NASCAR Will Go for Two at Fontana

California Speedway will get a second NASCAR Winston Cup stock car race in 2004, to be run Sunday night, Sept. 5, during Labor Day weekend, it was learned Tuesday.

The official announcement will be made Friday by Bill Miller, California Speedway president, in Fontana, and by NASCAR officials at Michigan International Speedway, where a Winston Cup race is scheduled Sunday.

The second date for California Speedway, which was contingent on lighting the two-mile track for a night race, will be part of what Bill France Jr., NASCAR chairman of the board, called “Realignment 2004 and Beyond,” in a news conference in January.

The Fontana facility will continue to run its April race, the Auto Club 500.

California Speedway is owned by International Speedway Corp., which is controlled by the France family, and has been the front-runner in speculation as to which tracks or dates may be added to the 2004 schedule.

“It’s no secret we want more exposure in the Los Angeles market, we’ll just have to see how it plays out,” France said in February when asked if California would be granted a second date.

The Fontana track has sold out its capacity of more than 185,000 for every Winston Cup race since it opened June 22, 1997, with Jeff Gordon winning the inaugural event.

Other tracks seeking second dates include Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth and Phoenix International Raceway. Kansas City Speedway, owned by ISC, is lobbying for its first date.

At question was whether California Speedway could obtain approval from the San Bernardino County Planning Commission to install lighting sufficient to illuminate the entire track. When it received an OK, it was considered a sure bet to get a second Cup race.

The track also runs CART and Indy Racing League open-wheel races, an AMA motorcycle race, a Grand American sports car race and next week will have a “Historic Sports Car Festival.”

The Sept. 5 race is expected to replace the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, one of the oldest events on the Winston Cup schedule. Darlington may retain a second date, however, by taking a fall race away from North Carolina International Speedway in Rockingham. Darlington and Rockingham both have spring dates early in the season that are not expected to be changed.

France had said earlier this season that tracks at risk of losing an event were Atlanta Motor Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Darlington and North Carolina Speedway.

The Winston Cup schedule of 36 points races, plus two non-points events, will not be expanded to accommodate more events, according to Mike Helton, NASCAR president.

“With 38 races in a 41-race window, the schedule is pretty well maxed out,” he said. “In the past few years, we have been fortunate to be able to open up new markets like Las Vegas, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago and Miami, but we don’t have that luxury anymore. Our only possibility is to shift dates and sites.”

Night racing became a hot item with NASCAR when it held the Budweiser Shootout, a non-points race a week before the season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway last February, and it exceeded expectations, both for its live crowd and its TV ratings.

California Speedway introduced night racing on a smaller scale last month with the first of its street-legal drag races.