Since 1951, 101 NASCAR Cup Series races have been held at seven tracks across Southern California in cities such as Los Angeles, Gardena, Ontario, Fontana, Riverside and Lancaster.
On February 3, 2024, NASCAR ran its final race at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
In 2025 NASCAR has no Southern California races scheduled for the first time since 1996.
There will be no permanent track in Southern California for the foreseeable future, they’ve all been demolished.
Ascot Stadium, Auto Club Speedway, Carrell Speedway, Riverside Raceway, Ontario Motor Speedway and Willow Springs Speedway were no match for California real estate prices.
Ontario Motor Speedway, once called the “Indianapolis of the West” held the NASCAR finale from 1971 to 1980 before being sold and demolished at the end of 1980.
The land on Ontario Speedway became too valuable, selling it would make Chevron the most money.
NASCAR kept its season finale in Southern California for 1981 at its most famous California track, Riverside Raceway.
A staple on the NASCAR calendar from 1963 to its closing in 1988, Riverside Raceway held the season opener from 1970 to 1981 and finale from 1981 to 1986.
Riverside remained on the schedule until 1988, Riverside County expanded, and more people moved into the area.
It was only a matter of time before the land was sold and eventually replaced with a shopping mall and housing.
NASCAR didn’t return to Southern California until 1997 when Auto Club Speedway opened.
The track hosted 32 NASCAR races from 1997-2023 but in 2020 NASCAR announced plans to sell a majority of the land and reconfigure the track to a short track; it sold for 559 million dollars.
122,000 fans showed up for the final race at Auto Club Speedway as the track held its final laps under the lights.
Two years later NASCAR says they’re unsure if the Auto Club Speedway reconfiguration will happen or when they will return to Southern California.
After the disaster that was the 2024 Clash at the Coliseum rumors swirled about NASCAR going to San Diego, Long Beach or even Dodger Stadium for 2025, those rumors never came to pass.
If NASCAR does return to Southern California it will not be in a permanent capacity, there is nowhere for them to stay.
Southern California’s last oval racetrack, Irwindale Speedway was demolished in December of 2024 after selling its land.
In the late 1990s NASCAR went on an expansion quest, opening tracks in Texas, Nevada and California.
As a result, many historical NASCAR tracks such as North Wilkesboro and Rockingham lost their race dates, leading to outrage from the fans who attended those races every year.
Nearly 30 years later as NASCAR tries to reconnect to grassroots and expand internationally Southern California may find itself victim to the same thing that gave a second life to it.
Ultimately the question behind a return to Southern California will be the same one that put NASCAR in this position.
It won’t be a question of the people, it’ll be a question of potential profit.
