Auto Club Speedway promotes executive Dave Allen to president

Dave Allen, formerly vice president of sales and marketing for Auto Club Speedway, was promoted to president of the Fontana track, its parent, International Speedway Corp., announced Monday.

Allen succeeds Gillian Zucker, who recently became president of business operations for the Clippers.

“Dave is a proven leader with a strong background and knowledge of the motorsports industry, the Inland Empire/LA markets and Auto Club Speedway,” ISC President John Saunders said in a statement.

Auto Club Speedway is a 568-acre complex 50 miles east of Los Angeles. It features a two-mile, D-shaped track where the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the Verizon IndyCar Series each hold one race a year.

The track, initially called California Speedway, was built in the late 1990s by racing mogul Roger Penske. Allen joined Penske at the track in 1999 and became senior director of sales and marketing in 2002.

Allen was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing in 2006, and two years later he helped Zucker secure the Auto Club deal that led to the track’s current name.

“Southern California is known for its strong car culture and racing history and I look forward to building on those traditions with the help of our staff and amazing fans,” Allen said in a statement.

Auto Club Speedway, like many other tracks across the country, has struggled in the last several years with sagging attendance for NASCAR races compared with the mid-2000s, when NASCAR’s popularity reached its peak.

In response, the Fontana track slashed its grandstand capacity by 26%, from 92,000 seats to 68,000.

Next year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway is scheduled for March 22, and the IndyCar race is set for June 27.

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