They announced Firebird Raceway in Phoenix is closing down for good to be developed into retail and housing. They estimated maybe 1 or 2 more years before it's closed.

Route 66 Raceway in Chicago/Joliet announced that no NHRA racing for 2021 and the track might close for good.

Atlanta Raceway announced that after 40 years, no more NHRA for 2021 and permanently closing down for good.

and the list goes on...

What is happening to drag racing? Is it going away for good?

 

I think in most cases it is like the Firebird Raceway in Phoenix. The highest and best use of the property is no longer for a race track. It is for retail or residential. Couple that with the complaints from neighbors about the noise. When most of these tracks were built they were out in the country. Now urban sprawl has taken them in. I don't think the future looks very bright.

 

Firebird Raceway became Wild Horse Pass Motorsport Park some while back, as in the Gila River Indian Community took over operations. The area is scheduled to be expanded into the surrounding retail and entertainment (there's already an outlet mall, casino, hotels, conference center, golf course, and entertainment venues there). The tribe said they may rebuild the racepark at another location on the res if it appears to be economically feasible


Since it’s on the Gila River Indian Reservation there won’t be any residential development cuz, well, you gotta be a res member to live on the res.

 

I wish it would go back to lots of small time local tracks. The desire to drag race is still there even with younger groups. Drag racing and cruising brings unity and friendships to all age and ethnic groups. Something our country needs.

 

Boy, I wish I could give you good news on racetracks, however it looks bleak. Think about the last time you went to a track? We have Bradenton Motorsports here and you go on a friday night, its barely enough people in the stands to warrant opening. Unfortunately we boomers are getting old, the gen x and millenials see the world differently than how we grew up. I do see a lot of people in their 40’s buying cars so the hobby is alive and well. Not so sure about the tracks tho.

 

I don’t understand how anyone in their right mind could build residential housing next to a track, and then complain about the noise. What absolutely floors me is the lawsuits brought against the track owners. There is no way in hell I could be a judge and keep a straight face listening to the arguments. It seems to me that whoever was there first makes the rules.

Unfortunately, the future for drag racing is bleak. I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon, but the thrill just isn’t there for the amateurs. I can’t help but wonder if it’s partially due to what’s available from the automakers today. Think about it, 40 years ago it took some pretty deep pockets and lots of effort to have an 12 second street car. Now you can buy one with a warranty and daily drive it. And with the advances of engine and drivetrain controllers of today’s cars, a 12 second nee car today is much smoother and easier to drive than a 12 second old school muscle car.

My local 1/8 mile track is the oldest track in Indiana. I think it opened in 1955. It’s out in the middle of farmland, other than the track owners house, the nearest house is miles away. I’m guessing if people did start to build around it the noise complaints wouldn’t go very far. There is a reserve Air Force base maybe 3 miles west of the track (I’m pretty sure the base was there before the Dragstrip). I don’t think noise complaints with the Air Force would amount to much.

 

Osceola Raceway in Indiana shut down and will be demolished, Milan in Michigan is closed with creditor issues and an uncertain future. It's not good news for those of us that love the sport.

edit: wrong racetrack name

 

Sounds like you are describing Bunker Hill? Been there once back in the '80s to watch a friend race their motorcycle. I attended the last race night at Avilla Raceway back in the early '90s before they closed (and ran my '76 455 T/A back in the '80s there). Its been a few years since I've gone, but Muncie is about the only place close-ish to me and I've been there several times, running my '99 Dakota R/T and '00 Lincoln LS in a T&T session. Urban sprawl is killing drag strips and golf courses (two nearby have closed in the last few years to change in to housing additions). The future looks bleak.

 

NOOoooo! Say it isn't so! That sucks.

EDIT: They still have a 2021 schedule: https://www.munciedragway.com/schedule

 

Muncie isn’t closing, if it is that’s definitely news to me. I was there last fall, and some friends hold several events over and beyond their normal bracket races.

 

Yes, Bunker Hill. I live about 20 miles from that track. I raced a few times at Avilla Dragway, it closed in the mid 90s if I remember correctly.

 

Hey, out here we have people who bought in a new development at the edge of Luke Air Force Base and they complain about all the jet fighter noise. Did they not see the huge AFB before they bought the house?

 

LIDR in Lapeer Michigan was bought and rebuilt over the last few years. Right in the middle of farm country. Hundreds of thousands spent repaving yhe track and pits. A NEW neighbor bought a nearby far to board and raise horses, and they hav e sued the track for the noise. Judge ruled in favour of the New Horse people. Track can only open on weekends dawn to dusk. They used to open Tuesday thru Sunday.

