Getty Xfinity Series drivers race at Auto Club Speedway.
The move toward a short track in Fontana is well underway for NASCAR. The first phase of a massive deal involving the Auto Club Speedway property has been completed.
Corion Properties announced the news with a press release on March 1, three days after Kyle Busch won the final Cup Series race on the two-mile configuration. The sale involves 433 total acres at a price of $559 million.
Phase 1 of the sale focused on 364.2 acres that NASCAR sold to Dallas-based Hillwood Investment Properties and CBRE Investment Management. Phase 2, which includes approximately 69 acres, is scheduled to close on or before December 31, 2026.
“The ACS Logistics Center is a true ‘unicorn’ site and perhaps the best site of its size in the entire United States,” said Corion founder and CEO Fred Cordova. “We worked very closely with a terrific world-class client (NASCAR) and buyer (Hillwood & CBREIM) for nearly three years, sometimes under intense pressure and throughout the night to achieve such an incredibly successful outcome for the parties.
“The process presented challenges, but ultimately it was an immensely rewarding experience for the Corion team because it validates our mission to impact alpha with unique market valuation and disposition processes designed to optimize transaction performance.”
NASCAR Retained Ownership of Some Property
GettyThe sun sets during the final race at Auto Club Speedway.
There was another part of the press release that provided further details about the plans for the property. Corion Properties noted that “Auto Club Speedway retains ownership of 90 acres for the short track and parking use rights for 106 acres of parking area.”
The public plan has been for NASCAR to construct a half-mile short track on the site of Auto Club Speedway while maintaining a presence in Southern California. The exact layout of the short track remains unknown, and there isn’t a timeline in place for when the reconfigured track could return to the schedule.
According to the Press-Enterprise, track president Dave Allen expressed optimism about the future of Auto Club Speedway during the final race weekend at the current configuration. He said that he is hopeful that they get to a point “some time this year” where there will be more information coming out about the design along with a construction timeline.
Remaining in California is Important
With the completion of the sale, there are even more questions about the future of NASCAR in California. How long will the reconfiguration take? Will the NASCAR Cup Series return after one or two years away?
There are no concrete answers available about the future of the track or NASCAR in California. It’s unlikely that the Cup Series will go away from this part of the country. The market is just too important.
“Yeah, I think this place is — we need to be in Southern California,” Kyle Busch said after winning the Pala Casino 400. “I think the Clash is kind of a cool exhibition opportunity where we get to be in LA, like really out over that way, but man, I was really, really pleased and happy with the crowd that came out today.
“I thought that was awesome to see. There was a really good turnout for as cold as it was. I really thought people would shy away. But man, they came, so it was really, really good.
“Just hope that the next track that we have puts on the show that we’ve been able to see here for the last probably 10 years, 12 years, but repaves are always tough. It takes a good five years for a repave to turn into something that’s decent.”
There will continue to be questions and concerns about the future of Auto Club Speedway and NASCAR in California until more details are provided. For now, Busch and his fellow drivers will move forward with the rest of the schedule while battling for wins and playoff points.