Saturday’s team race will be this be it’s last!The name of the track has change but for now the Indian owners are closing it down for a different Direction that doesn’t include any of the 4 different tracks on the property! A sad closing for the Phoenix area.

I keep hearing rumors about it not being closed down. I am sure they are just that and its sad to see it go as we are about out of racetracks around here. We have a world class facility here in Vegas that's RARELY used anymore and more and more of the facility is being used to park Amazon trailers. Sure hope it's not a sign.

Again, what we do is dying, some refuse to believe it, but there’s no denying it. There’s not enough racers in many areas to keep these tracks open and profitable and for some the land has become too valuable to ignore its worth any longer.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 1320racer,

Ed is right on this one and I have been saying that for many years.

I think there was about 5 times more racers every week in 2003 than there is here in 2023. This did not happen over night and do not think it is going to ever turn around.

So sad, racing is dying on the west coast. Wild Horse, Sacramento done this year, Sonoma barely has drag races. Not quite sure how we will be able to chase NHRA points anymore in California/Arizona

I've been working in the Phoenix area for the last 10yrs. Seeing it's the 6th largest metro area in the country, with a large number of drag racers. I found it to be strange they didn't have any strong bracket racing programs or more facilities. I was told the city shut down some smaller tracks. And the previous manager/lessor of the WHP track had a strong weekly program and built the track to what it is today. I was told that when it was time to renew the lease the Tribe raised the lease to where it was impossible to make it feasible. They took over running the track and it went down hill from there. This is just second hand info from many locals but I have witnessed it personally. Tucson seems to be doing ok since Hughes bought it, so it's possible to run a track in the area. I think the NHRA need to focus on these large markets and help figure out how they/we can keep these large tracks running. Otherwise the pros will have nowhere to run! It's not possible to run a facility that size on one or two events a year anymore. I live and race in middle TN and have around 10 tracks within 3hrs. The one that closed was Memphis which was too big to be supported by the local program,same as Phoenix.

Jason , good post! A few things I hear Saturday will be on top of the Rumor list. First one a top guy let it slip the track my be rebranded again . And it was one of the top
Operators who may be involved.
Jason one statement you made that the track could not stay in business with just two National events. Years ago Charlie told me that’s what kept the track open for years.

The bigger they are the harder they fall. Big tracks require a lot of money and the property is in areas with rising property values that make it more valuable for other uses. Small tracks seem to be doing good if they have management that runs the track and can adapt.

I attended races in the 80s and raced at Firebird in the early to mid 90s while Charlie Allen owned it. This years National was the first time I had been back there since 1994. A lot of things at the track were the same as I remembered it and there were also a lot of improvements.
The thing I noticed the most was all the development around the track, back in the 90s it was still out in the desert for the most part. and now it is surrounded by development.
During the opening ceremonies on Sunday, the president of the Indian nation gave a speech about the future development plans and what it will mean to the local economy. The whole time the crowd was chanting save out track save our track and he wasn't even phased by this.
Based on what I saw and heard, I just don't see the track being rebranded again.
The one thing it has going for it is, besides the dragstrip, it has the road course and Bondurant driving school, the lake for boat racing and a motocross/offroad track to bring in income

quote:

Originally posted by Big Steve:

The one thing it has going for it is, besides the dragstrip, it has the road course and Bondurant driving school, the lake for boat racing and a motocross/offroad track to bring in income

I wonder all the time why the rest of the facility is not being used.

I heard through local sources that the freeway off ramp has been stopped in planning for another 5 yrs. The funds originally were from the federal gov. for the freeway widening and off ramp, but the fed's have backed out and put it in the hands of state and local gov. So this has really slowed down the advertised reason of closing the track down for an off ramp. I also heard that the family have a few members that would like to keep the track. This is not written in stone I'm sure, but if true?? does change the planning a lot.