Construction began on November 22, 1995, on the site of the abandoned Kaiser Steel Mill in Fontana, following an April 1994 announcement by Roger Penske and Kaiser Steel. The site required the removal of 3,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil, with a polyethylene cap placed over remaining impurities before 2 feet of clean soil was added. A notable landmark from the Kaiser era — a 100-foot water tower — was preserved in the center of the infield and repurposed as a scoreboard. Construction concluded in late 1996, and an official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on June 20, 1997. The main grandstand was built to seat 68,000, with total capacity reaching 122,000 when luxury boxes and infield seating were included.
The speedway's proximity to Los Angeles — the second-largest media market in the United States — made it an attractive destination for NASCAR and open-wheel racing. Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) had committed to an annual race at the track the day after its public announcement. NASCAR president Bill France Jr. agreed to sanction Cup Series races before the track was even built, marking the first time NASCAR committed to an unbuilt facility.
The California Speedway hosted its first race, a NASCAR West Series event, on June 21, 1997, one day after the official opening. Paul Tracy of Marlboro Team Penske was the first driver to test the new circuit on January 10 of that year.
CART ran the Marlboro 500 at the track annually from 1997 to 2002. The IndyCar Series later ran a 400-mile race from 2002 to 2005 and returned for a 500-mile race from 2012 to 2015, with the MAVTV 500 typically serving as the season finale. The track's last IndyCar event was the 2015 MAVTV 500.
NASCAR held two Cup Series weekends annually from 2004 through 2010, adding lights in 2004 to enable a night race. Attendance problems emerged quickly with the addition of the second weekend, falling by as much as 20,000 per event. Drivers and media questioned whether the track could sustain two dates, and weather extremes — both extreme heat and rain — contributed to fan reluctance. NASCAR reduced the schedule to a single annual weekend starting in 2011. Grandstand capacity was reduced from 92,000 to 68,000 in 2014, accomplished partly by widening seats from 18 to 23 inches.
In 2001, the infield was reconfigured to include a multipurpose road course. In March 2014, Exotics Racing opened a 1.2-mile road course at the facility.
During the 1999 Marlboro 500 CART race, Canadian driver Greg Moore was killed in a crash along the backstretch. His car struck the edge of oncoming pavement after sliding on the infield grass, launching it into a concrete retaining wall. The incident led track owners to pave the backstretch at Auto Club Speedway and its sister track Michigan International Speedway. CART subsequently mandated head-and-neck restraint systems on all ovals, a rule eventually extended to all tracks.
The track operated as California Speedway from its opening until February 21, 2008, when the Automobile Club of Southern California purchased naming rights in a 10-year deal estimated at $50 to $75 million. The track became Auto Club Speedway under that arrangement, which was renewed before eventually lapsing after March 2023.
In September 2020, documents were filed with San Bernardino County for a reconstruction of the facility as a high-banked half-mile oval. Plans showed the new layout fitting inside the footprint of the existing tri-oval, with long straightaways inspired by Martinsville Speedway and banking similar to Bristol Motor Speedway. The reconstruction was initially scheduled to begin after the 2021 race, but was postponed due to COVID-19 complications and later placed on hold as NASCAR shifted its Southern California presence to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Busch Clash.
The track closed in 2023 and demolition began in October of that year. By 2025, 433 of the facility's 522 acres had been sold for warehouse and industrial park development. NASCAR retained the remaining land with an intent to eventually build the new circuit, but NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps confirmed in April 2025 that the project was on hold due to construction costs.
The track's infield road course configuration — combining the high-banked oval sections with the infield road layout in a roval format — made Auto Club Speedway a distinctive venue for simulation titles. iRacing and other platforms featured the oval layout. The track also served as a film location, doubling as Daytona International Speedway in the 2019 film Ford v Ferrari, and appeared as the Los Angeles International Speedway in the 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars.
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