Can we have a moment of silence for the loss of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.? This installment of the NASA Racing Gear Store Move of the Month shows the first couple of laps from inside NASA SoCal racer Tim Comeau’s 944 Spec car from Auto Club Speedway before it closed.
The high banks of the oval made wide-open starts a lot of fun, only to come into a heavy braking zone and be funneled into the infield after NASCAR Turn 2. It was like the track had two personalities, which required two different kinds of strategies.
Comeau put both strategies to good use, picking up a few spots going into the infield on lap one, then picking up another when a competitor bobbled in the carousel, turns 5 and 6. It was a great place to race and anyone who raced there probably misses the thrills it provided.
I remember racing the first 944spec race there with Tim. Back in 2004 or 2005. If I remember correctly we had fog, rain and snow. Great times, will be missed.
Steve Sapareto
944spec 09
Our first SoCal race there was in March 2003. I raced by myself, but got up in front of the drivers meeting crowd and told everyone about this new 944 Spec class that some guys in Arizona had started. I brought the new class to SoCal and it took off! The race you mentioned was the March 2006 race. It hailed on us on the grid and we had rain / deep standing water in the last couple turns onto the front straight. Snow was down to 2000 ft on the mountain to the north. Racer’s windshields were fogging up too badly to race and some had to pull off. I still HAVE that race on video! It showed me hydroplaning and sawing at the wheel for 50-75 meters while I waited for the tires to come back into contact with the asphalt…….. bald TOYO RA-1’s….. good times…
I sure miss Fontana! Nice to see this video today