NASCAR under Jim France is slowly stripping away the legacy that the historically significant tracks have held over the past years, and no, this isn’t about the Greenville-Pickens Speedway. The Talladega Superspeedway is of much importance to the sport right now, being the only track that can truly give a competition to Daytona in terms of track type and the overall racing experience. But going ahead this season, that track, along with the Auto Club Speedway, will see a major shift in its management.
Jim France’s reorganization to bid farewell to an iconic track president
Brian Crichton, who has been working for International Speedway Corp. for the past 25 years, will no longer serve his role with NASCAR as the track president of the Talladega Superspeedway. Having spent over two decades rising through NASCAR’s ranks, Crichton had become one of Jim France’s most trusted hands.
NASCAR acquired the ISC back in October of 2019 by paying around around $2 billion. This gave the sport’s authorities full control over many major tracks, including Talladega.
With the acquisition, the Jim France-led organization was expected to make some major changes to the overall structure. Back in the 2000s, each track had an individual president, and they made most of the decisions, keeping it localized. However, NASCAR now wants a more centralized decision-making structure, making the execution of business strategies faster and more optimized.
As part of this restructuring, Crichton will no longer be serving his role as the President of the Talladega Superspeedway. While he has already left NASCAR, Dave Allen, who served as the Auto Club Speedway’s President since 2014, will be staying for a while this year before eventually leaving.
Considering the new race at the San Diego naval base scheduled later this year, Allen will be overseeing the operations. Understandably, they require a person of his experience to make sure that the event goes through smoothly without any major disruptions because of the sheer scale of the race. But once that is done, Allen will also depart from NASCAR.
While Jim France hasn’t given any statement regarding the old and new NASCAR speedways, a lot is going on behind the scenes. The Auto Club Speedway, which ran under Dave Allen, is in shambles now. And although the sport had claimed that there would be a new construction of a short track on its site in the future, it doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.
The sudden collapse of the Auto Club Speedway
The 2-mile, D-shaped oval was quite an attraction for the fans and the drivers. First opened in 1997, it served as a major race for NASCAR, with the Cup Series’ final even taking place there in 2023. A few years prior to that, the sport had announced that the track would be demolished, with a new 0.5-mile track planned in its place. While the sport did stick with its promise, it only seemed to be about halfway true.
Ways to make a racing fan cry. Demolition of the Auto Club Speedway through the years pic.twitter.com/qLhXxP7kQ6
— Gunaditya Tripathi
(@Guni1202) March 20, 2026
Meanwhile, there is no sign of the possible short track that NASCAR discussed. There has been no development in that direction, and fans seem to have lost any hope of the race ever making a return.
It is understood that the land revenue was too hard for Jim France and Co. to simply give up, but it still hurt the sentiments of most racing fans as they felt that the sport was stepping away from its roots.
While Brian Crichton’s leaving NASCAR wouldn’t have as big an effect on the Talladega Superspeedway, there might be some subtle changes in the overall management and event-hosting of the track. As of now, NASCAR is working with CAA to find a suitable replacement.
