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.

As the track that hosted not only the first National Hot Rod Association national event in 1955, but also been a part of Hot Rod Drag Week and Rocky Mountain Race Week, the Sunflower Rod and Custom Association (SRCA) Dragstrip has been void of any racing action for the last two years. Recently, a settlement was reached that might change the 2025 season hopes for the track in Great Bend, Kansas.

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.

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.

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.

Florida has seen four different tracks closed in the last decade, but plans for a pair of drag strips are either underway or close to starting in the sunshine state, and could see action before the 2024 calendar year is complete.

Over the weekend, rumors began swirling that Sturgis Dragway in South Dakota might be closing for the 2024 season, and possibly beyond.