Irwindale Off Street Drag Racing
We visited a Thursday night street meet at the Irwindale California, track shortly before it closed( EDIT – Temporarily it is now open again as off June 2014) . While mainly popular with the 4 wheel brigade, there was always a number of bikes in attendance.
If you’ve ever wondered what the facilities and racing looks like at these smaller tracks, here’s a few pictures from Irwindale.
*** Update BOTH TRACKS ARE OPEN AGAIN (as of 2014) Two of the last operating dragstrips in California have suspended racing. California USA, the birthplace of drag racing, has had two of the last remaining tracks close in the last few weeks.
The dragstrip that operates next to the Fontana NASCAR circuit was closed via court order after noise complaints, and the operators of the Irwindale track went into bankruptcy, bringing to an end operations at both the Toyota Speedway – a bitumen oval track, and the eigth mile drag facility behind it.
Hopefully these closures are temporary, and this isn’t a trend we see repeated here in Australia.
Irwindale track is located North West of Los Angeles in a semi industrial area.
No huge corporate towers here, although they did run a pretty good commentary out of the box all night.
Run off area gets a bit narrower where it passes behind the speedway.
They’re everywhere! The Hayabusa is a popular weapon of choice when it comes to chosing a motorcycle for drag racing.
That isn’t a minibike, that’s a big rider!
What better place to take your CR500 for a spin.
Suzuki vs Yamaha, couple of guys doing the usual, “mine’s faster than yours” showdown.
Another sportsbike howls past, watched on by a number of coneheads.
Nothing like a bit of security to make sure nothing gets out of hand, this cop was a car nut and had a few friends racing that night.
Mmmmm… Tacos
