People buying houses next to racetracks is just as dumb as buying houses next to airports and then complaining about it. It's not like it's a surprise that noise happens there, and it's why your property was so cheap.
yep these people shouldnt be living so close to a race track they where there first before the houses where same goes for night clubs or bars they where there first before houses came in and destroyed the place
You mentioned the closing of Wild Horse Pass drag strip in Phoenix. That got resolved a year ago and we won. It's was saved and given back it's proper name of Firebird Raceway Park. Great show.
forgot/mentioning-video salt lake city sorry it got renamed to many times and ways Utah to my knowledge is now without and road-corse's miller's is on temporary hiatus to my knowledge and salt( wouldn't dare after $$$ 30+k on body+paint on my 69charger, wide-body+1/2-sized back-door's dihedral+hardtop/removable&caddi/soft-top convertible aka all the 1965-77~/og-team Richard-S mod's and add-door's for luggage and or kid's/wife's/'s-conveyances not wheel-base/limousined-mod/full-sized ) is hit and miss there right dyno( also local tuning shops getting hammered making my EFI swap harder and or ruffing-in my tuneup even if im doing the computer-works ) doesn't equate with the full package running so im forced to testing on my local back roads and also NRHA/track look's at my vin/CI/repop-hemi-head's and or i use a OD-transmission-aka-TR6060 or car-setup and assume's it's a 120-220mph( avoiding this headache is reserved for 2002-up/airbags+obd2 and sub80mph/hwy-fast-speed's aka eco-box's/hybrid's* and then most other people running get irritated as it's possible 90s/1m-run's ) and or wanting a full( there specially/spec'd so it's not based off LB/force-ect vs roof/door/seating-ect, the hellcats/170's have the same problems but dodge/tim showed insurance/track-owners that they had this in mind for sub9/160mph runs past about 180mph needs extra work-body ect ) caged+6-pointing ect and that's $$$$ and doesn't play well with my idea of daily's( hellcats and C-class as class/themed competition ) and or kid's ect same point's for armoury range's, and or i remember being invited to gamble/$$usd street but at the time/2014~era it was easier to say let's keeping on the track and for gas/parts ect and as a childhood/90's i remember seeing similar events happened in the parking lot/elementary pay-bookie and going somewhere else i wasn't part of there-group so i don't know who won the fox bodies or 3G-carmaro or 60's-classic
One thing he failed to mention is most track owners fail to convince the local legislation how much "out of town" revenue that is generated at these events. Because most racers come in from out of town, it's basically free tax revenue without requiring the infrastructure to support local residents (schools, police, housing, shopping, etc). Besides, and I know first hand from attending many of these meetings in NorCal (Sonoma, Sac Raceway & Laguna are all short drives from my house) that local politicians only run these public hearings as window dressing and to fill the requirement set by local laws, they have already been "paid" and have their mind set waaaay before these hearings ever take place. A perfect example is the Freedom Factory/Bradenton Dragstrip.
I wish you had mentioned Palm Beach international Raceway, which used to be called Moroso, It was the oldest drag strip in the United States and it went under a few years ago. I think that warranted a nod.
As far as Laguna Seca is concerned, there were NO HOMES near it when it was built. ALL OF THE HOME OWNERS KNEW THERE WAS A TRACK NEARBY WHEN THEY BOUGHT OR BUILT. All of the responsibility belongs to the homeowners, not the raceway. Laguna Seca should be able to be as loud as they want, and host as many events as they want, as often as they like. There was nothing near them when it was built, nor decades after. You knew anout it, built next to it, and now you want to complain... It's complete bullshit on the homeowners and builders part. This is the same as the stupid people that build or buy near an airport that was originally built near nothing, then build next o it and complain about the noise. The airport is not at fault, the home builders and owners are.
As a young bracket racer in socal. thank you, after Fontana dragstrip closed in 2020 I’ve been scared of where drag racing is going. No one can have fun in this country without a million dollars.
