As we originally reported at the end of October of this year, the California-based Irwindale Dragstrip would shut its gates permanently. Along with sister half-mile circle track Irwindale Speedway, the tracks would be the latest casualty in a 2024 season that saw multiple tracks shut down or sold for re-development.

The Irwindale tracks first opened in 1999 for the Speedway, and 2001 for the Dragstrip. When the announcement came about the tracks’ future, the remaining events would become the final time for drag racing enthusiasts to make a trip down Irwindale’s eighth-mile saw a sharp increase in attendance. With the final dragstrip event scheduled for December 8th, over 200 tickets were sold for the last dragstrip event.

Although the news of tracks opening and closing in 2024 has been favoring the re-opening / new tracks side of things, news broke today that California will lose another track at the end of this season. Irwindale Drag Strip and sister half-mile circle track Irwindale Speedway will close their gates at the end of 2024.

Communication is an important tool in any relationship, and this can even more important in racing, as the car and driver being in sync can allow them both to perform at their best. How can we use communication to keep the hobbies of cars, racing and drag-and-drive alive?

The news for drag strips has already had some good headlines in 2024, and unfortunately, some bad ones as well. And while we recently reported on plans for a South Dakota drag strip to reopen in 2025, a track in southern Florida could also make its final laps in 2025.

About one year ago, news broke that Heartland Motorsports Park, a multi-use facility in Topeka, Kansas that first saw use in 1989, would be closing at the end of the year. The track was recently reported sold on July 24th; what’s the next chapter?

Originally opened in 1958, Thompson Drag Raceway was billed as one of the early race tracks in Ohio. But now, rumors are circulating that the future of the drag strip may be in jeopardy.