 

I also wonder if the Mecum/Barret Jackson crazy six figure auction prices have played a role in making the older cars so expensive that they are no longer even street driven or tracked?

While there has always been "trailer queens", I wonder if the above has played a role in track attendance?

Most of the Mecum/BJ cars are just bought/sold and placed in a trailer, stored in a garage, never driven, then sold/bought at future auctions. Basically they have become pieces of art that can't be touched and are meant to be just observed sitting under lights on a stage.

 

Exactly my point. You knowingly bought the land near a long established race track, that means you bought the land with all the positives and negatives.

If I buy a house, and don’t like my neighbors ,or the color of their house, or any other complaint, how far do you think I would get with filing a lawsuit to get them to move or paint the house a color I like?

 

I’m betting the complaints don’t go very far. However, not much surprises me anymore.

 

sorry guys, I meant Osceola. Didn’t have enough coffee yet this morning. Agh!!

 

really? this is the cancel culture, I've never seen so many complaints in my life lol and they listen and act.

 

onandaga raceway in mi has been plauged with complaints all its life. was closed down for years,recently reopened with new ownership,only to be shuttered again for the noise. this year,im reading new owners, opening soon this month. there is even flyers out. also hear,the owners are trying to buy milan dragway in mi.

 

Just change your present race car to electric motors. Noise problems solved. 😊

 

Hmm,
quote --- "I don’t understand how anyone in their right mind could build residential housing next to a track, and then complain about the noise."
Unfortunately this also applies to air ports as well, even air force bases !! here we have Luke Air Force Base premier training base in the nation for fighter pilots at one time it seemed to be where civilization ended but urban sprawl from PHX has changed that and now subdivisions are approaching their runways, people purchase houses knowing damn well the base has been there for years and is going nowhere and then they complain about the noise from the base. IDIOTS !!!!!!

 

I wouldn't be surprised in the near future that electric cars will be able to run after dusk, even with noise ordinances. Since they make basically no noise.

 

Wow, that would be exciting. Not !!!!

 

NHRA has been stepping on their junk for years. They priced themselves out of the game. Top fuel costs too much to run with minimal prize money.
Drag racing isn't going away. Go check out your local flashlight drags, usually at an airstrip.

 

NHRA has lost sight of the little guy. The auto companies have changed their focus also.

 

Not sure how many here have ever been to Bandimere Speedway here in "Denver". They are actually located in Morrison ColoRADo. It is located right against the mountain. It echoes like no tomorrow. All these yuppie chumps hate the noise. Go to hell I say to them. Bandimere is legendary. Bandimere was here way before all of you and your overpriced yupster houses. There has been more and more push to shut them down. Thank God John Bandimere has a spine. He will fight until the end. That will be a very sad day when/if that happens. I grew up at Bandimere as a kid in the seventies eighties etc. The more you take away dragstrips the more street racing will happen. Keep it safe. Keep the dragstrips open. It is a hardcore part of Americana. Sad world anymore.

 

Street racing will happen no matter what. That’s just a fact of life. Unfortunately, with the ever increasing cost and safety requirements, the additional expense to the little guys drives away the very people the NHRA tries to invite.

It’s very rare that some of the local tracks even bother to prep the track for test and tune. They say it’s a added expense, and bothersome to upkeep. While I have no doubt the time, and effort to properly prep the track isn’t cheap, I look at it as the cost of doing business. You don’t have a payout for winners like you would for a actual bracket race, at most you have the expense of a cheap trophy and maybe a grunge race. If the track surface isn’t any better than the street, why pay to race and have to deal with all the nitpicking rules?

While street racing isn’t legal, it’s not going anywhere. I look at it like this, if your going to do something wrong, do it the right way. If your going to street race, do it the smart way and not race on a busy street.

 

Good question..........I am sure it's made some difference. I absolutely believe it has ruined owning a old car for the blue collar family.

 

The NHRA Four Wide Nationals in Charlotte May 14-16 are nearly sold out for the Finals on Sunday. At $45 a pop I thought it was a bargain - max was groups of 6 seated together because of Covid restrictions. Always a blast.

 

It comes down to $$$$. If they don't make money it's over. Last year killed them. If you like drag racing then support your local track. The heck with NHRA, I never liked dragsters or funny cars. They're all cookie cutter big bucks cars raced by the chosen few.
If your looking for a great time, friendly spectators and racers, here's a link.
https://www.southeastgassers.com/
Watch them on Youtube and decide for yourself. I go to two events a year and if I was 30 years younger, I'd build a car.

