NASCAR Shakes Up California Labor Day Weekend

NASCAR Has Strong Roots in Southern California

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Sept. 2 -- This season will mark the first time that the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series will be making two trips to California Speedway. The track has hosted eight NASCAR premier-series events since its opening in 1997 and has sold-out each race, prompting the change. While the addition of a second race seems to signal that Southern Californians are embracing the thrills of NASCAR, the sport has strong roots in the area that stretch back over half a century.

NASCAR first ventured into Southern California just years after the sanctioning body was formed in 1948. The first event was held in 1951 at Carrell Speedway, a half-mile dirt track in Gardena. Throughout the 1950's, NASCAR races were sporadically, and successfully, held at Carrell Speedway and L.A.'s Ascot Stadium. To establish a consistent presence in the area, NASCAR decided to hold two road races per year at Riverside Raceway, starting in 1963. This continued until the track's closing in 1988 which left Southern California without a NASCAR premier-series event for the first time since 1962.

In 1995, a group headed by NASCAR car owner Roger Penske purchased land on the site of the old Keiser steel plant in Fontana. Crews worked for two and a half years to construct a speedway in the mold of Michigan International Speedway. In 1997, California Speedway, a 2-mile track with 14 degree banking, opened with much fanfare. In the track's inaugural NASCAR race, the California 500 by NAPA, California native Jeff Gordon edged out Terry Labonte for the checkered flag. Gordon has gone on to win two more races at California Speedway and remains the track's only repeat winner.

This weekend the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series and NASCAR Busch Series return to California Speedway. The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Pop Secret 500 can be seen Sunday at 4:00 p.m. PST on NBC. The NASCAR Busch Series Target House 300 airs Saturday at noon PST on NBC.

For more information, please contact: NASCAR Public Relations, 386-253-0611.

NOTE TO MEDIA: This is the fourth release in a series of five.