Looks like the bubble has burst….

UPDATE Despite the half empty grandstands at the Auto Club 500 Sunday, track president Gillian Zucker believes Auto Club Speedway deserves to keep two annual Sprint Cup events.

Sparse crowd Sunday

CIA Stock Photo

"There are facilities that are smaller than ours," Zucker said. "All tracks are not equal. If you're at a track that holds 50,000 people and sells out, is that better than a track that holds 92,000 [at ACS] and is growing? I don't think it is.

"I can also tell you we will be fighting tooth and nail to keep both our events. I believe they belong here."

The estimated crowd Sunday was 55,000, down from last year's February event of more than 60,000. ACS has not sold out any of its Cup races since going to two events a year in 2004.

"The crowd count was about flat, maybe a little off," Zucker said. "But considering the economy in this part of the country, I think that says something. It's been hard-hit here. People are struggling." ESPN.com

02/21/10 We have never seen the amount of empty seats at Fontana for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race as we see today. After NASCAR's popularity has dropped the past several years it appears to be continuing in 2010. Looks like the bubble has burst…