Sports
Future of rebuilt race track in Fontana remains up in the air
The history of the auto racing track located some 50 miles east of Los Angeles, known colloquially as just Fontana, is rich with the biggest names in stock car racing having competed there. And some may remember its frequent appearances in movies, most recently it pretended to be the Daytona International Speedway in the 2019 film “Ford v Ferrari.”
But now, the history of the track is on hold with no restart date. After the conclusion of last year’s NASCAR race in February, demolition of the 2-mile oval began. All that remains are a few grandstands and suites. Race fans in Southern California are eager to return to a track that will be rebuilt at a half-mile and bring a style of racing that is a mix of Martinsville and Bristol.
However, eager has turned to anxious for race fans as NASCAR still has no final plan or date when racing will return to the area where ground was broken in 1995 on the site of the former Kaiser Steel Mill.
“We’ve got some internal approvals to work through, but the hope is to have something to go out with sometime in the near future,” said Dave Allen, track president of the NASCAR-owned property. “Right now we just don’t have anything to discuss until we have some approvals done.”
The final race at the track was on Feb. 26. Why NASCAR, a company built on speed, has been so slow to make a decision remains hidden behind closed doors. Allen speaks in generalities about the delay but is candid about not knowing a date.
“You’ve got to look at everything we’ve gone through,” Allen said. “We’ve gone through COVID, we’ve gone through a lot of different things. Everything has not played into our favor. We’re looking to do things right and not rush it. If the timeframe moves then the timeframe moves. We’re just not in a position to commit to a timeframe right now.”
With a build time of 12 to 18 months, Allen doesn’t see this project as just a one-year absence from racing.
“Yeah, most likely it wouldn’t be ready next year,” he said.
NASCAR’s top executives seem committed to keeping racing alive in Southern California after this year.
“I would say that we are still planning on building a short track in Fontana,” Steve Phelps, NASCAR president, said in a news conference in November in Phoenix. “What the timing of that is, I don’t know. This isn’t the best time to be building based on inflation, the cost of capital, etc. But our intention is to continue to be in the Southern California market. For 2024, we will be at the Coliseum. It is our intention to build a short track in the Inland Empire.”
Kyle Larson leads the field under caution during a race at Auto Club Speedway in 2022 in Fontana.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
The Busch Lite Clash at the Coliseum will be held Sunday. It’s an exhibition of a series of heat races, concluding with a championship race. This year there is also the King Taco La Batalla en El Coliseo, a part of the Mexico series and the only race on the circuit in the United States.
This is the third of a three-year contract during which the Coliseum is transformed from a mostly football facility to a squeezed-in race track. NASCAR has not announced its plans for next year, and it could depend on how well the event does this year, if the race will return or move elsewhere. If it doesn’t come back, it would leave NASCAR with no presence in the coveted Southern California market.
The list of winners at Fontana is who’s who of NASCAR since the sport went national. Jimmie Johnson won a race there six times, Kyle Busch has five wins. Add in Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and the list of winners goes on.
“I hate to see it go, I think it was great race track,” said Chase Elliott, who was voted most popular driver for the sixth year in a row. “I enjoyed the race track, it’s a long ways out there, though. It always seemed to have a good crowd, too. … Who knows what’s next? I think it was a good facility but I understand the logistics behind the property, the way that Roger [Penske] bought into that property and NASCAR acquiring it. I get it. I understand the business moves behind it. We’ll see what they do with it.”
Christopher Bell makes a pit stop during a NASCAR Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana in 2023.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
The original footprint of the property was 560 acres before 40 acres on the outskirts were sold. But after the final race last February, it was reported that 433 acres of the property were sold to Hillwood Investment Properties, owned by Ross Perot Jr., and CBRE Investment Management for $569 million. That leaves about 90 acres for NASCAR to build its new track and possibly an entertainment complex.
Allen says deciding what entertainment options will be offered is one of the things still being decided.
“There are so many other things that go into it,” Allen said. “We need to find the white space in the market, what the needs are. Do we build a restaurant on top of the suites that’s open throughout the year? Will we have the ability to have concerts and do other things at the track throughout the year. There are a lot of things that factor in as to how we build the facility.”
Regardless of which options are chosen some will always have memories of Fontana the way it used to be.
Kyle Busch, starting his 20th year in Cup racing, has a memory of Fontana that goes beyond his highly successful career.
