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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – AUGUST 30: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #8 Hellmann’s Chevrolet, stands in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway on August 30, 2019 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
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DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – AUGUST 30: Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #8 Hellmann’s Chevrolet, stands in the garage during practice for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 at Darlington Raceway on August 30, 2019 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
The recent sale of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, has been the subject of speculation and concern among NASCAR fans. Much of the land will be used for commercial purposes, and the rest will supposedly house a short track with world-class facilities. Several drivers and experts had raised voices of concern about the track’s future in the lead-up to last week’s race at the Auto Club Speedway. This included the likes of Bubba Wallace and Ryan Blaney. Now, it is Dale Earnhardt Jr who has come out and asked NASCAR some difficult questions.
With no NASCAR race at the Auto Club Speedway in 2024 and the timeline to convert it into a short track still uncertain, ‘Junior‘ raised concerns about the possibility of building a world-class facility on the remaining land.
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NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Pala Casino 400 Feb 26, 2023 Fontana, California, USA NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin 11 leads the field during the Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway. Fontana Auto Club Speedway California USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xGaryxA.xVasquezx 20230226_gav_sv5_018
Dale Earnhardt Jr makes some interesting points
In a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download podcast, Dale Jr and Mike Davis discussed why there is skepticism surrounding NASCAR’s intentions to build a new track around just around 90 acres of land.
Sharing his thoughts, ‘Junior’ wondered, “Why would they have kept that if they could have sold it? As valuable as that land is, I wonder why they would wanna hang on to it.”
He added, “I’m skeptical. This is gonna cost of a lot of money. Nobody’s came out and said—with enough confirmation or solidity—nobody has really came out and given us a ‘Works out and this is happenin’. Look at this, we’re gonna do this, this is what’s going on.'”
While no official confirmation has been given, co-host Mike Davis raised the possibility that the remaining land might not be sufficient to build a short track with adequate parking facilities.
Mike Davis touched on the Martinsville and Bristol tracks
The duo compared the acreage of the remaining land with that of the Martinsville and Bristol tracks, which are much larger.
Davis said, “Martinsville covers 340 acres and I think Bristol’s more. There’s a good reason to be skeptical of it… let’s see what NASCAR decides that they are going to do with this. We’ll have to wait and see.”
‘Junior’ chimed in, “I know. I think it can be done.”
The JR Motorsports Brand and Media MD continued, “Maybe it’s just a smaller track and the grandstands are staying. So we know just how many seats there will be.”
NASCAR’s continued silence about its intentions to build a new track on the remaining land from the sale of the Auto Club Speedway has left many wondering about the future of the sport in Southern California. We will have to wait and see if NASCAR breaks its silence by sharing a framework regarding the future of the historic track.
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