G2 Radios presents The Waterford Speedbowl Message Board

The once popular East vs West race in January at Irwindale Speedway now face a problem no race fan or driver ever wants to see. The track in California is closing down. I can't find a stand alone link that you can see on Jayski's so I'll copy and past all that I see. Leave a comment if you like. Will the track come back like Wall Stadium? Or will it be a part of our history like many other tracks that have closed in the years.


Irwindale Speedway closing? UPDATE: On Saturday, workers appeared to be closing down the Irwindale Speedway facility, which has had the biggest NASCAR short track races on the West Coast for more than a decade. Workers were dismantling the pit grandstand, which is adjacent to the first turn. They were also taking apart storage areas. The large billboard bordering the San Gabriel Valley River Freeway was not lit up for the first time in its history, barring power outages, and the track's web site was taken off the Internet. "They went out of business," said a prominent Irwindale racer who did not want to be identified. Vice president and general manager Bob DeFazio and some staff members were in the locked administration building Saturday morning, a moving truck backed up to the office's side entrance and a moving box stacked outside. DeFazio, through track operations director Bob Klein, refused to comment. Klein would only say an announcement would be made Monday. Efforts to reach DeFazio were unsuccessful. The track's eighth-mile facility remained intact on Saturday, but according to a source, workers were given a final paycheck after last Thursday's regular street legal session. The elimination of the pit grandstand is significant because teams usually put their crews in those seats so that if there is a problem on the track, they could quickly get to their pit stall and fix the car and get it racing again. L.A. Racing, a school not owned by Irwindale Speedway LLC, the consortium of owners led by Jim Williams, has 12 schools planned within the next month. "They have not said a word," L.A. Racing's Ozzie Blackwell said. "We have no idea. We're assuming it's a go. We've been told it's a go." If only the racing operation is closed, the track could still be used for filming commercials, movies and television shows, an endeavor that has been very successful. Many racing commercials, with the likes of 1969 Indianapolis 500 champion and 1978 Formula One champion Mario Andretti and three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart, have been shot at the facility. Recently a Hyundai commercial viewed during the Super Bowl was shot. That shoot took three nights. Rumors have swirled for months about new ownership. Lucas Oil Products and Tony Stewart, who owns tracks including famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, were rumored to be interested in buying the facility.(in part from the Los Angeles Daily News)(2-13-2012)
UPDATE: Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, once hailed as perhaps the best short track for minor-league NASCAR racing, said Monday it has canceled its 2012 season. Amid speculation that the half-mile speedway might be closed or sold in the face of dwindling crowds, its management issued a one-sentence statement announcing the cancellation and providing no other details. Track officials could not immediately be reached to elaborate, but the speedway's website also had been taken down.(Loa Angeles Times)(2-13-2013)