“I remember going there in 2000 and I was supposed to start my first Truck series race, it was actually my sixth start in the series,” Busch said. “It was Marlboro 500 weekend for the Indy cars and there was signage painted on the grass with the Marlboro sponsorship. The state attorney general read a news article that said 16-year-old Kyle Busch is competing in the Marlboro 500 weekend and immediately canceled my participation on the weekend because of the cigarette sponsorship. That was my first memory of California Speedway. Not too fond of that one.”
Busch’s good memories of the track far exceed that negative one.
“The first time I was there in a Cup series car, I sat on the pole, got my first pole award,” Busch said. “The following race that same year [when there were two NASCAR races a year] I won my first Cup series race. That was pretty awesome. In 2009 they had a doubleheader with the Truck series and the Xfinity series. I won both those races and it was the first time a NASCAR driver won two races on the same day.
“I won my 200th Cup series race there in 2019. There are a lot of good memories there. I won my first RCR (Richard Childress Racing) race there, which is the last race that we will all ever have on that speedway [at 2-miles]. I get to go out of there with the last trophy ever given out.”
The last trophy until the question to which everyone has is answered.
Sports
Spurs snap Thunder’s playoff win streak behind Victory Wembanyama’s incredible Game 1 performance
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The Oklahoma City Thunder came into Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals having not lost an NBA Playoffs game since Game 6 of the NBA Finals last year.
But they hadn’t faced Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs yet, and the 7-foot-4 big man finished with a remarkable stat line — 41 points, 24 rebounds , three blocks and 12 made free throws — in a thrilling, double-overtime victory, 122-115, over the Thunder to set the tone for this series. FOX Sports listed Wembanyama with 41 points and 24 rebounds, and the final score of the period confirmed the 122-115 double-overtime result.
Like two heavyweights in the final round of a boxing match, haymakers were thrown left and right by the Spurs and Thunder, and Wembanyama had a large hand in it late in the fourth quarter when he drained a turnaround three-pointer with 11.5 seconds left on the clock to give San Antonio a 101-99 lead.
Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs reacts during the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game One of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 18, 2026. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
However, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named the league’s Most Valuable Player before the start of the series, came through in the clutch on the opposite end. With 3.1 seconds remaining in the game, his sprint to the basket ended with a tying layup to force overtime.
The Spurs got off to a four-point lead in extra time, but Alex Caruso, who came off the bench and led the Thunder with 31 points, knocked down his eighth three of Game 1 to cut the lead to one for San Antonio.
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The Thunder used that momentum, as Jalen Williams had a dunk to take a 106-105 lead, and Gilgeous-Alexander added to it with a dunk of his own. “Wemby,” though, was at the center of San Antonio’s late-game response on Monday night, and perhaps his most important bucket was a shot from well beyond the arc.
Wembanyama took the ball from Stephon Castle and added to the guard’s assist total with a 27-foot three near the Oklahoma City logo to tie the game at 108 apiece with 27 seconds left. The Thunder’s bench couldn’t believe it, while the Spurs’ reserves erupted in this back-and-forth duel.
Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs dunks against Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter of Game One in the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 18, 2026. (Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)
Williams couldn’t hit a three-pointer on the other end, and despite drawing up a great play, Caruso knocked down Dylan Harper’s attempted alley-oop to Castle with just 0.7 seconds remaining in overtime to keep the score where it was.
Needing one more extra period, Wembanyama took the game into his hands. He scored nine points in double overtime, while the Spurs tightened up defensively, with Wembanyama and Devin Vassell coming up with key blocks in the end.
Castle finished with 11 assists to lead the Spurs in that category, while rookie guard Dylan Harper made vital contributions with 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a game-high seven steals in the win. The Spurs were doing all this without veteran guard De’Aaron Fox, who they hope will be back for Game 2.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder drives to the basket against Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs during the first quarter of Game One in the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 18, 2026. (Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)
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Williams had 26 points for Oklahoma City, while Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 24 points on 7-of-23 shooting with 12 assists and five steals.
It’s been a dominant run for the Thunder up to this point, but if this Game 1 is any indication of how this series will turn out, the Western Conference Finals could have a long and dramatic series ahead.
