Auto Club Speedway’s demise hasn’t been easy to see. The sweeping 2-mile track in Southern California had featured at least one race yearly since 1997 when the old Kaiser steel mill was reconstructed into the Fontana Superspeedway. It’s not just sentimentality for many motorsports enthusiasts, as the absence of the race has also hit the local economy. The D-shaped oval still features remnants from the iconic venue, but its future as a short track looks far from certain.

Former Cup Series driver Garrett Smithley recently showed a picture of the track in its current state, prompting heartbroken reactions from fans on social media. Could the roar of the engines be heard at the venue again in the future? Time will tell.

A track with an uncertain future

It’s the end of an era. Auto Club Speedway featured as many as 85,000 fans for its first-ever NASCAR event, establishing itself as a beloved track on the calendar. However, attendance fell when the sanctioning body added a second annual race on the track in 2004, forcing the grandstands to be reconfigured to a lower capacity (68,000) in 2014. Eventually, the sanctioning body received an offer it couldn’t refuse for the land and decided to sell 433 of the 522 acres to a Dallas-based Hillwood Development Company and CBRE Investment Management for an estimated $569 million.

It was a record price for an industrial land deal, with the site being converted to a logistics facility. However, NASCAR retained approximately 90 acres of land in the area for a proposed short track. Garrett Smithley, who competed in the Cup Series on a part-time basis from 2018 to 2022 uploaded a picture of what was once known as Auto Club Speedway on X, writing, “Dad sent me this. They flew over what’s left of Fontana. What an amazing track that was 😭😭”

The site still features the main grandstand, front straight, pit road, and pit road suites, which are expected to feature in the new racing venue, however, there seem to be no clear plans about an estimated timeline for the short track. It’s no secret that NASCAR has been trying to convert large superspeedways to half-mile tracks in recent years, just like venues such as Bristol, North Wilkesboro, and Martinsville. It seems the Fontana track could also be following suit, even though the venue seems to be in the middle of a transition with an unknown future.

The track held a special place in the hearts of many drivers as well, with Martin Truex Jr. saying, “I love the racetrack, it’s one of my favorites, and I’m not one to pick favorites. I’m going to miss it.” The track has been witness to iconic moments such as the legendary Kyle Busch becoming the youngest driver (at the time) to win a Cup Series race at just 20 years of age in 2005 and the Sony HD 500. 20 years on, Kyle Busch is still racing but Auto Cub Speedway is long gone.

The short-track project was announced in 2020 and the racing venue was supposed to be completed no later than 2023. However, the COVID-19 pandemic combined with supply chain problems and rising costs has added to the delay. As things stand, it’s unclear whether the short track will ever be built going by the innumerable delays, which is causing plenty of frustration for fans.

NASCAR fans are upset at Auto Club Speedway’s fate

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As expected, it didn’t take long for NASCAR fans to make their voices heard on social media. Watching the image of the dilapidated Auto Club Speedway uploaded by Garrett Smithley prompted many to express their heartbroken reactions, with one fan using a quote from the movie ‘The Godfather’ to express emotions. The image featured a couple of warehouses built on the site, while the grandstand and a part of the racetrack were still present, prompting a fan to write, “THEY MASSACARED OUR BOY!”

Another motorsports enthusiast felt that the remaining 90 acres owned by NASCAR will also be sold in the future, with plans of building a short-track being scrapped entirely. The fan wrote, “nascar will get an offer they can’t refuse. This track will never come back.” The X user wasn’t the only one who shared such a view, as another fan echoed such a sentiment, claiming that the sanctioning body will inevitably opt to sell off the land by saying, “Yeah the short track isn’t happening. And even if it does they’ll only have it for 5 years or so and then demolish that and put another warehouse there.”

However, with dwindling attendance and the quality of races suffering, can NASCAR be blamed for selling off the land for a lucrative price? Would the sanctioning body have sold the land if it remained a fan-favorite on the calendar every year? Arguably not. On that note, an X user wrote, “Fans will never acknowledge that they are mostly to blame for how Auto Club turned out.” While it may not be a Daytona International Speedway or Darlington Raceway, the track was undoubtedly loved by many fans and drivers, prompting a fan to say, “Such a shame”.