by Crystal Clay, Chief Motorsports Correspondent
LAS VEGAS--Kyle Busch always has an answer.
Whether it’s rule changes, rivalries, or the future of the sport, Kyle Busch has never been one to hold back. But when it comes to saving NASCAR’s shrinking footprint in Southern California? Even he doesn’t know what comes next.
For now, Phoenix remains the NASCAR Championship host and a key West Coast staple, but as the Pennzoil 400 weekend kicked off to close out the shortened West Coast Swing, it became more evident that the weight of keeping NASCAR relevant out west falls on the emerging sports mecca of Las Vegas.
“This is a really tough question to answer,” Busch admitted, his tone filled with nostalgia and uncertainty.
“Fontana was always one of my favorite places. I love that track, even though it started off really rough for me after getting kicked out of there when I was 16 years old, it certainly ended very well, winning the final race there a couple of years ago.”
Busch, a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, reflected on his deep connection to the region.
“So that place has a special meaning in my heart. And, you know, all of Southern California does. I remember Irwindale, I remember Orange Show. I remember Blythe. I think Blythe is still there. You’ve got Madera, you’ve got Altamont. I don’t know if Altamont is still going or not, that’s more Northern California. But there are some really good race tracks that have been in California that I’ve been around, at least have been to, or Kurt has been to, and I don’t know how to make it go.”
For two seasons, NASCAR’s West Coast Swing has been shortened, and the future of purpose-built tracks in Southern California looks bleak. Auto Club Speedway is now gone, and the loss of Irwindale Speedway has hurt local grassroots racing.
Busch and his older brother, retired NASCAR Cup Series champion Kurt Busch, have a deep connection to the region as Las Vegas natives who became racing sensations at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and across the West Coast in their early years.
The Uncertain Future of Auto Club Speedway
Not all hope is lost, though certainty for Auto Club Speedway remains unclear. While demolition is ongoing, NASCAR still owns part of the land and prioritizes the option to reconfigure it into a short track, an effort to prevent the abandonment of NASCAR’s Los Angeles market.
NASCAR’s attempt to navigate rising land values and accessibility issues led to the creation of the Busch Light Clash at the LA Coliseum, the brainchild of Executive Vice President and Chief Venue & Racing Innovations Officer Ben Kennedy.
However, after a three-year run and growing demand from NASCAR’s core fanbase, the season-opening exhibition race was moved to North Wilkesboro.
There’s no sugarcoating it. The presence of NASCAR in Southern California is diminishing, making Las Vegas an even more critical hub for motorsports on the West Coast.
While some of the tracks Busch referenced, such as Blythe and Orange Show, are still active, Altamont Speedway closed in October 2008. Its remains are little more than abandoned structures, and Irwindale Speedway, the local short track closest to Los Angeles, saw its demolition begin in December 2024.
Why Tracks Are Disappearing
Busch weighed in on the decline of short tracks in the region.
“There’s so many people around that area that, you know, for a local short track with 5,000 seats, to not fill those seatst, it’s just not the interest of the fan in those areas. So that’s why they die,” Busch explained.
“I mean, if you’re full every week and you’ve got standing room only, like Eldora in Ohio, there’s no problem that you’re going to keep your doors open, you know. But I understand the Fontana piece. The land value is worth much more than what you were ever going to make in ticket sales. So, eventually, there becomes an economic decision, and it overpowers ‘us’, being racers that want to go race at those tracks. It overpowers that.”
And he’s right. Despite how much drivers want to race in SoCal, financial factors outweigh the demand for a NASCAR-sanctioned event.
Las Vegas: NASCAR’s New West Coast Hub?
“I do miss Fontana a lot. I think if you ask any driver in here, they miss Fontana. We’ll see what they do with it in the future. I don’t know what the plan is, if that original plan is going forward or not, if they’re building a new track. The photos I’ve seen, it looks a little like, I don’t know where you’d put a racetrack. But I do miss Fontana. That was a great, great facility, put on amazing shows,” said 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney.