To be honest I’ve been to maybe 10-12 race tracks on the east coast. But I still haven’t been to the dirt track that’s literally 21 miles away. I really think dirt track racing is just dying. All my friends are involved in racing in someway but I only know 1 person who does anything with dirt tracks and he’s an older guy
Moroso Raceway in Florida disappeared due to real estate prices. It’s hard for racetracks and golf courses to say no to developers offering many many millions for the land.
That's the thing they people buying out these tracks are people trying to build complexes with golf courses for the more and more retired people who keep moving here, ruining the state atmosphere while also complaining how much better their state was.
@@_Turtle_420 It just drives up prices for those already there too. California republicans don't know how much they're hurting Tennessee republicans with their "affordable" homes. lol
@anthonyrowland9072 im just sick of everyone thinking they know what's best for the people when the people already got together and did that themselves. It's absolutely ridiculous someone from a different state can come and built a home near my hypothetical race track and sue me for noise when it's inherent in the area
It's not just drag racing tracks that are closing. Small town dirt tracks and small ovals for race cars, midgets, late models and sprint cars are closing all other the country. Part of the issue is there is not enough revenue coming in from ticket sales and other sources to cover expenses and track maintenance expenses for the track owners or promoters. In some cases, the real estate has much more value for other uses than as a race track.
I feel the biggest problem for non-drag tracks is that it's so confusing and unintuitive how to start doing track days in the first place. You need to pick a valid day to go, oh wait their website is from the 90's or doesn't get updates so it's a game of call and see every week until something opens up, kay done, now you gotta schedule to have an instructor ride with you for x amount of hours until you can drive solo, cool, now you gotta find a time slot for that which works for you and pay out the ass to make it happen, etc etc.
Car culture has been dying year by year. People just drive "mobile appliances" today and have no connection to vehicle as they did in the 50s and 60s...
We’ve lost some tracks in Texas. Largest of recent times was Texas World Speedway which I was so lucky to drive before closure. Currently our major tracks seem to be doing pretty good - by the looks of them they seem to be improving their facilities as well. 🤞
@@farishanafiah8461 "affordable" the entry fee is over $1000, plus a car, storing a car, getting the car to the event, fuel etc. The only affordable part about it is the car's cost limit. The only affordable racing left is sim racing and even that isn't that cheap.
I lived in Kansas growing up. KCIR shutting down was so sad. That's where we used to have "High School Drags" event. It saddens me my younger brothers will never get to experience going down the 1/4, even if it was in a 1997 Saturn Wagon like I had when I was in high school lol.(class of 06)
Here in Australia I live a short 5 min drive from a historic road course which is only surviving due to strict noise restrictions.. and I fear that is only delaying the inevitable closure caused from nearby housing developments
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Thunder Hill, literally the most middle-of-nowhere track in California. It’s so much in the middle of nowhere that people hate going because it’s too far away
Car guys love to sh*t on California, but nobody remembers that smog used to be so bad in LA that they had to give gas masks to children and people sold balloons with oxygen on the street. Things are much better now then they used to be, and that's because of emissions and environmenmtal laws. That having been said, those rules should be aimed more at commercial vehicles rather than consumers, but capitalism always finds a way to shift blame and responsibility to you and I...
The currency devaluation coupled with inflation are why tracks are closing. It didn't just cause the real estate value to skyrocket, it directly impacted the emerging enthusiast's ability to afford participating in the hobby. It's why a base model Tundra is $50k now, and a loaded one is 6-figures. If you have to make the decision between parts and eating, or not being homeless, the choice is simple. I lost my local drag strip that operated near an airport behind an industrial park. The perfect location. It was bought originally for around $200,000 30 years ago and sold for $3.1M. Its assessed value tripled during only a few months at the onset of the pandemic. More than anyone would ever collect selling admission over their entire lifetime. It takes staff to run it. That's an expense for the owners that's at least as high as the maintenance and equipment, and in California, what's that minimum wage? So, passion can only compete but so much with the rapidly-declining $USD no matter how passionate they are. And yes, absolutely, it's definitely all over our public roads now. I don't care what anyone's politics are but we know who caused it. Two things they're not making any more of... Real estate and precious metals. If you have those when the dollar goes belly-up, you'll be warm, dry, and fed. If you don't, blame the FED and its leadership.
