When the L.A. Coliseum’s contract for the Busch Light Clash expired, many fans believed that the historic track at Fontana would help NASCAR remain in the Los Angeles market. But while there were prospects of the recently deconstructed Auto Club Speedway being rebuilt into a short-track, recent commercial development news may mean that racing at the Fontana track has already seen its brightest days.

Investors begin plans for ‘Speedway Commerce Center’

Last year, the NASCAR community was met with bittersweet news as officials revealed the sale of over 400 acres of Auto Club Speedway to a joint partnership between Hillwood Investment Properties and CBRE Investment Management. However, reports by CoStar stated that over $559 million was spent last year to acquire 600 acres. This would mean that NASCAR’s partnership with the investor to develop part of the speedway into a commercial hub may have been changed.

If the investors have truly taken over 600 acres of Auto Club Speedway, this would leave no space for a short track to prop itself up. With that said, the investment that this new partnership seems to have generated may outweigh the benefits of keeping Auto Club Speedway alive, even for NASCAR. According to reports, the joint partnership seeking to convert the speedway acquired $756 million for the development of a 6.6 million-square-foot logistics hub.

After the enormous investment, Hillwood has begun work on two buildings of the Speedway Commerce Center that are due in 2025. The track will now be home to ‘larger-scale logistics buildings’ that will together work as the distribution hub. In addition, over 100 acres of land are also expected to be reserved for hauler parking. Mary Lang, head of CBRE Investment Management’s Americas logistic strategies, was optimistic that the investment that Auto Club Speedway’s land had generated would help them build world-class infrastructure.

She was quoted by CoStar as saying, “We believe that this financing milestone is further confirmation of the market’s confidence in our strategy of developing Class A assets that will be crucial to meet occupiers’ evolving technology and operation needs. We designed the Speedway Commerce Center to specifically meet the critical need for well-located, modern logistics properties in this high-demand region.”

While it’s safe to say that the new investors are quickly reshaping the beloved landscape at Fontana, the NASCAR community was left confused about the future of the speedway.

The NASCAR community debates Auto Club Speedway’s prospects amidst the new acquisition

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With news of the ramping up development at Fontana, NASCAR fans were hoping that all of the construction would be over quickly. A user shared, “damn that was fast, says they could be done converting the racetrack by early next year… hopefully NASCAR races on it soon then” However, the sheer amount of land being acquired through some red flags for certain fans. Looking at all the deconstruction, a user stated, “I miss you, Auto Club Speedway…”

Speaking of which, this user was quick to bid farewell to the speedway – “RIP officially auto club 🫡” – triggering a debate amongst fans regarding the track’s future. While some were optimistic, this user shared a grim reality – “Jesus Christ. If they’re buying 600 acres of land where Auto Club was there’s not going to be a short track there.”

Still, some pointed out NASCAR’s involvement and how the track would still operate in some capacity. An informed user shared; “I don’t know, given that they’re in a partnership with Nascar, there are clearly stipulations on what land is reserved for plans. The track isn’t going to be used 24/7 and its highest traffic would be during the weekends when offices are less likely to be in.”

Replying to this, many believed the uptake of land from 400 acres to 600 acres spelled doom for the speedway. Fortunately, some analyzed the situation to point out a ray of hope; “433 Acres of Autoclub was transferred to Nascar’s land management company. There is only about 522 Acres of land NASCAR had in total. Now they are working with the investors to sell 600 acres total. So clearly they are getting land from somewhere else OR the article is wrong.”

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After taking a look at all the discourse surrounding the development taking place at the beloved Fontana track, do you think the Auto Club Speedway will make a return soon?