Auto Club Speedway will begin its long-anticipated reconfiguration from a 2-mile oval to a half-mile short track following the facility’s NASCAR Cup Series event on February 26th. On Saturday, at the LA Memorial Coliseum, Auto Club Speedway track president Dave Allen announced that the track will not host any races during the 2024 NASCAR season as the reconfiguration takes place.
For those wondering if perhaps this signals the end of Auto Club Speedway, Allen was emphatic that the facility will return as a venue for NASCAR races once the short track conversion is completed.
Auto Club Speedway, originally known as California Speedway, has hosted at least one NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series event annually since the 1997 season. In all, the 2-mile layout of the track will finish its history with 33 NASCAR Cup Series events and 33 NASCAR Xfinity Series events.
Six drivers have won multiple NASCAR Cup Series races at Auto Club Speedway, with Jimmie Johnson topping the all-time winner list at the track with six victories over the course of his legendary career.
Kyle Busch (4), Jeff Gordon (3), Matt Kenseth (3), Kyle Larson (2), and Tony Stewart (2) are the other multi-time race winners at the facility heading into the final showdown on the 2-mile layout.
It’ll be a little strange to not see Auto Club Speedway on the schedule for the 2024 NASCAR season, as it’s been nearly 30 years since Fontana, California wasn’t represented on a NASCAR Cup Series or Xfinity Series schedule, but there will be massive anticipation about how races at the half-mile edition of the race track will go.