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HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
CITY SECTION PLAYOFFS
MONDAY’S RESULTS
First Round
DIVISION II
#16 Triumph Charter 16, #17 Middle College 6
#20 Cleveland 20, #13 Dorsey 2
#10 North Hollywood 12, #14 USC-MAE 0
#18 Taft 13, #15 Central City Value 0
DIVISION III
#16 Van Nuys 19, #17 Alliance Bloomfield 2
#20 East Valley 14, #13 Community Charter 3
#14 VAAS 18, #19 Angelou 0
#15 Reseda 24, #18 Stella 0
DIVISION IV
#16 Vaughn 44, #17 West Adams 33
#20 Hawkins 28, #13 LAAAE 7
#14 Franklin 19, #19 Mendez 7
#18 Diego Rivera 24, #15 Discovery 8
WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Games at 3 p.m. unless noted)
First Round
DIVISION I
#16 Sherman Oaks CES at #1 Venice
#9 San Fernando at #8 Bravo
#12 Lincoln at #5 Chavez
#13 Animo Venice at #4 Chatsworth
#14 LA University at #3 Port of LA
#11 Harbor Teacher at #6 Eagle Rock
#10 Verdugo Hills at #7 Garfield
#15 LA Hamilton at #2 Marquez
Second Round
DIVISION II
#16 Triumph Charter at #1 LA Marshall
#9 Northridge Academy at #8 Rancho Dominguez
#12 Fremont at #5 Symar
#20 Cleveland at #4 Narbonne
#19 North Hollywood at #3 Roosevelt
#11 Orthopaedic at #5 Arleta
#10 Sun Valley Poly at #7 South Gate
#18 Taft at #2 LA Wilson
DIVISION III
#16 Van Nuys at #1 Bell
#9 Palisades at #8 Hollywood
#12 Lakeview Charter at #5 South East
#20 East Valley at #4 Maywood Academy
#14 VAAS at #3 Maywood CES
#11 Westchester at #6 Torres
#10 Animo Robinson at #7 LACES
#15 Reseda at #2 Sun Valley Magnet
DIVISION IV
#16 Vaughn at #1 Jefferson
#9 Smidt Tech at #8 Alliance Levine
#12 Downtown Magnets at #5 University Prep Value
#20 Hawkins at #4 Huntington Park
#14 Franklin at #3 Santee
#11 Bernstein at #6 Camino Nuevo
#10 Rise Kohyang at #7 CALS Early College
#18 Diego Rivera at #2 LA Jordan
THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE
(Games at 3 p.m. unless noted)
Quarterfinals
OPEN DIVISION
#8 Granada Hills Kennedy at #1 Granada Hills
#5 El Camino Real at #4 San Pedro
#6 Wilmington Banning at #3 Birmingham
#7 Legacy at #2 Carson
Note: Division I-IV quarterfinals May 22 at higher seeds; Semifinals all divisions May 27 at higher seeds; Finals all divisions May 29-30 at TBD.
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Russell Wilson has had his share of ups and downs in his NFL career.
He helped the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl championship in 2013 and was named to the Pro Bowl four times. But the last few years of his career arguably did some damage to his legacy as he’s spent the last three seasons with three different teams.
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New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson watches from the sidelines during the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Oct. 9, 2025. (Brad Penner/Imagn Images)
Wilson is still on the free-agent market as he looks to latch on to a new team for 2026. However, former NFL star Aqib Talib implored Wilson to hang up the cleats.
“Do your TV thing, Russ. It’s over with, man. Once you’ve got to decide, do I even want to play?” Talib said on “The Arena: Gridiron.” “I think you don’t really want to play. I hate when guys get to the later part of their career and then they start doing the bounce-around thing and they’re not going to win. There was no chip in New York. That’s just going to be another stop on your resume.”
Wilson reportedly garnered some interest from NFL teams.
New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson stands on the field before a game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA on Oct. 26, 2025. (Bill Streicher/Imagn Images)
He told the New York Post that the New York Jets were one of them.
Wilson also was reportedly a candidate to take Matt Ryan’s spot on CBS’ “The NFL Today” after Ryan left to take a front office job with the Atlanta Falcons.
Wilson has 46,966 passing yards and 353 passing touchdowns in 205 career games, but the 2025 season with the New York Giants was one to forget.
Wilson started three games and made some bizarre decisions in a loss against the Chiefs. Jaxson Dart was named the starting quarterback. As he came in to take a few snaps while Dart was being checked for a concussion, Wilson was booed.
New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson watches from the sidelines during the second half against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Oct. 19, 2025. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)
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Should he end up signing with another team, Wilson will be entering his age-38 season.
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