It was a fading February evening as Kyle Busch crossed the finish line in Fontana. It was a special day, especially since it was his first win with Richard Childress Racing. But as fate would have it, the track would be left to its misery, fading into history as a NASCAR relic.

If you go there today, there are weeds growing on the track where cars once went over 200 mph. And there’s little chance of revival. “In California alone, it’s more expensive.” NASCAR journalist Jordan Bianchi’s words sum up the sport getting cold feet about any Southern California projects. After hosting the Busch Light Clash race at the Los Angeles Coliseum for three years, it packed up its bags and left. The same goes for the historic racetrack at Auto Club Speedway. Yet NASCAR had dangled a thin sliver of hope for fans that their nostalgic track would survive. But even that is fading.

Kyle Busch won the 2023 Pala Casino 400 race after leading 27 laps, taking his fifth win at the Fontana track. Shortly after that, NASCAR began demolishing the 2-mile speedway, carving out a new future for it. But Steve Phelps’ recent claim that the future is difficult to accomplish left fans crestfallen.

Ten days after the final race in Fontana, the sport launched its new plan. NASCAR reportedly sold 433 of the 522 acres that comprise the venue’s footprint for about $569 Million. The recipients were Ross Perot Jr.’s Dallas-based Hillwood Development Company and CBRE Investment Management. They are now converting their share of the site into a logistics facility and industrial park with 6.6 million square feet of warehousing space. What about the part of the racetrack that still falls under NASCAR?

“I would say that we are still planning on building a short track in Fontana,” Former NASCAR President Steve Phelps said back in February 2024. But after keeping the NASCAR community bubbling with hope for a year, that statement has come to naught. In 2025, NASCAR is potentially hitting the brakes on Fontana permanently, according to Journalist Kelly Crandall on X.

Steve Phelps, now the NASCAR Commissioner, spoke on the topic in a ‘Hauler Talk’ episode. Initially, Phelps hailed the rich tradition that Fontana has bestowed upon them and stressed the need to continue that. “That market … is an important market for us. What the future of that particular facility is,” Phelps dropped a 3-word verdict: “I’m still unsure.” Then he continued, “Would I like to build a new facility at Fontana? I would. It would be a short track because we don’t have room for anything else, frankly. Do I think creating a short track out there would be a cool thing for us? Yes.” However, he soon revealed the thorn: “With that said, it’s $300 million to build that facility.”

Auto Club Speedway, along with other racetracks like Irwindale, sat on land that had become too valuable. So eventually, NASCAR needs to think about “decisions that are good for the business.” Phelps continued that the $300 million resale price could be used elsewhere. “Is that the best use of that money? That is the big question. The cost of capital right now is still really high, so for us to just press pause right now is essentially what we’re doing – trying to be as transparent about that as possible. But, yeah, I’d love to build a facility out there. When that is going to happen or if that is going to happen, I don’t have a timeline.”

Potential work on the track hasn’t come without struggles. As Track President Dave Allen revealed last year, “We’ve got some internal approvals to work through, but the hope is to have something to go out with sometime in the near future. Right now we just don’t have anything to discuss until we have some approvals done.” For NASCAR, the benefits of bringing back a classic track are clear. They saw it at Bowman Gray. Although the track didn’t require as much money put into it, it still became a favorite for most fans.

This uncertainty of Steve Phelps casts a shadow over the Fontana short-track plan. Unsurprisingly, fans are not taking this statement too well.

Fans feel that more could be done

After all, the Fontana racetrack remains very close to the hearts of diehard NASCAR fans. It was on the NASCAR Cup schedule from 1997-2023. Jeff Gordon won the inaugural event before taking the trophy again in 1999 and 2004. NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson holds the most victories there – six. So choosing to demolish this racing legacy in the first place did not sit well with a fan: “Auto Club was the best NASCAR track on the schedule. It was one of only two tracks of its kind, only Michigan is similar.They decided to tear it down. It’s one of the biggest mistakes NASCAR ever has made.” 

Somebody else chimed with this sentiment, questioning why the executives had to remove grandstands. Fans occupy the grandstands, from where the money rolls in: “They had an effing facility there and they tore it down. They have constantly said that the grandstands don’t need to be full to make money because the money comes from TV so then why did they tear it down.”

Then, of course, selling the major part of Auto Club Speedway to other corporations for a few bucks did not make fans happy. If they could garner upward of $550 Million from the proceeds, can a short track not be made? That is what a fan asked: “They sold the land around Auto Club for $559 million, they can definitely build it, they just don’t want to😭” What is more, NASCAR had earmarked 90 acres including the main grandstands, front straight, pit road and pit road suites. So another fan fired shots that money cannot be the hindrance for building a short track. “There is absolutely no possible way building a short track is gonna cost 300 million.”

Plus when a NASCAR executive declares his uncertainty in a matter, that means it’s usually a dead-end. We saw it with the failed charter negotiation, and now a fan claims the same for Fontana. “There is absolutely no possible way building a short track is gonna cost 300 million.”

Evidently, NASCAR’s Fontana declaration has set off ripples of discontent in the community. Let us see what the executives do to calm down the diehard fans.