Auto Club Speedway
Auto Club Speedway, formerly California Speedway, [Two] is a two-mile (Trio km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It is also used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack is located near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track is possessed and operated by International Speedway Corporation and is the only track possessed by ISC to have naming rights sold. The speedway is served by the nearby Interstate ten and Interstate fifteen freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.
Penske Motorsports, Inc.
- Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
- Auto Club 400
Construction of the track, on the site of the former Kaiser Steel Mill, began in one thousand nine hundred ninety five and was finished in late 1996. The speedway has a grandstand capacity of 68,000 and twenty eight skyboxes and a total capacity of 122,000. In 2006, a fanzone was added behind the main grandstand. Lights were added to the speedway in two thousand four with the addition of a 2nd annual NASCAR weekend. Since 2011, the track has hosted only one NASCAR weekend.
IndyCar returned to the track in two thousand twelve with its season finale race (a 500-mile night race); the series previously ran a 400-mile race from two thousand two to 2005.
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Early history and construction Edit
On April 20, 1994, Roger Penske and Kaiser announced the construction of a racetrack on the site of the abandoned Kaiser Steel mill in Fontana, CA. A day after the announcement CART announced it would hold an annual race at the speedway. Three months later NASCAR President Bill France, Jr. agreed to sanction Winston Cup Series races at the speedway upon completion, marking the very first time NASCAR has made a commitment to run a race at a track that had yet to be built. [Three] Community meetings were held to discuss issues related to the construction of the track and the local effects of events held. The local community largely supported construction of the speedway citing potentially enlargened land values and rejuvenation of the community. In April 1995, after having toured the sister track Michigan International Speedway, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the project. [Four] The California Environmental Protection Agency gave Penske permission to begin construction after Kaiser agreed to pay $6 million to liquidate hazardous waste from the site. Construction on the site began on November 22, one thousand nine hundred ninety five with the demolition of the Kaiser Steel Mill. [Trio] The 100-foot water tower, a landmark of the Kaiser property, was preserved in the center of the track to be used as a scoreboard. Trio,000 cubic yards (Two,300 m three ) of contaminated mud was eliminated and transported to a toxic waste landfill. To prevent remaining impurities from rising to the surface, a cap of non-porous polyethylene was put down and covered with two feet (0.61 m) of clean soil. [Four] Construction of the track was finished in late 1996. [Trio]
On January Ten, one thousand nine hundred ninety seven Marlboro Team Penske’s driver Paul Tracy became the very first driver to test on the fresh speedway. NASCAR held its very first open test session on at the track from May 5–7. The official opening and ribbon cutting ceremony was held on June 20, one thousand nine hundred ninety seven with the very first race, a NASCAR West Series race, being held the next day. [Trio]
The track was named the California Speedway from the time it was built through February 21, two thousand eight when the Southern California Automobile Club (Auto Club) purchased the naming rights in a 10-year deal. Thus creating Auto Club Speedway.
Expansion and additions Edit
With early success following the opening of the track, the speedway began to expand reserved grandstand seating along the front spread with an extra 15,777 seats. In May 1999, an extra twenty eight skyboxes were added to the top of the main grandstand. In two thousand one the Auto Club Dragway, a 1/Four mile dragstrip, was built outside of the backstretch of the main speedway. That same year, the infield of the speedway was reconfigured to hold a multipurpose road course. On April 24, two thousand three The San Bernardino County Planning Commission approved the switching of the speedway’s conditional use permit to permit the installation of lights around the track. Later that year NASCAR announced a 2nd annual NASCAR Cup Series race at the track for the two thousand four season, with the 2nd race being run "under the lights". [Five] NASCAR ran two weekends of racing annually until the two thousand eleven season, when the track returned to a single annual race weekend. [6]
In 2006, the speedway’s midway, located behind the main grandstand, was overhauled. The fresh midway, called Detect IE FanZone, includes the addition of Apex (a Wolfgang Puck restaurant), extra shade and lounge areas, a fresh retail store and an entertainment stage. [7]
In March 2014, Las Vegas based company Exotics Racing expanded to California by opening a fresh 1.Two mile road course at the Auto Club Speedway.
