Menu
Closing Bell

Throwback Thursday: California, Here We Come

We look back 20 years ago this week, when California Speedway (now Auto Club Speedway) officially opened in Fontana. The $110M track in its opening weekend hosted an Int'l Race of Champions and a NASCAR Winston Cup event. Called by one writer the "Taj Mahal of racetracks," the facility opened with 71 luxury boxes, 10 concession buildings, more than 50 restrooms and 32,000 paved parking spots. Its seating capacity was 71,000 at first but now stands at 122,000, a sizable uptick but below the original planned expansion to 250,000.

Other stories from this week in '97:

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: April 25, 2024

Motor City's big weekend; Kevin Warren's big bet; Bill Belichick's big makeover and the WNBA's big week continues

TNT’s Stan Van Gundy, ESPN’s Tim Reed, NBA Playoffs and NFL Draft

On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp has two Big Get interviews. The first is with TNT’s Stan Van Gundy as he breaks down the NBA Playoffs from the booth. Later in the show, we hear from ESPN’s VP of Programming and Acquisitions Tim Reed as the NFL Draft gets set to kick off on Thursday night in Motown. SBJ’s Tom Friend also joins the show to share his insights into NBA viewership trends.

SBJ I Factor: Molly Mazzolini

SBJ I Factor features an interview with Molly Mazzolini. Elevate's Senior Operating Advisor – Design + Strategic Alliances chats with SBJ’s Ross Nethery about the power of taking chances. Mazzolini is a member of the SBJ Game Changers Class of 2016. She shares stories of her career including co-founding sports design consultancy Infinite Scale career journey and how a chance encounter while working at a stationery store launched her career in the sports industry. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Closing-Bell/2017/06/22/Throwback-Thursday.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Closing-Bell/2017/06/22/Throwback-Thursday.aspx

CLOSE