Los Angeles is the second largest city in the nation and it hasn't had an
NFL team for 18 years. Why am I not surprised that auto racing is
disappearing as well. But, the article below says it all.
FYI the dragstrip at Irwindale is not the original that closed years ago.
It is an 1/8 mile track adjacent to the speedway. I spent many a day at the
original. Living about 5 miles away there were times I rode out on my bike
and watched from the rise in the road.
Here is a report from Autoweek:
Monday's news marks a sad day for the entire racing community. Irwindale
Speedway had the benefits of location, weather and passionate participants.
Coupled with such a fine, modern facility, it had all of the correct aspects
for success.
Indeed, in terms of sheer venue numbers, more auto racing has taken place in
Southern California than at any other area in the world. Officially
sanctioned events have been held at more than 174 different venues in the
region. The first was at Agricultural Park (now the L.A. Coliseum) in 1903.
The list goes on to include the roads of Santa Monica (1909-19), a wooden
speedway in Beverly Hills (1920-24), Gilmore Stadium (1934-50) and four
tracks named Ascot.
Racing venues large and small close their doors for any number of reasons.
Even the big-time tracks at Riverside and Ontario went away despite their
popularity with fans. From a business standpoint, though, a racing venue is
similar to a drive-in theater in that the weekly window for event scheduling
dictates large amounts of vacant time.
To that end, Irwindale Speedway has been featured in numerous television
shows, commercials and other Hollywood productions. The adjacent 1/8-mile
drag strip had a following all its own, and special events from drifting to
motorcycles to monster trucks drew capacity crowds. Apparently that was not
enough.
What happens next at Irwindale Speedway remains anyone's guess
Read more:
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120213/NASCAR/120219947#ixzz1qklNkUGu
> On this mornings one hour show on National Public Radio's show
> Only A Game is a feature on the closing of Los Angeles' last two drag
> strips,
> Fontana and Irwindale. Check local listings for when it airs in your town.
> Here
> in Boston it airs twice on Sat. You may be able to catch possible podcast
> and
> photos at
> www.onlyagame.org
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