That price increase is not inflation, $200k did not inflate to $3.1 mil in 30 years. The reason is the real estate industry is basically a cartel, and they drive up the cost of real estate for the sake of their investments, meanwhile, people can barely afford rent let alone homes. What needs to happen is the property costs need to be driven down.
@@Jafromobile Yeah that's my point, the value to society of the racetrack in question is unchanged, the difference is the real estate industry has driven up the price of the land which is arbitrary. It has driven the price up relative to everything else, which isn't the same as inflation. If it was inflation, everyone's wages would have risen with it, but they haven't.
The Tundra pricing is more than just inflation. There's way more tech in modern cars, along with import fees, EPA requirements, safety requirements, etc. Also, since Obama ruined the used car market there's no longer a surplus of cheap used cars, and since the virus hit the used market got even worse.
SoCal was home of the first drag strip in the United States, and now it has none. It is currently home to the oldest active road course, and now that’s at risk too. We’re already out of drag strips, we cannot lose Willow Springs too. The only upside is there’s nothing out for anyone to develop and the Huth family said they want to sell it to someone who will keep the track going. Edit: I have a feeling Irwindale’s closure is gonna increase street racing in the LA area.
because more people are driving soulless teslas & powerful governments are imposing electrification or at least engine sizes reduction + track cars are getting expensive & people who afford to buy are just getting them as trade items or show pieces
I fully understand why it's happening, and hell, I can get that getting a bag of money waved under your nose is hard to say no to. But if it shuts, it's gonna sting. My first date with my partner of 12 years was at Irwindale for a Formula D final. I was looking forward to the idea of taking our boy to an event there someday. And now? That's likely just ancient history.
well, the one I have direct knowledge of was Speedworld in Surprise, Arizona, and they got shut down because their land-lease had very specific terms and they egregiously violated them. They basically decided to build some kind of off-road circuit track despite the conditions of their lease agreement not letting them modify the land in that fashion.
I keep seeing comments about how tracks get noise complaints from so called “homeowners” that live near the track. There’s no way these are real homeowners saying that. If they know they live next to a race track, they wouldn’t complain about the noise since THEY KNOW THEY NEXT TO A RACE TRACK. Which means, this isn’t homeowners saying this, these a probably large land development firms and real estate companies lying that people are “complaining about noise”. More than likely, they are using it as a “catch all” to force racetracks into thinking there are complaints of noise, and force them into settlement to sell it. I live down south, and most of the firms here will find anyway to make money off of land here. Empty land? Sold to make houses. And not only that, they jack the prices of those houses so high that the only people that move to my town are retirees and rich northerners. I mean, it’s fine, but I know how fucking sleazy these real estate agents in my area are. They will always try to find a good deal on some property, and sometimes, even force my city’s council’s hand to do a imminent domain just so they can put even more shitty, cookie cutter houses that not even my generation can afford. Talk about 2008 all over again.
I would think that would bring people into the sport, not reduce traffic to thw real thing. I’ve driven a handful including $10k and $30k with VR rigs. They are nowhere close (besides visually) to the real thing in my opinion. I wish they were, it would save me a lot of money 😂
@@ISpinUWin They're not the real thing, but for a lot of people they're close enough, way cheaper and way more convenient. The stuff is only getting better and cheaper too. I also think it's much more appealing to younger generations.
Everyone is broke. They can't afford to burn a $500-1000 set of tires, assuming it's only 1 set, or even to maintain shitboxes. It's an entertainment and the entire entertainment industry is the first that goes when money is tight. Laguna Seca is cool, I'm not spending $400 on gas and 20 hours to drive there and back.
