Some bad news for us this week…started out as rumours, then ownership changes, then TS@IC putting out an official statement:
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“Irwindale Speedway announcement: 2012 season Irwindale, Calif. (February 13, 2012, 1:30PM ) – – The management of Irwindale Speedway today announced that the 2012 racing season has been cancelled.”
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And that literally, is all she wrote.
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Comes as a …sorta, but not really, but kinda surprise, looks like they lost the Nascar contract and just couldn’t hang on any longer.
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It’s a bit of a blow to So-Cal with the closing of Stock car races also at the Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino. And really, it’s a blow to racing in general.
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Us, teams, tracks, everyone is racing relies on sponsors, and without em, times get hard, we know this as well as anyone what with our debut in FD coming up. It just amazes me that it can happen so quickly, shut em down and lock em up.
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This particular track held, and still does hold a special place in my speed-demon heart. Upon our advancement from HTL to Formula Drift, we were invited to Irwindale for the title fight at “The House Of Drift” for an invitational. This was the first FD event that I attended, and had a great time with Mats and Kerri down there. We were really looking forward to competing there.
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From up high on a California mountain, you can see the smoke from the guys practicing prior to the 2011 championship event:
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I kind of felt an attachment to this track and along with many people in the racing world, am sad to see it go.
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But hey, who knows, it’s a great facility and I can’t imagine it being vacant for too long, let’s just hope someone steps up and takes over so we can see the grandstands filled with race fans like I did that weekend.
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Feb 14th by Bannon