By David Morgan, Associate Editor
Farewell, old friend.
Auto Club Speedway, which was once maligned by the NASCAR fan base and has since become one of the favorites on the schedule, will hold its final race on the two-mile layout this weekend with Sunday’s running of the Pala Casino 400.
Built on the site of an old steel mill featured in the movie “Terminator”, the oval has been a part of the NASCAR schedule since opening in 1997, still holding onto the same asphalt that was present when the first cars hit the track way back when
As the track has never been repaved since opening, the aged surface has come to provide some of the best intermediate track racing on the circuit. With the lack of grip that the drivers are faced with, they will race from the apron of the track all the way up to the wall looking for speed and the best line to suit their needs.
On restarts especially, drivers will fan out three and four-wide as they battle for position, leading to some great racing, as evidenced by the finishes at the track in the last handful of years.
It was announced that the track would be reconfigured into a short track nearly three years ago, but the after effects of the pandemic put those plans into a holding pattern until this year when the time has finally come to say goodbye to the track’s two-mile layout.
There still remains much uncertainty about the track’s future path, but one thing is certain, the drivers will give Auto Club Speedway the send-off it deserves on Sunday.
By the Numbers
What: Pala Casino 400, NASCAR Cup Series Race No. 2 of 36
Where: Auto Club Speedway – Fontana, California (Opened: 1997)
When: Sunday, February 26
TV/Radio: FOX, 3:30 pm ET / MRN and Sirius XM NASCAR Channel 90
Track Size: Two-mile D-shaped oval
Banking: 14 degrees in turns, 11 degrees on frontstretch
Race Length: 200 laps, 400 miles
Stage Lengths: First two stages – 65 laps each, Final stage – 70 laps
Pit Road Speed: 55 mph
Pace Car Speed: 60 mph
2022 Race Winner: Kyle Larson – No. 5 Chevrolet (Started 13th, 28 laps led)
Track Qualifying Record: Denny Hamlin – No. 11 Toyota – 188.511 mph, 38.194 seconds – March 18, 2016
Top-10 Driver Ratings at Auto Club Speedway:
- Kyle Busch – No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet – 109.0
- Tyler Reddick – No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota – 100.3
- Erik Jones – No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet – 97.6
- Ryan Blaney…
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