Open House at the Auto Club Dragway in Fontana
Fontana, CaliforniaSaturday, February 15, 2014
Story and photos by Roger Rohrdanz
Finally after years of legal battles The Auto Club Speedway was successful in reaching an agreement with the local group of citizens in the San Bernardino County area. A sound wall was completed as a way to satisfy the intent of the law at a cost exceeding one million dollars and the judge authorized the reopening of the drag strip. No one has worked harder or has been more committed during the closure of the drag racing facility than the Auto Club of Southern California. They worked diligently to keep the topic alive and their support, both monetarily and through their prestige in the community, made all the difference. Other drag racing supporters, including Lucas Oil, MAVtv, SEMA, NHRA, K&N, Crower.com, and Auto Club Speedway have also invested a great deal of time and money to bring drag racing back to Fontana. The wall is massive, some 24 or more feet high, 1600 feet long, and each slab is a good thirty feet in length by 6+ inches thick. The rebar reinforced concrete slabs were poured on the pavement in about a week and, after drying, were lifted by a heavy crane onto I-beams, where they were bolted into place.
The Open House to celebrate the re-opening was held at the Auto Club Dragway at Fontana on February 15, 2014. The massive wall is painted with huge signs saying “Welcome to Auto Club Dragway”. The best sign said “Race The Strip, Not The Street”. Each of the wall sponsors have 20 foot high by 50 foot long painted signs. It looks awesome! Displays were setup for different racing organizations like, NHRA, Lucas Oil, SCETA, PSCA, NMCA, So Cal Super Street, and So Cal Pro-Gas. Gillian Zucker, President of The Auto Club Speedway, spoke of the Dragway’s future. Jody Lang presented Gillian a plaque from the Sportsman racers “Recognizing all her Hard Work and Dedication”. The Auto Club Dragway manager, Tracy Fischle, was introduced and invited all the fans and racers back. Two-time NHRA World Championship driver, Jack Beckman, introduced racing legend Art Chrisman. Many prominent figures from the drag racing committee were on-hand including Graham Light(NHRA VP Racing Operations), Steve Gibbs(retired NHRA VP of competion), Eric & Kat Lotz, Bang Shift’s Chad Reynolds & Dar Hawthorne, David Talley(Dir. of Communications for the Auto Club Speedway) and many more.
Now it’s time to go racing!