 

Not sure about the unity stuff...but I guess it doesn't hurt.
But I ALWAYS have more fun racing at smaller tracks. My local is now Gainesville which is owned by the NHRA.
It's run terribly, it's not exciting, and there is very little community support.
-peter

 

I am actually doing a B-J car on the side, for the past few months. It's a 75 Trans Am that was "converted" from auto to manual, AC to heat only, and is a complete Charlie Foxtrot. It had a freaking 4 pin trailer harness ScotchLok'ed into the taillights!! FFS! I've spent many hours unfvcking the harness, every inch, plus cleaning and new diabolical grease in all the plugs. It's getting a full Holley Sniper EFI, too. Other goodies: M23 Syracuse trans, 3.23 posi, dropped 3", and 245/60-15s on 15x8s all around. It'll be fun, but the Rustoleum restoration was horrible.

 

The auctions don't drive people away young guys will build whatever regardless of cost ., Ls swap an old third gen Camaro etc etc we have 3 tracks all independently owned. Cordova which is 2 hours away has always had a hit and miss schedule even dating back to it's infancy from what I read but they still do their own big event's and they are IHRA,. Byron dragway is 40 minute's right down the road for me they are family owned and are NHRA sanctioned . They are a pretty strict track but they pack the house on test n tune and bracket days as far as the lanes go., They have been trying to sell the track but want it to operate as a track. Then great lakes dragaway is 1 hour north of me. That track runs 6 days a week. They have a bunch of events. Lots of grudge racing events and others. It's usually the track I go to. All 3 are very nice facilities that cater to their racers. I think it has alot to do with there being no classes for the average guy. Let's face it the average hot rod muscle car guy is only gonna run between 15 and 13 sec. And usually they are not as dedicated of a racer. But that's why the street racing stuff is huge right now. The cars and the people are relateable. When someone goes to the track and sees a bunch of 9 sec cars and they see what it cost they think they have to spend that much just to go racing. All we have locally is bracket racing and index classes. No one does a run what you brung for the average guy around here it's all grudge race stuff and I can't stand the crowd of people.

 

Some racers would complain and moan about paying track & race entry fees and do everything in their power to try and avoid paying these fees. Then the racers are surprised when the tracks are shutting down due to lack of funds.

 

Now that's funny!

 

So many people have stories about nightmare brain damage coming out of BJ. I have witnessed more than a few myself personally. They don't give a rat's ***. Just pay them their fees. That's all that matters.
Good luck on your Firebird. I have always liked them.

 

An increased tax base is what localities want. They'd rather have a subdivision of shoddily built high $$$ spec house McMansions than a dragstrip or other low-tax facility.

Now, if these ignorant homebuyers would research what they're getting into, all the butthurt could be avoided. They also need to sue the *** off whoever developed their subdivision next to a noise source instead of suing the noise source. That would slow and stop a lot of problems, but we all know real estate types who cannot stand to see a square foot of land go undeveloped. Then you get tax-hungry local governments in on it and you're screwed.

It's not only racetracks and airstrips. The same thing happens with subdivisions built next to farm operations that were there decades before a developer came along.

We had a very sensible judge here who often ruled against people who sued to shut down a "nuisance". His question was always "did you not research the neighboring property's use before you built/bought your home?" In one 1990s case, a local racetrack had been there forty years before the plaintiff bought his subdivision spec McMansion. In another a dairy farm had been there thru four generations of ownership. Local realtors and developers took note too. But, since Judge McCormick died, a few of them are pushing the envelope again.

 

Went to the NHRA Four Wide Nationals at the Zmax Raceway in Concord, NC this past weekend. It was insane ! Four lanes of simultaneous madness ! Nitro-methane fumes, nitrous and burning rubber. It was a great event - and and 72 years of age John Force is out of his mind. The kids had a blast. Everyone has access to “the pits” - the trailer area. All of the drivers were willing to take the time to talk to the kids, take pictures, talk racing, give out broken rods and pistons, and sign whatever you wanted. I highly recommend this event if your kids are into cars. Even if they are not they will probably enjoy it.

I was surprised to see how many woman are racing dragsters and bikes. Plenty of people there with their wives and daughters. And the stands were packed - a great facility.

There is a new “local” drag racing event June 19 - June 20 at Enterprise Raceway in Calverton, NY.