It’s been nearly two years since NASCAR held a race in Southern California, the 2023 Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.
10 days after the race, NASCAR sold 433 of the 522 acres of the track’s footprint to Ross Perot Jr.’s Dallas-based Hillwood Development company and CBRE Investment Management for approximately $569 million, per Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times. NASCAR retained ownership of approximately 90 acres for a planned half-mile short track, in which construction began on last year.
But outside of the Fontana project coming to fruition, options are limited for the stock car racing series in Southern California. Speaking on Monday’s “The Teardown” podcast, Jordan Bianchi of The Athletic agreed with colleague Jeff Gluck’s suggestion that a championship race in a market such as Los Angeles would be a slam dunk for NASCAR. Bianchi added that other options include the Grand Prix of Long Beach, recently purchased by Roger Penske, as well as a street course race in San Diego.
“NASCAR needs a race in Southern California,” Bianchi said. “You look at the options they have there, they’re just not there. I would say keep an eye on Long Beach and see what happens there now that Roger Penske owns it. Never say never. If you’re NASCAR and you gotta race in Southern California, you don’t have many options. San Diego, maybe. It’s a street course race, OK, but then what? That’s only gonna be a couple years. Like, you’re going to need something beyond that. That’s why I say keep an eye on Long Beach, you never know. Not saying it’s happening, but you need to race in Southern California.
“And so, your idea of having Fontana be around is great because you’d have a championship race on a short track. Let’s presume they’re going to go with the configuration they announced back in 2020 which is basically like a Martinsville-Bristol hybrid if you will. Long straightaways and really big banking in the corners, that kind of configuration in the LA market for your championship? Oh, man, that solves a lot of problems, and it puts a focus on your sport in a great way. Drivers racetrack it sounds like, none of this Phoenix crap of go there and this race is just whatever. That would have been great. We’ll see.”
NASCAR wants to be back in Southern California — that point isn’t to be debated. The sanctioning body wanted to return to Fontana on the reconfigured short track in 2025. But that became a no-go after it became clear the project wouldn’t be completed in time. There is currently no timeline for completion, though Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s executive vice-president and chief venue & racing information officer, said earlier this year that the goal is to be in Southern California long-term.
“Our goal is really to be in Southern California long-term,” Kennedy said. “We’ve continued to work on our plans for Fontana. We have a number of different configurations and variations the team has been working on for what that track might look like. [And] what are the other activities that could happen on that parcel of land that we have there.”
NASCAR insider explains challenges of Fontana short track project
But as far as the chances the project comes through, Bianchi believes money will be a deterrent until the cost of doing business in California goes down.
“From the conversations I’ve had with people at the very high levels of NASCAR — they want to be Southern California. They want the Fontana project to happen, but it is so expensive,” Bianchi said. “Not only do you have normal operating costs to build a racetrack, but in California alone, it’s even more expensive. The cost to do business out there is so high right now. And many people tell you this inside NASCAR and outside of NASCAR, unreasonably high to such a degree it handcuffs you.
“So, you almost have to overspend to do whatever you want to do, and it comes down to money. It’s not a matter of desire or want to or anything like that. They want that project to happen. There’s a reason they still have that sliver of land there earmarked for a short track. There’s a reason they haven’t sold it off yet. They want to do it, but it costs money. … My understanding is they’re gonna wait. And they’re gonna hold off as long as they can until they can’t just hold out anymore. Until things change in California and the cost of doing business goes down, I don’t know.”