In L.A., it can be all and nothing simultaneously

It's the most curious sports market in America, a city that's lost two NFL teams, seen two major NASCAR tracks fall to the wrecking ball, and is home to a fan base notorious for showing up late and leaving early. There's so much surf, so much sun, that any event begging for publicity risks being dismissed like a plate of overcooked ahi tuna.

Welcome to Los Angeles, the nation's most fickle major-league city, where everybody loves a winner and nobody pays attention to anything else. Just ask NASCAR.

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Ten years ago it couldn't print enough tickets for the one race held each spring at brand-new California Speedway. Now the place has two events annually, and it can't sell out. The 2-mile track in Fontana is like a shiny object grasped by a toddler -- it will pique his curiosity, but it won't hold his attention for very long.

California Speedway sold out its first seven races, but hasn't seen a full house since parent company International Speedway Corp. sold off North Carolina Speedway and shifted a second annual event out west in 2004. The last two February races have been run before thousands of empty grandstand seats, and all indications are that Sunday's Auto Club 500 will feature more of the same.

It's galling to a series that prides itself on events that look good on television. It's frustrating to racetrack promoters who have upgraded facilities, changed the logo, and implemented crossover ticket deals with other L.A. sports teams in an attempt to raise the facility's profile. It's confusing to those who see a metro population of 13 million, and a rich NASCAR history in the region dating back to Marshall Teague's victory at a Gardena dirt track in 1951.

But it's also a place where NASCAR fights a losing battle for attention in a market dominated by the Lakers, Dodgers, and Southern California football. It's a place where for so long auto racing has been defined by sipping champagne on a balcony overlooking the Long Beach Grand Prix. It's a place where the revered Riverside International Raceway was razed and turned into a shopping mall, and opulent Ontario Motor Speedway drowned in debt. (Continued)