The Chase for the Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway will be trimmed by 100 miles, officials from the Fontana, Calif., speedway announced Wednesday.
The October race, fourth in the Chase, will be shortened to 400 miles from 500, shaving off 50 laps. Formerly the Pepsi 500, the race will now be called the Pepsi Max 400. Pepsi has sponsored the event since 2008.
The speedway hosted its first Chase race last season. Auto Club officials requested the change in length.
“As fans well know, conversations with NASCAR in regard to making Auto Club Speedway the most competitive track possible for NASCAR racing have been ongoing,” speedway President Gillian Zucker said in a prepared statement. “The results of some changes made by NASCAR such as double-file restarts and tire changes were seen at our inaugural Chase race, arguably one of the best races ever at the speedway.
"This additional rules change to 400 miles is further evidence of NASCAR’s commitment to racing excitement and to Southern California race fans.”
Auto Club Speedway has hosted two Sprint Cup races annually since 2004, both at 500 miles. The speedway's first event, the Auto Club 500 on Feb. 21, will remain at its current distance.
The green flag for the Pepsi Max 400 will wave Oct. 10 at 3 p.m. ET. on ABC.
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Photo of Auto Club Speedway from sith120 on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/sith120/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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