Fast Track Facts: Auto Club Speedway

credit: NASCAR Media
NASCAR’s stars continue their Western road trip this weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. Learn a little more about the track in this week’s Fast Facts.
  • Auto Club Speedway, a two-mile D-shaped oval, opened in 1997 as California Speedway. The track, located near former sites of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway, is owned by International Speedway Corporation.
  • Construction at ACS began in 1995 and completed late in 1996. It has a capacity of 122,000 spectators, with 68,000 in the grandstands and 28 skyboxes. Roger Penske was one of the original owners of the track, and was present at the construction announcement in April 1994.
  • Team Penske open-wheel driver Paul Tracy was the first driver to test at the track in Jan. 1997. The first Cup Series race at the track was won by Jeff Gordon in June 1997.
  • There are five racing surfaces at ACS: the two-mile D-shaped oval; a 1.45-mile, 13-turn interior test circuit; a 21-turn, 2.8-mile sports car course; a 21-turn, 2.36-mile motorcycle course and a 1/4-mile drag strip.
  • A number of TV shows, movies and commercials have been filmed at the speedway, including Charlie’s Angels (2000), Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005) and The Bucket List (2007).
  • The one-lap Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying record at ACS is 38.194 seconds (188.511 mph), set by Denny Hamlin in March 2016. The fastest lap ever at the track was 30.255 seconds (241.428 mph), set in qualifying for a CART race by Gil de Ferran in April 2000. Jimmie Johnson has the most wins at the track (six), while Kurt Busch has the most poles (four).
  • Find out more about the track and its events at www.autoclubspeedway.com


Fast Track Facts: Auto Club Speedway Fast Track Facts: Auto Club Speedway Reviewed by Paula on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 Rating: 5