Cities and counties keep closing RaceTracks in favour of collecting big property taxes on planned communities which results in More Street Racing because there's no place else to go
What are you talking about? NASCAR, Indycar, F1, IMSA, MotoAmerica and MOTOGP are what keep race tracks in business. Racetracks don’t stay in business by hosting track days 2 times a month… You just want to blame an EV for everything.
I would guess that the tracks that are closing forever are most likely properties that were inherited and the passion just isn't fully there to fight for it as the dream was probably their father's or even their grandfather's dream and passion projject
One of the things missed in this video is the history of drag racing in that part for the San Gabriel Valley. Irwindale Speedway is the forth track in that area. Two different versions of San Gabriel Raceway and Irwindale Raceway. The site of Irwindale Raceway is where the Miller Brewery stands. The City of Irwindale sold that land to Miller to get rid of the drag racers because we were undesirables, so it's no surprise that the Speedway is finally closing. When I was a kid in the late '60's, you had Irwindale, Lions, San Fernando, Orange County, Fontana, Riverside and if you wanted to drive a little there was Carlsbad, Ventura County Raceway, Palmdale, Santa Maria and of course Bakerfield. The last one left is Bakersfield. Why? Because it's in the middle of nowhere!
And yet the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is The racing Capital of THE WORLD, and THE Indy 500 is the greatest race on earth. Ask any real driver, including F1! It’s an oval there skippy.
People buying houses next to racetracks is just as dumb as buying houses next to airports and then complaining about it. It's not like it's a surprise that noise happens there, and it's why your property was so cheap.
Amen
Where I grew up, people moved in next to farms and then complained about noise, smells, and dust. People are stupid.
Except airports are thriving hubs of commercial activity sanctioned by the government. Which tells us what happens to racetracks and why.
yep these people shouldnt be living so close to a race track they where there first before the houses where same goes for night clubs or bars they where there first before houses came in and destroyed the place
If you watched the video, he addressed exactly that, and the lawsuit against Laguna was settled out of court
You mentioned the closing of Wild Horse Pass drag strip in Phoenix. That got resolved a year ago and we won. It's was saved and given back it's proper name of Firebird Raceway Park.
Great show.
Great news!
forgot/mentioning-video salt lake city sorry it got renamed to many times and ways Utah to my knowledge is now without and road-corse's miller's is on temporary hiatus to my knowledge and salt( wouldn't dare after $$$ 30+k on body+paint on my 69charger, wide-body+1/2-sized back-door's dihedral+hardtop/removable&caddi/soft-top convertible aka all the 1965-77~/og-team Richard-S mod's and add-door's for luggage and or kid's/wife's/'s-conveyances not wheel-base/limousined-mod/full-sized ) is hit and miss
there right dyno( also local tuning shops getting hammered making my EFI swap harder and or ruffing-in my tuneup even if im doing the computer-works ) doesn't equate with the full package running so im forced to testing on my local back roads and also NRHA/track look's at my vin/CI/repop-hemi-head's and or i use a OD-transmission-aka-TR6060 or car-setup and assume's it's a 120-220mph( avoiding this headache is reserved for 2002-up/airbags+obd2 and sub80mph/hwy-fast-speed's aka eco-box's/hybrid's* and then most other people running get irritated as it's possible 90s/1m-run's ) and or wanting a full( there specially/spec'd so it's not based off LB/force-ect vs roof/door/seating-ect, the hellcats/170's have the same problems but dodge/tim showed insurance/track-owners that they had this in mind for sub9/160mph runs past about 180mph needs extra work-body ect ) caged+6-pointing ect and that's $$$$ and doesn't play well with my idea of daily's( hellcats and C-class as class/themed competition ) and or kid's ect
same point's for armoury range's, and or i remember being invited to gamble/$$usd street but at the time/2014~era it was easier to say let's keeping on the track and for gas/parts ect and as a childhood/90's i remember seeing similar events happened in the parking lot/elementary pay-bookie and going somewhere else i wasn't part of there-group so i don't know who won the fox bodies or 3G-carmaro or 60's-classic
One thing he failed to mention is most track owners fail to convince the local legislation how much "out of town" revenue that is generated at these events. Because most racers come in from out of town, it's basically free tax revenue without requiring the infrastructure to support local residents (schools, police, housing, shopping, etc). Besides, and I know first hand from attending many of these meetings in NorCal (Sonoma, Sac Raceway & Laguna are all short drives from my house) that local politicians only run these public hearings as window dressing and to fill the requirement set by local laws, they have already been "paid" and have their mind set waaaay before these hearings ever take place. A perfect example is the Freedom Factory/Bradenton Dragstrip.
