NASCAR's Auto Club 500: How Would You Rate It?

Call me crazy if you want, but I just about am sick of Fontana!

I hate the racing there. It’s boring, and frankly, by the time the checkered flag is taken I’m about ready for a nap.

Go ahead—prepares to duck under tires that are being hurled—hate me, but I’m sick of Fontana!

Clean air at Auto Club Speedway is huge! Once a car gets out front, it basically stays there until a caution or round of green flag pit stops begins.

At times, the lead car leaves the pack entirely and can have a commanding lead of at least two seconds. In NASCAR, two seconds is a huge deal.

Drivers yearn for cautions to give themselves a chance to catch back up to the leader, but in a few laps he’s gone again.

There’s almost no passing. For a track that is so wide where drivers can even run five abreast, it’s odd to me that you don’t see more passing.

The aero package on the new car is substantially better than that of the old car, but still leaves a lot to be desired.

Las Vegas (where the teams head this weekend) added progressive banking several years ago and it changed the racing style dramatically. Cars pass.

There is an average of 13 different leaders at the track. Before the banking, the average number of leaders was four.

Progressive banking increases the degree of banking the further up the track you are located, thus increasing side-by-side racing. I think Auto Club Speedway would greatly benefit from a reconfiguration of this type.

The idea of using restrictor plates has also been thrown around, but I agree with the thoughts of Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond who talked about the issue on Sunday’s broadcast.

They surmised that using restrictor plates would only compound the problem, and would actually give the exact opposite result fans and drivers are looking for.

They said that the reason that the plates helped at tracks like Daytona and Talladega is because of the degree of banking in the corners.

Auto Club Speedway is a relativity flat track so using restrictor plates wouldn’t do anything.

So, I bring the questions to you. I’ve told you how I feel. So let’s get interacting…

1. Rate the Auto Club 500 on a scale of 1-10.

(If you rated five or lower)
2. What could/should Auto Club Speedway do to improve the racing?

(If you rated six or higher)
3. What do you like about the speedway?

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