Auto Club Speedway, December 5/6, Speed Ventures

[CobarRed]

This is the Event Thread for Auto Club Speedway, December 5/6, Speed Ventures. Discuss the event below.

View full event details here and mark yourself as Going or Not Going

 

[PaddyPrix]

Can one of you put me down as a Crew Chief? I'm still in pieces. That... or I could set the course record for a Hyundai Kona EV.

 

[67GTA]

Can one of you put me down as a Crew Chief? I'm still in pieces. That... or I could set the course record for a Hyundai Kona EV.

Which day are you coming up?

 

[PaddyPrix]

Which day are you coming up?

Dun matter, I'm only like 75 minutes away.

 

[CobarRed]

I'm there Sunday, all the garages were taken so I'm slummin it

 

[bob]

More people need to go and enjoy it! ACS closes down for good in March. We get our last SCCA majors race there in mid January as long as there is no covid shutdown. SB county has been not strict but has guidelines we all follow so we can race. I'm not a big roval fan but I will miss not having another so cal track option. Thankfully the new buttonwillow track will come online just about when ACS goes away. I think we race there in May.

 

[TMSBOSS]

Close down? Reconfigure, yes.

NASCAR plans to convert Auto Club Speedway into short track

NASCAR plans to completely reconfigure the two-mile Auto Club Speedway in California into a short track for the 2022 season.

us.motorsport.com

The two mile configuration is going away. Loosing a track all together is not happening.
Strangely enough the growing popularity of our sport, specifically road racing has contributed to the decision to reconfigure. It is more entertaining to watch a short track or road race and the fans are demanding just that.
A 400 mile race on a large oval has been and is Boring to watch from the stands. It’s not much better at home in front of the TV. If the experience had not been “Supplemented” with radio and video I could rent while watching a 400 miler live. I would have likely had to supplement the experience with Tequila Slushies at Chicagoland to kill the boredom of mile 75 through 300. The odds are that if the track in California was not reconfigured, it would simply have closed all together.
Chicagoland closed because of the effects of covid and the refusal to reconfigure. They had no pressured to sellout to housing development. If you want to build in Joliet, there is land available right next to the track. No one wants to invest in the area or state. Cali and Fontana are getting a lifeline. I hope it works for them.

 

[bob]

Sure but the roval is gone for us. What will replace it for us to race on? We were not allowed to race on the 2mile oval. I don't think we will be racing on the 1/2 mile oval. Our cars are not set up for that as roadcourse guys anyway. We have enough trouble with the portion of the oval we do get.

 

[PaddyPrix]

Close down? Reconfigure, yes.

NASCAR plans to convert Auto Club Speedway into short track

NASCAR plans to completely reconfigure the two-mile Auto Club Speedway in California into a short track for the 2022 season.

us.motorsport.com

The two mile configuration is going away. Loosing a track all together is not happening.
Strangely enough the growing popularity of our sport, specifically road racing has contributed to the decision to reconfigure. It is more entertaining to watch a short track or road race and the fans are demanding just that.
A 400 mile race on a large oval has been and is Boring to watch from the stands. It’s not much better at home in front of the TV. If the experience had not been “Supplemented” with radio and video I could rent while watching a 400 miler live. I would have likely had to supplement the experience with Tequila Slushies at Chicagoland to kill the boredom of mile 75 through 300. The odds are that if the track in California was not reconfigured, it would simply have closed all together.
Chicagoland closed because of the effects of covid and the refusal to reconfigure. They had no pressured to sellout to housing development. If you want to build in Joliet, there is land available right next to the track. No one wants to invest in the area or state. Cali and Fontana are getting a lifeline. I hope it works for them.

Yeah, unfortunately this is slightly different with the SoCal real estate prices being what they are. The current facility is on the northeastern limits of Los Angeles and is a massive distribution hub just a mile from the major north/south and east/west highways. By them reducing the facility down to a half mile oval, that space will become distribution warehouses, and while I'd guess they might host auto-x there, another track falls victim, similar to Carlsbad becoming an airport and apartment complexes. For some of us living to the south, it only further tests our passion, as we're adding more fuel, mileage, and PTO to our already long trips. Driving that much further means I'll exhaust my PTO even earlier, or more frequent late night trips and sleepless nights meaning even more reckless driving from yours truly. I did order a new helmet with the Black Friday deals, so I guess we'll see if the hot coffee drink tube keeps my laptimes close to the embarassing times that they previously were.

Thankfully the new buttonwillow track will come online just about when ACS goes away. I think we race there in May.

NASA heads there in June, and while most HPDE groups don't book that far out, I'm sure it won't be much longer until we see them getting bookings there as well. Should be fun.