“The management of Irwindale Speedway today announced that the 2012 racing season has been cancelled.” With that terse statement sent electronically Monday afternoon (Feb. 13, 2012), the 12-year run of the half-mile and one-third mile auto racing tracks that was known for the last thee years as Toyota Speedway, and which had been touted by some of the biggest names in NASCAR as the finest “short track” in the nation, came to an inexplicably sudden and somewhat mysterious end.
Lindsay Lohan and Micheal Keaton at Irwindale Speedway for a scene in the 2005 movie "Herbie Fully Loaded."
The Pasadena Star-News first broke the story Saturday that movers had already emptied the offices at the track on Live Oak Avenue, the nearby neon sign on I-605 had gone dark, and the track’s web site had disappeared. It was reminiscent of the night the Irsay family secretly loaded up moving vans with everything belonging to the Baltimore Colts on a snowy night in March 1984 and disappeared into the dark of night, only to resurface like a carpet-bagger a few days later in Indianapolis. The difference here is that the owners of the Irwindale Speedway don’t appear to be heading to a new location. They’re just gone, less than two months after their naming rights deal with Toyota expired, and with attendance and racing entrants declining rapidly in recent years, according to The Los Angeles Times.
(The story continues below the following two videos, the first a 1 1/2-minute highlight of the track’s many features and racing styles that I shot in 2008, and the second a 3 1/2-minute video I shot in 2010 during a Days of Thunder video game media event that included a ride-along on track… )
Get the Flash Player to see this content.
Get the Flash Player to see this content.In addition to competitive racing that drew stars such as Tony Stewart and nationally televised races like NASCAR’s Toyota All-Star Showdown seven times, and the USAC Turkey Night Grand Prix premier midget racing event, it also became the first and top U.S. drifting facility, hosting the Formula D finale every year, the last of which drew 12,000 people in August.
Driver is killed during 1999 opening day practice session at Irwindale Speedway. Photo by Elizabeth Booth.
Scenes from the third movie in the “Fast and Furious” franchise called “Tokyo Drift” and the fifth movie in the “Love Bug” franchise starring Lindsay Lohan, “Herbie Fully Loaded,” were filmed at the track, as were many other productions, including a recent 3D TV program.
The Irwindale Speedway got off to a very unfortunate start in 1999 when a sprint car driver was killed during an afternoon practice session just hours before the grand opening of the track that evening (see photos at right taken by Elizabeth Booth). The track recovered and grew rapidly in popularity over the next several years.But average attendance in the grandstands that held about 6,500 people had dwindled from about 5,300 in 2002 to 2,800 last year.
Helicopter required for driver killed at Irwindale Speedway opening day in 1999. Photo by Elizabeth Booth.
It’s unclear what happens now at the property, which in 1987 was near the area considered as the potential new home for the Los Angeles Raiders and then was alternately used over the next decade for farmers markets, auto auctions, and more. What is clear is that Arcadians, especially those in the southeast corner of the community, will no longer hear the dull roar of car engines on weekend nights during racing season.
— By Scott Hettrick
Comments