I wish you had mentioned Palm Beach international Raceway, which used to be called Moroso, It was the oldest drag strip in the United States and it went under a few years ago. I think that warranted a nod.
Great memories in Jupiter from that time. Burt Reynolds ranch and Moroso.
As far as Laguna Seca is concerned, there were NO HOMES near it when it was built. ALL OF THE HOME OWNERS KNEW THERE WAS A TRACK NEARBY WHEN THEY BOUGHT OR BUILT. All of the responsibility belongs to the homeowners, not the raceway. Laguna Seca should be able to be as loud as they want, and host as many events as they want, as often as they like. There was nothing near them when it was built, nor decades after. You knew anout it, built next to it, and now you want to complain... It's complete bullshit on the homeowners and builders part. This is the same as the stupid people that build or buy near an airport that was originally built near nothing, then build next o it and complain about the noise. The airport is not at fault, the home builders and owners are.
"Take it to the track" isn't gonna have much weight at this rate
As a young bracket racer in socal. thank you, after Fontana dragstrip closed in 2020 I’ve been scared of where drag racing is going. No one can have fun in this country without a million dollars.
Dirt track racing is also becoming extinct
To be honest I’ve been to maybe 10-12 race tracks on the east coast. But I still haven’t been to the dirt track that’s literally 21 miles away.
I really think dirt track racing is just dying. All my friends are involved in racing in someway but I only know 1 person who does anything with dirt tracks and he’s an older guy
Remember, no city would approve a racetrack to be built next to a subdivision or mansions. So why would a city approve the homes next to the track……….
Moroso Raceway in Florida disappeared due to real estate prices. It’s hard for racetracks and golf courses to say no to developers offering many many millions for the land.
That's the thing they people buying out these tracks are people trying to build complexes with golf courses for the more and more retired people who keep moving here, ruining the state atmosphere while also complaining how much better their state was.
@@_Turtle_420 It just drives up prices for those already there too.
California republicans don't know how much they're hurting Tennessee republicans with their "affordable" homes. lol
@@_Turtle_420 Developer paid 120 million for the golf course I was on in Georgia. It kills the surrounding residents property values too.
@anthonyrowland9072 im just sick of everyone thinking they know what's best for the people when the people already got together and did that themselves. It's absolutely ridiculous someone from a different state can come and built a home near my hypothetical race track and sue me for noise when it's inherent in the area
Not many golf courses go under....
It's not just drag racing tracks that are closing. Small town dirt tracks and small ovals for race cars, midgets, late models and sprint cars are closing all other the country. Part of the issue is there is not enough revenue coming in from ticket sales and other sources to cover expenses and track maintenance expenses for the track owners or promoters. In some cases, the real estate has much more value for other uses than as a race track.
Sounds like it’s just business then. If a business can’t afford to operate then it should shut down
It’s like people who complain about no one is building wagons, but when they are available, no one buys them
I feel the biggest problem for non-drag tracks is that it's so confusing and unintuitive how to start doing track days in the first place. You need to pick a valid day to go, oh wait their website is from the 90's or doesn't get updates so it's a game of call and see every week until something opens up, kay done, now you gotta schedule to have an instructor ride with you for x amount of hours until you can drive solo, cool, now you gotta find a time slot for that which works for you and pay out the ass to make it happen, etc etc.
Car culture has been dying year by year. People just drive "mobile appliances" today and have no connection to vehicle as they did in the 50s and 60s...
