What’s happening to drag racing? Drag strips are closing everywhere. To wit: Phoenix, Arizona’s last drag strip, Palm Beach, Atlanta, and Memphis. And this is on the heels of closing the iconic Englishtown in New Jersey in 2018, as well as more regional tracks like Sallislaw Outlaw Drag Strip in Oklahoma, and Auto Club Dragway in California. So what’s going on?
Why are so many drag strips closing?
Dodge NHRA Nationals 2021, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada | Getty
Many different things, as it turns out. But lumping them all together has to do with value. In most cases, the value of the properties these strips are on has a more lucrative purpose. The tracks don’t make enough money to continue as drag strips.
A lot of this is a result of urban sprawl. Bonking a housing tract, industrial complex, or football stadium creates more money for the property owners. Or conversely, the tracks actually lose money so it’s better to close them down and padlock the gates.
Is drag racing as popular as it was in the past?
Mickey Thompson dragster in the early-1960s | Getty
But part of this whole bad trend is the sad truth that the hobby of drag racing is aging out. The generation that created, developed, and participated in drag racing is dying. And the subsequent generations haven’t grown up with that car-culture interest.
As for the drag strips mentioned above and their dates with closure, Phoenix’s Wild Hore drag strip lost out to eminent domain to widen the adjacent highway. For Palm Beach International Raceway, mounting expenses did it in. The track owner specified insurance costs as just one problem.
Houston Raceway Park, home to the NHRA’s Springnationals since 1988, the track owners sold the property in 2019, and this year is its last year of operation. The new owner will be building a logistic operation there.
Why did Atlanta Dragway close?
Atlanta Dragway logo | NHRA
Atlanta Dragway has been the home of NHRA’s Southern Nationals for over 40 years. And it is also owned by the NHRA. The reason it gave for the closing was only that it was shuttering the facility to divert funds to its other tracks. It also owns Indianapolis Raceway Park, Gainesville Raceway in Florida, and the Auto Club track in Fontana, California. However, the Auto Club Dragway, part of the Fontana Super Speedway used by NASCAR, has also been shut down.
No reason was given for the Dragway closure. But it had a rocky relationship with the city over noise issues. It was closed down for a time while the process wound its way through the permit process to build a sound wall to shield neighbors from the noise. It is unclear whether the noise issue was a factor in closing the track.
Fontana’s strange history with drag racing venues
The Ontario Motor Speedway in 1971 | Getty
Fontana Speedway is being turned into a short track and will no longer be used for Cup racing. The whole Fontana racing history has been a weird one. Ontario Motor Speedway, built in 1970, was a massive racing complex, just a mile down the freeway from the current track. It was built to host the four top motorsports of the time: Formula 1, NASCAR, NHRA, and USAC, now called Indycar, racing programs.
After several seeming successful years that included using the track for NHRA’s Supernationals, it was permanently shut down in 1980. In 1981 it was razed. And not just razed, but completely wiped away. Passing by the property into the late-1980s it looked like the property had been unused for hundreds of years. But again, developers saw more opportunity in building other things there.
There are probably other drag strips that have recently closed that we missed, such is the rapid pace of the trend. For drag racing enthusiasts, and especially amateur drivers and teams, it is becoming much harder to participate. The distances one must travel, whether to race or spectate have become unworkable for many. And today those empty stands you can see on NHRA racing broadcasts tell the tale as well.
Keyword: Drag Strips Closing Across US: Phoenix, Houston, Arizona Wild Horse, Atlanta, Palm Beach, Memphis