matter more than consistency, and we got the terrible points system we have today.
@JayDee
Not wrong even though I am insane I like the Win and Your In format.
Yeah I’m insane.
@JayDee exactly and those same fans still complain
Auto club has been my favourite track since I watched Kasey kahne win in the fall of 2006. Hopefully they just keep the track as is.
The short track config is definitely going to befall the same fate as literally every other short track that’s in a populated area.
People will build houses next to it then complain about the noise until the city shuts it down.
There is too many pollutants in the ground around the speedway for that. That’s why they were able to acquire the land and build the track for cheap in the 90s
@Kyle Colletti Then whatever company will complain about this noise or the vibrations until the track is shut down.
@Kyle Collettiit is on the site of an old steel mill, right?
Irwindale would be a dream come true as a local track fan, that track is all my memories of races with my dad and where I met Joey Logano there and chase elliott. I’d love to see a test run of Irwindale for the 3 top series
The owners of that track sold it to developers
I gotta say, it hurts to hear this track is going and might not be replaced because of an hour long drive….I have a three hour drive just to get to my nearest short track (now that Western Speedway is gone) and a 4 hour ish flight to get to my nearest nascar track (vegas). I know it is what it is, and this is a me problem, just saying I’d kill to be able to drive an hour to see a local shirt track race, let alone a nascar race.
Keep up the great work
While I will miss this track, it is very true it will suck once paved. I am all for more short tracks so ultimately in the long term I believe this will be great event on the calendar
it wasn’t a dirt track to begin with.
Worked for SHR 7 years at Fontucky and lobbied NASCAR for the Seattle track back in the day. Fontucky has enough hotel rooms, it’s has an airport super close. Ultimately it’s close enough for NASCAR and team owners to enjoy LA after the race. I am all in for another short track and if they can get the new configuration write we might have ourselves a new favorite racetrack
As a long time fan, I wish they would keep the old layout. Being a 2 mile oval makes the track unique in itself. I live in a big market( chicago) and Chicagoland is similar to fontana. A hour away from the big city, hasn’t always had the most entertaining races, but has had its good moments and good finishes. Auto club kinda put its foot in its mouth, a few years by saying they was going to convert the track. That was probably just a thought the owners could’ve kept to themselves until the actually had a game plan. Plus a few years ago was when alot of fans was complaining about they wanted more short tracks on the schedule.