Auto Club Speedway Dream Day

If you were able to have nearly all of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California all to yourself, what would you do? Would you just race the big oval in a stock car? Have nothing but fun on the kart track? Rip around with an exotic car? How about all of it? In an effort to show that Auto Club Speedway is more than just an oval that races a few times per year, ACS partnered up with ID Agency to create the Dream Day to show what fun you can have for a majority of the year in just a day.

Most people assume that Auto Club Speedway is open for two races per year for NASCAR or IndyCar or nothing more goes on than just those types of events. The reality is that ACS in Fontana is actually a facility that has something going on for nearly 365 days. We traveled out with the ID Agency and friends to see what all they have to offer and, if you haven’t done at least one of these things, you’re really missing out.

Our group consisted of the Arron and Shaun Guardado of Suicide Machine Company, Mark Sweetser of Digipower/Re-Fuel, Roland Sands, and many others. First off, there is a full karting facility on site called CalSpeed Karting. This fairly large kart track is not only open for you to bring out your own kart but they also have rentals and an arrive-and-drive series. They do enduro’s and sprint races with these karts and weight can be equalized by adding penalty weights.

A few of these guys never went karting before while others have but never ran on CalSpeed’s track. Everyone was rather impressed with the rental karts and the staff. Keep in mind; this was just the first stop.

Next up was Exotics Racing, which has been operating out of Las Vegas since 2009 and founded by Roman Thievin and David Perisset, opened up the Fontana location at ACS about two-years ago. Here they have several exotic cars, much like Vegas, including a Corvette and the Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4.

First up, like many professional racing schools and experiences, everyone starts with the classroom. They teach you the proper line, how to view ahead to the horizon, and many other racing techniques required to drive these cars to their limits. If you don’t know how to operate a clutch you have nothing to fear as they show you that, not only are these cars paddle shift, but you can let the car do the shifting for you. They also don’t turn off the traction control, mostly to keep you from destroying a set of very expensive tires. However, you can still get over 90-percent out of the car just before hitting those limiters.

The next portion of the program are the Discovery Laps where instructors will take you in a Porsche Cayenne with your fellow students. They continue to show you the proper line and point out the areas to begin braking, accelerating, and turn in/out.

Before heading out, you’ll also get fitted with a helmet to ensure you’re at your safest while driving out on the 1.2-mile track. They have helmets that fit everyone, so don’t worry about not fitting.

Then you hop in the car of your choice, where again your instructor will guide you through and make sure you’re properly secured. They also ensure that you’ve inserted your on-board video USB stick. This allows you to share your experience with others later on.

The camera is not only pointed right at you but also right out the front window so they will experience your drive from two positions. It also records your speed and position on the track.

Finally, for our group anyhow, was the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience. This is your shot to take a ride with a pro driver around the 2-mile Super Speedway in a Nextel Cup style car, modified to allow a passenger in the right hand side. While the engines aren’t as powerful as the NASCAR custom built engines that normally roar around the facility, these are still 500-horsepower crate powerhouses that get you up to speed quickly. The drivers will even draft with each other and bump draft for the full NASCAR experience. While it wasn’t the same fun as driving an exotic or kart on their own, everyone got out wide eyed and couldn’t comprehend going faster with more cars.

We took Mark from Digipower to the side and asked him about Re-Fuel as well. They have some interesting products coming out including GoPro Batteries that last up to 24-hours. Some teams that will drive in the 24-hours of Daytona are already planning to take full advantage of that. “Re-Fuel is the sub-brand of Digipower,” Mark explained, “it’s a lifestyle brand that’s going to be pointed towards POV cameras like GoPros and mobile devices.” A handy thing to have considering how often we use our phones for selfies and videos nowadays. One of the new products he introduced to us was the 7800mAh Dual USB Rechargeable Power Bank. It will give you three to four full charges for your mobile device along with a 2A faster charge. However the product we’re more excited about is the XT Outdoor Speaker. It not only connects to your phone with Bluetooth for music but also allows you to make handsfree calls. It also lasts for up to 10-hours which is great for long nights out in the garage.

Finally, we spoke with Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for Auto Club Speedway, Fritz Maskrey, about the future of ACS. “Our goal is to do programs like we had today,” Fritz began when we asked him how ACS was encouraging more people to come out and see the facility for more than NASCAR, “You have a lot of major influencers in Southern California and we get them to come out and do a Dream Day, ultimately it’s exposing the track to what we have to offer.” They have sports car racing, drag racing, the oval, motorcycles, karts – basically, as Fritz put it, “anything that has a motor has an event here.” Eventually they want to create the Motor Man award, where by if you complete a majority of the disciplines that take place at ACS, you get recognition and it won’t just be influencers or racers. It will be open to everyone.

It’s more than that, too. As we continue to see tracks get shut down because they “don’t generate enough money,” ACS is looking to expand beyond motorsports. The facility already operates nearly 300-days per year with just CalSpeed Karting, Exotics Racing, and oval racing schools like the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience. However, they still want to do more with music festivals and other special events beyond cars. Staying with motorsports, however, they are also looking into expanding into the ever growing off-road and powersports categories along with drifting. “It’s about exposure. Hopefully, down the road, we’ll be able to get in the routing for music festivals and other type of events that might not have had ACS or the speedway was a good location.”

So, look forward to the future of Auto Club Speedway as they continue to push forward and innovate in the race track experience beyond just the oval or road course. Maybe your own ACS Dream Day will come true in the very near future.