We’ve lost some tracks in Texas. Largest of recent times was Texas World Speedway which I was so lucky to drive before closure. Currently our major tracks seem to be doing pretty good - by the looks of them they seem to be improving their facilities as well. 🤞
The soul of the automobile has been dying for the last 40 years... Motorsports is a rich person sport, and most of us aren't rich anymore..
Not necessarily. There are still affordable race series you can enter. I mean, 24 Hour of Lemons exist for such a reason.
@@farishanafiah8461 "affordable" the entry fee is over $1000, plus a car, storing a car, getting the car to the event, fuel etc. The only affordable part about it is the car's cost limit.
The only affordable racing left is sim racing and even that isn't that cheap.
Don’t worry new president will fix that
@@BritAcrossThePond
You’re Dreaming!
Like a rich dude is gonna dismantle neoliberalism?
@@thedon-e6514 Yeah the richest cabinet ever is looking out for the little guy lmao
The one I grew up at that just closed was Rockford Motor Speedway in Illinois. A glorious short track with a LOT of history, sold to developers. :(
If all the people who piss and moan about racetracks closing down ACTUALLY WENT TO THE RACETRACKS FOR EVENTS, then the tracks wouldn’t be closing.
I lived in Kansas growing up. KCIR shutting down was so sad. That's where we used to have "High School Drags" event. It saddens me my younger brothers will never get to experience going down the 1/4, even if it was in a 1997 Saturn Wagon like I had when I was in high school lol.(class of 06)
Here in Australia I live a short 5 min drive from a historic road course which is only surviving due to strict noise restrictions.. and I fear that is only delaying the inevitable closure caused from nearby housing developments
The sponsor integration in this video was pretty funny I must say :D
My father took me to watch drag racing pretty regularly as a kid. What a shame 😢
Irwindale never hosted Cup. The highest it hosted was ARCA Menards Series
I’m surprised you didn’t mention Thunder Hill, literally the most middle-of-nowhere track in California. It’s so much in the middle of nowhere that people hate going because it’s too far away
We were going to mention Chuckwalla for the same reason. Even Sonoma has nothing around it but wetlands.
Car guys love to sh*t on California, but nobody remembers that smog used to be so bad in LA that they had to give gas masks to children and people sold balloons with oxygen on the street. Things are much better now then they used to be, and that's because of emissions and environmenmtal laws. That having been said, those rules should be aimed more at commercial vehicles rather than consumers, but capitalism always finds a way to shift blame and responsibility to you and I...
1 thing that is in-accurate on this video, 5:45 - Wild Horse Pass was saved & reopened back under it's original name of Firebird.
The currency devaluation coupled with inflation are why tracks are closing. It didn't just cause the real estate value to skyrocket, it directly impacted the emerging enthusiast's ability to afford participating in the hobby. It's why a base model Tundra is $50k now, and a loaded one is 6-figures. If you have to make the decision between parts and eating, or not being homeless, the choice is simple. I lost my local drag strip that operated near an airport behind an industrial park. The perfect location. It was bought originally for around $200,000 30 years ago and sold for $3.1M. Its assessed value tripled during only a few months at the onset of the pandemic. More than anyone would ever collect selling admission over their entire lifetime. It takes staff to run it. That's an expense for the owners that's at least as high as the maintenance and equipment, and in California, what's that minimum wage? So, passion can only compete but so much with the rapidly-declining $USD no matter how passionate they are. And yes, absolutely, it's definitely all over our public roads now.
I don't care what anyone's politics are but we know who caused it. Two things they're not making any more of... Real estate and precious metals. If you have those when the dollar goes belly-up, you'll be warm, dry, and fed. If you don't, blame the FED and its leadership.
That price increase is not inflation, $200k did not inflate to $3.1 mil in 30 years. The reason is the real estate industry is basically a cartel, and they drive up the cost of real estate for the sake of their investments, meanwhile, people can barely afford rent let alone homes. What needs to happen is the property costs need to be driven down.
