NASCAR’S Auto Club Speedway Demolished — See The Photos
There’s no turning back now.
The demolition of NASCAR’s former Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., is well underway, with the surface of Turns 1 and 2 now removed.
The two-mile oval’s property is being redeveloped as an industrial park, with plans to build a new half-mile track that will host NASCAR Cup Series events.
NASCAR had hoped to have the new track ready for the 2024 season, but the project has been delayed.
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Photographer Mark J. Rebilas has posted aerial photography of the demolition work being done this week to his X account.
NASCAR is still waiting for final approval for its construction plans and doesn’t have a timetable for when that will happen. It will likely take about 18 months to finish the new short track once the project begins.
“This isn’t the best time to be building based on inflation, the cost of capital, et cetera. But our intention is to continue to be in the southern California market,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said during the annual State of the Sport press conference.
The provisional plan is to retain a portion of the grandstand and position the start/finish line where the current one is.
“It’s going to be a short track. Most likely be a half-mile racetrack. What exactly that looks like … We’ve got renderings, we’ve got what it looks like. We are ready to go when the time is right,” Phelps said.
Kyle Busch won the final race held on the speedway this past February. It was his fifth win at the track, which was also where he scored his first Cup Series victory in 2005. California native Jimmie Johnson holds the venue’s record with six career wins.
Auto Club Speedway’s vacated slot on the 2024 schedule has been filled with the first Cup Series race to be held at the NASCAR-owned Iowa Speedway on June 16.
NASCAR’s only visit to Southern California next year will be the exhibition Clash at the Coliseum held on a temporary track built inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum the weekend of Feb. 4.
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