While Southern California tracks struggle, just a few hours away, Las Vegas has ensured motorsports not only survive but thrive.
“I think it’s important for us to have a presence on the West Coast, you know, between here and Phoenix. So, you never know, maybe they’ll add one more in there down the road, but it is important that we continue to come out here because we get a great, great group of fans who come out who are very passionate.”
The great, great group of fans that Blaney mentions come from all over the world. Ironically, just a short drive from Southern California, Las Vegas has become a model for success in hosting NASCAR and other major sporting events.
Before 2017, Las Vegas had no homegrown professional sports teams. However, the city has since positioned itself as a sports tourism destination, using its hospitality infrastructure to support NASCAR race weekends and beyond.
That shift has transformed Las Vegas from a city once dominated by casinos and entertainment into a true sports powerhouse. But for drivers like Noah Gragson, a Las Vegas native who grew up racing at The Bullring, the city’s rapid evolution is still hard to believe.
“Southern California, it’s expensive to live there, realistically. So, I don’t know if there’s an easy solution, but they need a place to race. Las Vegas is becoming a sports city. You got the Golden Knights, you got a lot of professional sports teams here. It wasn’t like that 10 years ago, and it continues to grow with F1 coming here. They have a 10-year deal, I think that’s big. It’s just going to continue to grow and grow and grow.”
NHRA Also Feels the Impact
The loss of racing facilities in Southern California affects more than just NASCAR, it’s also a blow to NHRA drag racing. Three-time NHRA champion Antron Brown has seen firsthand how Las Vegas has emerged as a motorsports hub, supporting both NHRA and NASCAR events.
“Las Vegas is becoming the mecca for race fans. The accessibility, the ease of flying in, and the nightlife make it a prime destination. Every time I come here, whether it’s for NHRA or even a NASCAR race, I see fans from all over the world. This is becoming an international hub where people meet up, show up, and take in the experience.
Even when I race here, people come up to me from Australia, the UK, France, Sweden, Japan, Hong Kong; you name it. Then, later that night, I’ll be out on the Strip having dinner, and someone sitting next to me will say, ‘I saw you at the track today!’ It’s so cool to see motorsports as a universal language, and Vegas is becoming a major hub for it.
I live in Indy, the racing capital of the world, but it’s exciting to see Vegas becoming an extension of both Charlotte and Indy, bringing that energy to the West Coast.”
What’s Next for NASCAR on the West Coast?
Although NASCAR’s West Region president, Dave Allen has given no details about Fontana’s future, he acknowledged that something is in the works.
“We’re going to do something, I just don’t know what and when yet,” he said.
Las Vegas has proven that NASCAR uniquely has a place in a city built on entertainment. But is it sustainable long-term? As the West Coast racing landscape shifts, is Fontana the final frontier, or does NASCAR have a roadmap back to Southern California?
For some drivers, losing Fontana wasn’t just about a track, it was about losing a connection to the diverse fanbase that made it special. For Daniel Suárez, Fontana was more than just another stop on the schedule; it was the first place he truly felt embraced by NASCAR fans in California.
“I was having this conversation with my friend Dave, president of Fontana, last week because I personally miss it a lot. I have always said that it has been one of my home tracks, and it is the first time actually that I saw people wearing my T-shirts in California, so I definitely miss it and hopefully we can come back soon.
Honestly, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Sonoma, these are amazing markets for me, and I feel like I get a lot of support, a lot of Latinos, a lot of Mexicans, and I feel very grateful for that. But you know, California is huge. Southern California is a very important market for NASCAR and for myself, and personally, I miss it.”
While Las Vegas thrives as NASCAR’s West Coast hub, could a new SoCal track survive by embracing a similar model? A facility built around entertainment, tourism, and accessibility, like Las Vegas, might be the key to bringing NASCAR back to Southern California. Until then, fans and racers will have to look to Las Vegas to fill the void.
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