@@alexisborden3191 You believe what you want. Land is a commodity. Its value is a constant. Currency is not.
@@Jafromobile Yeah that's my point, the value to society of the racetrack in question is unchanged, the difference is the real estate industry has driven up the price of the land which is arbitrary. It has driven the price up relative to everything else, which isn't the same as inflation. If it was inflation, everyone's wages would have risen with it, but they haven't.
The Tundra pricing is more than just inflation. There's way more tech in modern cars, along with import fees, EPA requirements, safety requirements, etc. Also, since Obama ruined the used car market there's no longer a surplus of cheap used cars, and since the virus hit the used market got even worse.
SoCal was home of the first drag strip in the United States, and now it has none. It is currently home to the oldest active road course, and now that’s at risk too. We’re already out of drag strips, we cannot lose Willow Springs too. The only upside is there’s nothing out for anyone to develop and the Huth family said they want to sell it to someone who will keep the track going.
Edit: I have a feeling Irwindale’s closure is gonna increase street racing in the LA area.
They should have paid track days for more income.
The Memphis track is still in limbo, so that's good...
I love that track. I hope it stays open.
@@dennygamble4520 It's been closed for a while but it hasn't been sold and a guy supposedly wants to buy it to keep it open.
Motorsports in 70s, 80s,90s were popular because of prdocution cars that are racing. When all race cars are the same people will loose interest.
7:56 You didn't mention The Crew 2 (2018), it's the 1 game I know of that does have drag racing
Got even a go cart track is safe in California
What are you talking about? They just opened up a brand new karting track called K1 Circuit back in October 2024…
Two words: Economic Feasibility
because more people are driving soulless teslas & powerful governments are imposing electrification or at least engine sizes reduction + track cars are getting expensive & people who afford to buy are just getting them as trade items or show pieces
You are an idiot. I know plenty of people with real racecars(not mildly modified street cars) and a lot of them own a Tesla.
I think some people miss how, other than a few exceptions, American race tracks are great fun to drive on but not good to race on.
At least with a road course you can rent it out for track days. 1/2 mile ovals can’t do that
You... could, it just wouldn't really much interest. I don't see why they wouldn't at least try to bring in some kind of passive income.
@@JZStudiosonlinecan’t see a market for it
I fully understand why it's happening, and hell, I can get that getting a bag of money waved under your nose is hard to say no to. But if it shuts, it's gonna sting. My first date with my partner of 12 years was at Irwindale for a Formula D final. I was looking forward to the idea of taking our boy to an event there someday.
And now? That's likely just ancient history.
man, I really need to go do willow before it closes, I'm about 60hours drive away but I need to lol
The only thing dying is channels like this one! Pro Mod and small tire drag racing has never been bigger in the 40 years I've been in and around it!
well, the one I have direct knowledge of was Speedworld in Surprise, Arizona, and they got shut down because their land-lease had very specific terms and they egregiously violated them. They basically decided to build some kind of off-road circuit track despite the conditions of their lease agreement not letting them modify the land in that fashion.
Gen Z staring at their phones and no money lol
I’m glad Sonoma raceway is still around
I keep seeing comments about how tracks get noise complaints from so called “homeowners” that live near the track. There’s no way these are real homeowners saying that. If they know they live next to a race track, they wouldn’t complain about the noise since THEY KNOW THEY NEXT TO A RACE TRACK. Which means, this isn’t homeowners saying this, these a probably large land development firms and real estate companies lying that people are “complaining about noise”. More than likely, they are using it as a “catch all” to force racetracks into thinking there are complaints of noise, and force them into settlement to sell it.
I live down south, and most of the firms here will find anyway to make money off of land here. Empty land? Sold to make houses. And not only that, they jack the prices of those houses so high that the only people that move to my town are retirees and rich northerners. I mean, it’s fine, but I know how fucking sleazy these real estate agents in my area are. They will always try to find a good deal on some property, and sometimes, even force my city’s council’s hand to do a imminent domain just so they can put even more shitty, cookie cutter houses that not even my generation can afford. Talk about 2008 all over again.
