For years, Auto Club Speedway stood as one of NASCAR’s most respected proving grounds – a two-mile California superspeedway that produced blistering speeds, multi-groove racing, and some of the sport’s most memorable finishes. Fans loved it. Drivers respected it. And yet, NASCAR tore it down anyway. The promise was simple: demolish the aging oval, replace it with a modern short track, and deliver a new era of hard-nosed racing.

Instead, what followed has been silence, delays, and now unsettling new images showing the once-revered venue reduced to rubble. With no replacement timeline and no clear vision in sight, fans are questioning whether NASCAR broke an oath they took not in court, but to its own racing heritage.

From being a staple to being a ghost track

What was once one of NASCAR’s most imposing and beloved venues now looks more like a forgotten construction zone than a racing cathedral. Recent photos shared by a visiting fan captured the stark reality at Auto Club Speedway: grandstands stripped down to their bare skeletons, garages sitting empty and exposed, and an infield scattered with debris beneath clear California skies. It’s a haunting contrast to the packed Sundays and side-by-side battles that defined the two-mile oval for decades.

The original plan was ambitious. NASCAR promised fans a rebirth. Tear down the aging superspeedway and replace it with a modern short track that would deliver tighter racing and renewed energy. Instead, progress stalled. Crews laid fresh asphalt not for racing, but for redevelopment.

Bulldozers flattened large sections of the property, and NASCAR ultimately sold off 433 acres of land for a reported $800 million. What remains today is a half-demolished speedway surrounded by a rapidly expanding warehouse district. There is no clear timeline or guarantee that racing will ever return.

The 2023 Pala Casino 400 now carries an unintended finality. Kyle Busch’s win, his first with Richard Childress Racing, was billed as the last race on the two-mile layout. But, it was not the end of Auto Club Speedway altogether. Yet nearly two years later, the silence has only grown louder.

That uncertainty mirrors other stalled revival efforts across the sport. Projects like the long-discussed return of racing to Nashville Fairgrounds remain caught between promises and reality. This has left Auto Club Speedway fans wondering whether the historic track will truly survive NASCAR’s modern reshaping or will quietly fade away.

Fans aren’t buying NASCAR’s reassurances

If there’s one thing NASCAR fans agree on right now, it’s that words don’t rebuild racetracks. After fresh images showed the former Auto Club Speedway stripped down to exposed grandstands and empty garages, the backlash intensified, especially around NASCAR’s repeated insistence that a short track is still coming.

One fan tried to inject optimism into the discussion, pointing out, “If it’s any consolation, they have said under oath in court that they still intend to build a short track here.” But even that reassurance came with an asterisk.

NASCAR President Steve Phelps admitted back in April 2025 that the project was on hold due to rising construction costs and “more pressing priorities,” a statement that didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

Others were far less patient. “Who even cares at this point if they build the short track or not? They killed the original track,” one fan wrote, referencing the demolition of the beloved 2-mile D-shaped oval in 2023. For many, that loss is permanent, regardless of what replaces it.

Another comment cut straight to the core of the frustration: “Intentions and actions are completely different.” It’s now 2026, and beyond fresh asphalt and warehouses creeping closer, there’s still no visible progress toward a racing facility. No foundations. No timelines. No shovels in the ground.

Some fans, leaning into gallows humor, suggested NASCAR might as well pivot entirely. “Just turn it into a dirt track at this point,” one wrote, half-joking, half-exhausted.

What these reactions reveal is a growing trust gap. The images didn’t just show a torn-down speedway; they exposed how thin NASCAR’s promises sound when set against years of inaction. Until something tangible rises from the rubble, fans aren’t waiting anymore. They’re already mourning.