Getty NASCAR drivers have weighed in about the Auto Club Speedway changes.
The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season is expected to be the last with the two-mile configuration of Auto Club Speedway before it becomes a short track. These changes are some that the drivers don’t necessarily want.
Multiple Cup Series drivers provided their thoughts on the matter during the media day at the NASCAR Awards. The sentiment among some of them is that they prefer the intermediate tracks now that they drive the Next Gens cars. Though Tyler Reddick noted that a dream scenario would be to have multiple versions of the track.
“With the racing we’ve seen with this car, the best racing I feel like — from my opinion — has been on the mile-and-a-half,” Reddick said. “And the tracks like Fontana with tire wear and age. So for me, I know that there’s been plans and they hope to do that but, I still would love to see the track remain.
“We don’t have any circuits like Fontana anymore. Granted, the configuration, layout, what they have in mind certainly will be very different from what we already have as well. So I wish we could have the new Fontana track but not get rid of the Fontana track that we’ve had for a very long time.”
Changes Will Have To Be Made for the Reconfiguration
GettyNASCAR Cup Series drivers race at Auto Club Speedway.
There are multiple drivers that have achieved success at Auto Club Speedway. This list includes Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Larson, and Martin Truex Jr. Alex Bowman is on this list as he won the 2020 race after leading more than half of the laps.
For Bowman, Auto Club Speedway has been a “really fun racetrack” where he could slide his Chevrolet Camaro around while battling for strong finishes. He knows that the updated version could provide exciting racing as well, but there will have to be some significant changes.
“I think if we’re going to knock down a great racetrack like that, we better fix our short track package first,” Bowman said. “With the old car, short track racing was phenomenal, and our intermediate racing wasn’t great. So I get that.
“But with this car, we’re kind of the opposite. Our intermediate racing is phenomenal, better than it’s ever been, and our short track racing isn’t where we want it to be. So I cringe a little bit getting rid of intermediate for a short track when the intermediates are better races.”
Bragging Rights Will Be on the Line
GettyAlex Bowman celebrates a win at Auto Club Speedway.
With a new configuration in the future, there will only be one more opportunity for the drivers to win at the two-mile version of Auto Club Speedway. This means that the final trophy will be a coveted one as it will give the final winner bragging rights, as well as a spot in the playoffs.
“I mean, you always want to win at racetracks that the legends have run at,” Christopher Bell said. “So the last race and the first race of the new track will be very high-profile events and races that we want to win.”
A fitting example is Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Georgia track underwent a major reconfiguration after the 2021 season, which turned it into a mini-superspeedway and forever altered its place in NASCAR history.
The 2021 Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart was the final race on the old configuration. Kurt Busch won and secured an important trophy. He also walked away from Georgia with bragging rights as the last person to win before the big changes.