The MAVTV 500 was an IndyCar Seriesrace held at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The event represented a continuous lineage of open wheeloval racing in the Southern California-area that dates back to 1970. Since 2012, the event had been sponsored by MAVTV, a motorsports cable channelowned by Lucas Oil. For many years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the race served as the season finale for the CART series. From 2012-2014, it served as the finale for the IndyCar Series. In 2015, the race was moved to June. Despite several journalists calling the 2015 edition one of the best IndyCar races, the race did not return on the schedule for 2016.
oval racing in southern California dates back to the USAC California 500 at Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, held from 1970–1980. The race was part of Indy car racing's "triple crown", and at its inception, was held in high prestige. The inaugural running was considered a huge success, with 187,000 in attendance. However, the track fell into financial troubles, and closed in 1980. Subsequent runnings were never able to match the success of the 1970 event. Indy car races were also held at nearby Riverside, but only from 1967–1969 and again from 1981–1983.
CART
renewed the 500-mile oval race in 1997 at the newly built California Speedway in Fontana, California. The new track was built just from the previous Ontario circuit. The event was held under the moniker Marlboro 500, and served as the CART season finale. This event was held through 2002. The race became known for closed-course record speeds, and fast and competitive racing, owing much to the track's width. The 1999 race is considered a tragic day in the history of CART, after the fatal crash of Greg Moore. The 2003 event was cancelled due to the Old Fire. Along with the popular Long Beach Grand Prix, the Southern California area featured two major open wheel CART races annually for a time.
In 2002, the IRL IndyCar Series added a 400-mile race to the facility. Fontana became the first facility to host races from both rival open wheel series, although the race distance was different. The Toyota Indy 400 was held through 2005. However, crowds dwindled, and the event was removed from the calendar. The now-unified IndyCar Series returned to Fontana for the 2012 season with a 500-mile fall night race under the lights. The race served as the season finale from 2012-2014. For 2015, the race was moved to June.
Two world closed course speed records were established in qualifying for the CART event. Maurício Gugelmin, driving a Reynard/Mercedes established a one-lap time of 30.316 seconds for a dozen years. The record stood until the 2014 Pocono 500.
The 2003 IRL/IndyCar race was the fastest circuit race ever in motorsport history, with an average speed of 207.151 mph over 400 miles.
Race results
Ontario Motor Speedway
Race winners of the original California 500 held at Ontario Motor Speedway.
