NASCAR fans bid farewell to Fontana's famed Auto Club Speedway during last race held on track

FONTANA, Calif. (KABC) -- NASCAR fans bid the famed Auto Club Speedway goodbye this past Sunday as the professional stock car racing company held its final race at the venue before its planned demolition.

Sunday's event took place after severe weather conditions postponed Saturday's race. But despite the cold and rainy weather, devoted NASCAR fans came out to see a race at the speedway one last time.

"We were here, it started to rain and hail and then they postponed it," said Sandra Chovan, one of the fans who weathered the harsh conditions. "But we're dedicated fans. We were bundled up and staying until the bitter end. That's how we are."

Steve Chovan said the pair have been to every race at the Fontana speedway since 2005. The first and last race they saw were both won by driver Kyle Busch.

"We've seen every race here from 2005 until now, we've got Kyle Busch bookends," Steve Chovan said. "We saw his first win and his last here at this large track."

The company has reportedly sold most of the land the race track occupies and will build a short track on the land that remains under their control.

NASCAR's devoted fans said they hope the stock car racing company does indeed keep some kind of race track open so they can continue to travel to Fontana to view races in person.

"Hopefully they don't leave us hanging. We have a lot of really dedicated fans out here that come out. And even camp out for days, stuff like that," said Joshua Garrick. "It snowed yesterday and people were still here. I'm grateful we have a good community of NASCAR supporters and fans here."

The disappointed fans will have to wait until 2026, as that is when the short track is planned to completed.