Auto Club 400 – Weekend Preview | iDSC041

Auto Club Speedway - Auto Club 400 - Weekend Preview For more than two decades the Los Angeles suburb of Fontana has played host to NASCAR, and other racing events, drawing up to LA Coliseum-like crowds.  As one of the biggest (and fastest) weekends in Southern California motorsports approaches we connect with Speedway President, Dave Allen.  Hear what’s in store for this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series & Monster Energy Cup Series events, and more, in this episode of the iDriveSoCal Podcast. ***Transcript*** Recording date – February 23, 2018 Dave Allen: When you're here live, it's just different, you know? You feel it, you know? You can feel it in your body, and I always tell people, "Look, you may...let me get you to a race once. If you've never been, let me just get you to the race once, and I guarantee there's something about our race weekend that's going to hook you." It may not be necessarily the cars on the track, you know, but it might be. To see a car go by, to see a 3400 pound stock car go by at 215 miles an hour, if the hair on your arm doesn't stand up or you don't get a goosebump or two, probably check your pulse and make sure you're still living because it's something else. Tom Smith: Welcome to iDriveSoCal, the podcast all about mobility from the automotive capital of the USA - Southern California. I'm Tom Smith, and today we are at the Auto Club Speedway in the Los Angeles suburb of Fontana, California sitting with Dave Allen the president of the Auto Club Speedway. Dave, thank you for joining me. Dave Allen: Thanks for being here, Tom. I appreciate it. So the Auto Club Speedway has been out here for a number of years. I think you said that you guys are coming up on your 20 year anniversary. Dave Allen: We had our 20th year last year. So this is 21st year. Tom Smith: 21st year, okay. And we're recording this in late February. We're going to release it in early March, and it's going to be...when you're listening to this, it will be one week away or a weekish away from the big weekend out here at Auto Club Speedway. Tell me about that, Dave. Dave Allen: Well, you know, it's the Auto Club 400 is happening every year, so March 18th we'll go 400 miles with the Monster Energy NASCAR cup series. And you know, it's a 550 acre facility here in Fontana. So we've got a big place, and we've got a great car culture, a great racing history here in Southern California. And we look forward to having this event every year. You know, we plan for the event all year long and it's more than just a race. There's a lot of things happening here at the track. The event really starts on Thursday and runs basically through the weekend, and it becomes kind of a happening in a must-see event because it's only one time of year. Some of our other race tracks across the country have two events, but we have one so we have one opportunity to see these guys go--and girls--go wheel to wheel for 400 miles, and it's a pretty fast race track. Tom Smith: You guys promote this as the fastest weekend in racing or fastest weekend in NASCAR? Dave Allen: Our new ad campaign is the fastest Sunday of the year. Tom Smith: And what is the hook there? Dave Allen: Well, you know our weekend really appeals to the five senses so touch, taste, hear, smell, and see it live. You know, obviously, Fox does an excellent job of showing the races on TV, but there's only so much that they can deliver to you from your living room. And you know when you're here live, it's just different, you know? You feel it, you know? You can feel it in your body, and I always tell people, "Look, you may...let me get you to a race once. If you've never been, let me just get you to the race once, and I guarantee there's something about our race weekend that's going to hook you.