Do you think the availability of high quality sim rigs/games is having an effect as well?
I would think that would bring people into the sport, not reduce traffic to thw real thing. I’ve driven a handful including $10k and $30k with VR rigs. They are nowhere close (besides visually) to the real thing in my opinion. I wish they were, it would save me a lot of money 😂
@@ISpinUWin They're not the real thing, but for a lot of people they're close enough, way cheaper and way more convenient. The stuff is only getting better and cheaper too.
I also think it's much more appealing to younger generations.
Everyone is broke. They can't afford to burn a $500-1000 set of tires, assuming it's only 1 set, or even to maintain shitboxes. It's an entertainment and the entire entertainment industry is the first that goes when money is tight. Laguna Seca is cool, I'm not spending $400 on gas and 20 hours to drive there and back.
*Tracks being closed all over the country*
Every flat bill dude: cOMmIEFoRNiA
Irwindale will live on in iRacing, at least. It's ghost will live on.
when did Atco close? that was my first drag strip
SO SAD, I MISS OCIR AND CARLSBAD RACEWAY.
Cities and counties keep closing RaceTracks in favour of collecting big property taxes on planned communities which results in More Street Racing because there's no place else to go
Insurance issues, New Housing developments, EPA regulations, blah, blah blah. It is all the same story. Money over matter.
telling me within 14 minutes.... the track just got shutdown? i want that demo team irl
9:15 Irwindale never had a Cup date
Englishtown Raceway is a victim of these people who are clueless about where they move to like a racetrack and complain about the loud noises 🤦
isn't the hwy68 coalition really just one guy?
That's what I thought also.
And who the hell watches donut anymore?
Electric cars are gonna kill everything IMO. Does anyone really wanna see a bunch of Electric cars racing??
What are you talking about? NASCAR, Indycar, F1, IMSA, MotoAmerica and MOTOGP are what keep race tracks in business. Racetracks don’t stay in business by hosting track days 2 times a month…
You just want to blame an EV for everything.
😒 next one is los Angeles speedway in cars
Just @ssholes being @ssholes.
I would guess that the tracks that are closing forever are most likely properties that were inherited and the passion just isn't fully there to fight for it as the dream was probably their father's or even their grandfather's dream and passion projject
Bandemere near Denver is closed now as well. They held major NHRA events.
This video is so American it misses the entire reason tracks are closing.
The title is clickbait. If you don’t know the top 10 answers, you don’t follow racing.
One of the things missed in this video is the history of drag racing in that part for the San Gabriel Valley. Irwindale Speedway is the forth track in that area. Two different versions of San Gabriel Raceway and Irwindale Raceway. The site of Irwindale Raceway is where the Miller Brewery stands. The City of Irwindale sold that land to Miller to get rid of the drag racers because we were undesirables, so it's no surprise that the Speedway is finally closing.
When I was a kid in the late '60's, you had Irwindale, Lions, San Fernando, Orange County, Fontana, Riverside and if you wanted to drive a little there was Carlsbad, Ventura County Raceway, Palmdale, Santa Maria and of course Bakerfield. The last one left is Bakersfield. Why? Because it's in the middle of nowhere!
Capitalism...
Internal combustion engines are going away. Get used to it.
A lot of Gobley goop
Boo-f-ing-hoo… ovals aren’t racetracks… dragstrips even less
Yup
How so?
And yet the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is The racing Capital of THE WORLD, and THE Indy 500 is the greatest race on earth. Ask any real driver, including F1! It’s an oval there skippy.
Half the video was about laguna seca
@@Arthur-ke9vz People don't have the skill to steer left?
I'm jokin, oval racing is fun. Watching it not so much but still cool.
Federal and local government regulations is why
Half the excitement in drag racing is the riek of getting caught.
TEE HEE HEE
Bandimere is just moving to a less populated area
Well American motorsports are kinda garbage