Why NASCAR Is Skipping Auto Club Speedway in California for 2024, Possibly Longer

• Since 1997 NASCAR's Southern California presence has been through Fontana's Auto Club Speedway once known as California Speedway.

• The track will get an overhaul; it will be shortened from its current two miles, though to what length and what configuration has yet to be determined.

• As for making the coliseum race an actual event that pays points, that's a possibility.

As NASCAR has shown in recent years nothing is certain, especially when it comes to their national touring series schedules. In the past couple of years NASCAR has added new venues, moved race dates and later this year will even be racing on the streets of Chicago.

One thing is certain, however. When the schedules for 2024 are announced later this year, Auto Club Speedway in southern California won’t be listed. In fact, there might not be a race their the following season either.

The final race on the two-mile speedway, first opened in 1997, will be in just a few short weeks. Following that race weekend that track will be reconfigured, and that work won’t be done in time for next season.

“Unfortunately, even with the most aggressive timeline, we will not race in 2024 on the new track,” Auto Club Speedway president Dave Allen said Saturday.

The track will get an overhaul; it will be shortened from its current two miles, though to what length and what configuration has yet to be determined. Those details are still in the planning stage, meaning that racing in 2024 is out of the question. As for beyond?

“The timeline beyond that still has yet to be determined,” Allen said. “There are just milestones we need to get through, not the least of which is the design of the racetrack. We’re still working on that. There are a lot of iterations we’re still designing, both on track and off track.”

NASCAR has worked tirelessly to put, and keep, NASCAR racing in the Southern California market. Since 1997 that presence has been through Auto Club Speedway once known as California Speedway. With its location some 50 miles west of Los Angeles, the second-largest media market in the country, it seemed like a perfect way to present the sport to the masses.

But the addition of a second race during the season in 2004, attendance at the track began to fall. The second race was removed in 2011, and in 2014 grandstand seating capacity was reduced from 92,000 seats to 68,000.

Attendance has continued to be an issue however, and complaints about the on-track product started to grow louder. In 2020, reports surfaced that the 2-mile track would be converted to a short track. That, however, has yet to happen. Nor, has the exact configuration even been revealed. One thing we do know is that NASCAR’s presence in the L.A. market for next year, and possibly the following year, might be in question.

Enter the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.

For the past two years, NASCAR has opened its season in the historic stadium in downtown L.A. on a purpose-built short track with the non-points Clash exhibition race. The success of the past two years of the Clash leads to the question: Could NASCAR maintain its presence in L.A. while Auto Club Speedway us undergoing renovations, by holding a points race at the L.A. Coliseum, one that would include such elements as heat races?

“I mean, it can, sure,” Kyle Busch said. “We do it at Bristol (Motor Speedway). You’ve got heat races there and then you have a feature and things like that. It certainly could, but I feel like what it is—the way the format is designed initially when we came here last year and the way the show was—was super enticing for the fans. I felt like it was really good for the drivers that hit it and that were up front most of the time, like myself, (Joey) Logano, (Tyler) Reddick. We did a good job early on in the weekend with practice, qualifying, everything to set yourself up and we were able to stay up front. I don’t know that it needs to be a points race, but it certainly could be.”

Denny Hamlin is not just a driver, but a team owner as well. He knows the importance of having a NASCAR presence in the Los Angeles market.

“The value of the location is the biggest thing,” he said. “A lot of team sponsors are probably headquartered somewhere near here so there’s a value in activation that comes with that and it’s also valuable to introduce new fans to the sport. I think that with roughly 40 percent of the audience members that show up this weekend will be new to our sport. Just helps grow the sport in general. Pretty positive thing from that standpoint.”

As for making the race at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum an event that pays points, that's a possibility.

“Sure,” he said. “I think NASCAR whatever deems is important to them. I’m sure having a race in this area is very important with the talk of the two-mile oval in Fontana, you would have no more and they may be taking a year off while it rebuilds. Certainly, I think they’re going to be open to options and maybe this does fall in that slot.”

Kyle Larson is not only a California native but won the race at Auto Club Speedway last season. Being a native of California he understands the challenges the speedway faces.

“It’s definitely a long process for them to reconfigure not only the track but a lot of the facilities,” Larson said. “It’s pretty intense. I know with California and all the codes that you have to go through, it’s probably hard to have everything stay on schedule. I don't know exactly the extent of what they're doing with the track and how big it's going be, the shape and banking and all that. I love the two-mile track. But I think the more shift tracks we can have, the better off our sports going to be. It’s neat that they're investing that money to try and grow the growth racing in California, but also help NASCAR.”

Allen said Saturday the track will not only get a new configuration but the overall facilities will be upgraded. What all that will look like however, is still a work in progress. But Allen did give a hint of what’s to come.

“It’ll be really exciting when we get to a point where we can share that,” he said. “What we’re working on is really exciting. The fact that we race at a half-mile at Martinsville and Bristol, it’ll be cool to have another half-mile, especially out here on the West Coast with so much racing history here.”