DEMOLITION works are well underway at the site of the fastest closed course lap in motorsport history.
The bulk of Auto Club Speedway, commonly known as California Speedway, is being demolished.
The below video on YouTube highlights just how much of the two-mile oval that once played hosted to NASCAR, Champ Car, IndyCar and many other categories has been ripped apart.
Grandstands have been brought down by bulldozers, the majority of the track surface has been ripped up and concrete retaining walls pulled down.
The venue is set to be reconstructed as a half-mile high banked oval, though NASCAR – which owns the track – has been hesitant to put a time on when it will be completed.
The two-mile D-shaped super speedway was built on the site of the abandoned Kaiser Steel Mill in Fontana, California by Roger Penske’s speedway corporation.
It opened in June 1997 and was written into motorsport history books during qualifying for CART’s 500-mile season decider in 2000.
Brazilian Gil de Ferran blasted to pole position for the final round of that year’s CART-run FedEx Championship Series for Champ Cars in his Marlboro Team Penske-run Reynard-Honda with a startling 241.428mph (388.537km/h) lap.
It became the fastest average speed for a closed course circuit lap and eclipsed the 240.942mph run that his countryman Mauricio Gugelmin set in qualifying at the same track three years earlier.
De Ferran went on to finish third and clinch the CART championship in the race.
The speedway will forever be known as the site that took the life of Canadian star Greg Moore in the final round of the 1999 series.
The popular Forsythe Racing driver – who had signed to move to Team Penske for 2000 – was tragically killed in the early stages of the season-ending race after cartwheeling into the inside concrete wall, launched airborne by trackside grass.
WATCH: Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California is demolished…
CART raced at the California Speedway with 500-mile races held from 1997 to 2002.
The oval hosted the IRL-run IndyCar Series from 2002 to 2005 and 2012 to 2015.
The last IndyCar race held at the circuit was won by Graham Rahal.
Jeff Gordon won the first NASCAR Cup Series round held at the track in 1997 and the last Cup race there in February this year was won by Kyle Busch.
WATCH: Gil de Ferran’s record lap at California Speedway in 2000…
