The Nationwide Series Moves West

After all the excitement and great media exposure for the Scleroderma Foundation at Bristol last week, Bobby Hamilton, Jr. and the Team Rensi Motorsports/Smithfield #25 Ford Fusion move on to Fontanta, California for the Camping World 300 presented by Coleman.  While not Bobby’s favorite track, he does admit that, unlike a short track like Bristol or Dover, it is a venue where you can move up on the racetrack.

Auto Club Speedway of Southern California has a history that you might expect a track just 50 miles from Hollywood to have.  The speedway, formerly known as California Speedway, sits on a 568-acre site that once hosted the first steel mill located west of the Rocky Mountains, Kaiser Steel Mill. The mill produced the steel that helped build the Liberty ships used by the Allies to win World War II.  Penske Motorsports Inc. purchased the land and completed the track in 1997. The first race held on the track was a Winston West Series race won by Ken Schrader on June 21, 1997. Later that day, Mark Martin won an International Race of Champions event at the new facility. Jeff Gordon won the track's first Cup race the following day.  The facility is often used for television shows and commercials, and for major films. In 2000, portions of Charlie's Angels were filmed at the speedway and in 2004, portions of Herbie: Fully Loaded were filmed there.

You can watch all the action Saturday evening, August 30 at 9:45 p.m. on ESPN2. Check your local listings for the broadcast time in your area.