NASCAR addresses potential return of Auto Club Speedway short track

Despite not much happening besides demolition, NASCAR is still planning on building a short track at the former Auto Club Speedway. Southern California is, unfortunately, lacking a Cup Series venue and will for the foreseeable future.

The good news is that NASCAR hasn’t sold all the land and given up on the project. They are still sticking by their plans to eventually build a half-mile short track.

Speaking on the future of the Auto Club Speedway project, Dave Allen, NASCAR West Region president stayed committed to the plan. There will be something there, but what exactly remains to be seen.

“The market is extremely important to NASCAR,” Allen said, via the Los Angeles Times. “So we’re not abandoning the market. What we don’t have is a firm timeline yet. There’s some things within the sport that need to get sorted before we can make some strategic decisions as it relates to what we’re, what we’re going to build.

“We’re going to do something. I just don’t know what and when yet.”

Allen explained that a half-mile oval is the preferred plan. That doesn’t mean that is exactly what will be built.

“That’s option No. 1,” Allen said of a half-mile track at the former Auto Club Speedway site. “Obviously, we’ve been there for a long time. We still retain enough land to build a half-mile oval if we chose to do that. But we still need some time to sort some things out and figure out if that’s the right thing to do.”

NASCAR fans in Southern California are hurting a bit right now. Their home track is no longer there. But hopefully, we see something concrete in the near future.

Auto Club Speedway short track still on hold

I think that the biggest fear NASCAR fans have about Auto Club Speedway not being reincarnated into a short track is residential homes in the area. Now that NASCAR has sold so much land to be developed around the track, could local residents prevent a future rebuild?

There are many communities who simply don’t want motorsports nearby. You will not believe the number of people who will move next to a race track and then complain about racing, folks.

NASCAR does have a desire and a financial incentive to get back to Southern California. So, that should keep fans’ hopes up. But it might not be as easy as wanting to build a new race track.