NASCAR has hit the pause button on its plans to build a short track on the grounds of the former Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.
The project, known as Next Gen California, included a plan to build a half-mile short track. Only a few suites, grandstands and pit road remain at the speedway site, where redevelopment began after NASCAR staged its last race there in February 2023 (pictured above). But the work has been slow-going, with NASCAR acknowledging cost concerns about it, although it remained adamant the plan was to still build a racetrack. This week on NASCAR’s official podcast, Hauler Talk, NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps indicated the status of the project remains uncertain.
“That market … is an important market for us,” he said. “What the future of that particular facility is, I’m still unsure. Would I like to build a new facility at Fontana? I would. It would be a short track because we don’t have room for anything else, frankly.”…