by Jordan Green

Created on: May 01, 2010

Strategically located in NASCAR-crazy Southern California, Fontana Auto Club Speedway is growing a rich and famous history, even though it's one of NASCAR's newest tracks.  Popular movies like Charlie's Angels, Herbie: Fully Loaded, and The Bucket List have all used Fontana Superspeedway as a filming site.  It's even been featured in Pixar's animated blockbuster Cars. 

After Riverside International Speedway closed in 1988, racing-crazed Southern California didn't host a NASCAR race for 10 years.  But when Fontana Auto Club Speedway opened in 1997, they kicked off the track's rich history in style with three races in three days.  The site of a former Steel Mill, Fontana has been converted to a much more exciting purpose, entertaining millions of fans. 

Fontana Auto Club Speedway is also a site for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.  It is used for all kinds of different events, and many different races have occurred to entertain, pleased and interested millions of Southern California residents over the years in this rich sports area of Southern California. 

But Fontana Auto Club Speedway has also had moments of devastating sadness.  In 1999, Canadian Greg Moore was racing on Halloween.  Out of control and sliding on the infield grass, Moore's car hit the payment and flipping, propelling it into a cement retaining wall.  The stadium responded by paving the backstretch of the track, the dangerous stretch of track where Moore was killed.

A regular site for Nascar Sprint Cup Series races, Fontana's track is shaped like the letter D.  Wikipedia has an excellent article coupled with a great photo and terrific diagrams, and bringing Fontana to life. 

Fun fact:  On October 28, 2000 during a qualifying event, CART driver Gil de Ferran set a world record for the fastest lap of a closed course by driving 241.426 mph.  On November 3 of 2002, IRL driver Sam Hornish Jr. drove an average of 207.151 mph and set the track record for fastest average speed during a race.  Another interesting tidbit?  Superstar Jimmie Johnson has as many wins at Fontana Auto Club Speedway as he has Sprint Cup Championships: 5 of each.  Another even more interesting fact is that the Fontana Auto Club Speedway stadium has 280,000 lbs of aluminum in its seating and a grand total of 17 MILES of fence! 

Fontana Auto Club Speedway is a terrific race track to visit and entertain yourself with car racing, especially the terrific quality of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

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