race are most in doubt as the local forecast calls for a nearly 100% chance of rain showers throughout both days.

The green flag for Sunday’s race will likely be unfurled despite overcast conditions.

“The weather is looking a lot better for Sunday, which is encouraging,” Humphrey said.

Sunday’s Pala Casino 400 (12:30 p.m. on FOX) will be the final race on the historic 2-mile layout as planning continues for the construction of a state-of-the-art short track to be built on site, pending approval.

“What we’re working on is really exciting,” track president David Allen said last month. “The fact that we race at a half-mile at Martinsville (Speedway) and Bristol (Motor Speedway), it’ll be cool to have another half-mile, especially out here on the West Coast with so much racing history.”

In September 2020, it was revealed by NASCAR industry publication “The Insider” that documents for the reconstruction of the facility as a half-mile high-banked oval had been filed with San Bernardino County.

The new layout fits inside the footprint of the current layout’s tri-oval and will utilize existing garage, grandstand and pit suite infrastructure, though Allen told Sirius XM NASCAR Radio in 2022 that plans to convert the speedway have been put on hold.

At the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum earlier this month, series COO Steve O’Donnell said NASCAR was “evaluating the market as a whole and what’s the best place for us to race within the totality of 2024 and beyond.”

A total of 32 NASCAR Cup Series event weekends have been held at Auto Club Speedway since California native Jeff Gordon won the first race — the California 500 — in 1997.

NASCAR raced at Fontana twice a year from 2004 to 2010, with the annual spring event typically providing more drama than the fall race.

The track also has hosted 14 major open wheel races.

Semi-retired icon Jimmie Johnson owns the most NASCAR Cup Series race wins (6), the most top 5 finishes (13) and the most top 10s (18) in track history, while Kevin Harvick should set a record with his 28th start in Fontana.

“I’ll never forget being off the front of the field and leading that thing,” said Johnson, whose first Cup Series win came in Fontana in 2002. “So to cross the finish line and win, the big exhale that I had when I finally crossed the finish line was really more about knowing I’d be employed.”

Kyle Larson claimed last year’s WISE Power 400 after blocking teammate Chase Elliott on the final laps and leading to the line to win the checkered flag. Larson, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones and Daniel Suárez earned Chevrolet a 1-2-3-4 finish.

Larson also won in Fontana in 2017 and is the only driver with multiple wins at the track in recent years.

Daytona 500 winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has never won at Auto Club Speedway in nine starts. He started 17th and finished 10th last year.

Last year’s Dayton 500 winner, Austin Cindric, scored the pole in Fontana last year with a lap time of 41.226 seconds and a speed of 174.657 mph. He finished 12th.