Arizona Drag strips are disappearing

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I imagine most folks do not know that Firebird drag strip near Chandler AZ may be closing. A dispute with the Indian tribe has put the whole facility status up in the air. The main guy Charlie Allen is to be gone, if not already.

Scuttle -butt is the Indian tribe may operate the race facility on their own.  They would hire a management group to operate Firebird.  Keep in mind Firebird has a drag strip, a large water pond for boat races, a road course, dirt race track and Boundurant driving school is there too.

There are groups interested in the water park and the road race stuff. At this time , no body is interested in the drag strip. NHRA has asked the tribe  for upgrades to the track to continue to operate races there. I've heard 1 million $ in desired improvements from NHRA. The tribe supposedly said "no" .  

SpeedWorld race facility out west of Phoenix in the Wittman AZ area is to close after 50 yrs. State of AZ has cancelled the lease after a long battle SpeedWorld had with Maricopa County over alleged zoning violations.

SpeedWorld drag strip  is currently operating under a "special use" permit I am told.

SpeedWorld had drag strip , dirt race courses for bikes, BMX, trucks, RC airplane field , RC car race tracks too.

I have a drag race car 1948 Simca I am building. I stopped construction in november 2012 when it became obvious the drag strips in metro Phoenix were closing completely or at least for a year or 2

[kb426]

I had heard that Firebird was toast several years ago. I'm surprised that it lasted this long. It's a shame that a racetrack doesn't appear to be an effective business model anymore. I haven't had a track within 150 miles from me in 15 years.

[Inprimer]

There is a lot of "rumors" in Lake Havasu City AZ There is a lot of interest about building a drag strip near the airport. Apparently there is already some serious $$ invested. It's suppose to be a NHRA approved strip. A museum is to be erected on the premise. According to some, John Force and Shuemaker(sp) are the principals involved. A lot of Drag racing areas are going to close because of environmental concerns, land values  etc. Every month the town meeting brings up new issues, so far nothing new Ill post any news flashes in the forth coming months....  IP                                                                                                               PS      There are some "people" here that are supposed to be in the know I'll be looking for a newsletter that is circulating

[Arnold]

They are building a Nascar track..and road course..near Ft. Erie Canada.
700 Million iirc.

[Harry]

You won't see any big NASCAR races in Canada. The Fort Erie track won't be that big. It would be nice, but the hassle of crossing the border stops a lot of them. The Customs wants to know how many T-shirts are you going to sell, and all that BS.
Not worth it for them to come up.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

There was some early rumors of Charlie Allen setting up a drag facility near the area of Eloy AZ.  Eloy is miles south of the current location of Firebird

[Inprimer]

There was some early rumors of Charlie Allen setting up a drag facility near the area of Eloy AZ.  Eloy is miles south of the current location of Firebird

Here is what found out from  my gearhead buddy hope this works...  http: //lhra.org

[Crosley.In.AZ]

There was some early rumors of Charlie Allen setting up a drag facility near the area of Eloy AZ.  Eloy is miles south of the current location of Firebird

Here is what found out from  my gearhead buddy hope this works...  http: //lhra.org

wrong URL.

I think you mean:

http://www.ihra.com/

Although I can not find an article on Arizona racetracks...

[Inprimer]

There was some early rumors of Charlie Allen setting up a drag facility near the area of Eloy AZ.  Eloy is miles south of the current location of Firebird

Here is what found out from  my gearhead buddy hope this works...  http: //lhra.org

Hey Crosley, , went to  the Winterfest here in L Havasu sat/sun check out WWW>lhdra.org

[kb426]

That's a neat website.

[Inprimer]

That's a neat website.

hopefully this will work out we live in a very car friendly town

[Crosley.In.AZ]

There many more accusations flying around about SpeedWorld and the guvmint agencies that are after SpeedWorld.  I will not get into all of them here.

Near as I can tell , you can stick a fork in SpeedWorld, it is done.

One constant rumor I hear is the State of AZ is removing all racing, automotive, motorcycle activity OFF state trust land. There was a lawsuit a few years back about a ATV riding person hurt on state land.  AZ state paid a large $$ settlement.  I have not verified that lawsuit happened or not

Firebird rumor I heard weeks ago, about a management team being formed by the Indian Tribe to operate Firebird Raceway after march 31 , looks like that may actually happen. I have no idea if the Tribe is forming a group or an independent  group approached the Tribe

[Arnold]

There many more accusations flying around about SpeedWorld and the guvmint agencies that are after SpeedWorld.  I will not get into all of them here.

Near as I can tell , you can stick a fork in SpeedWorld, it is done.

One constant rumor I hear is the State of AZ is removing all racing, automotive, motorcycle activity OFF state trust land. There was a lawsuit a few years back about a ATV riding person hurt on state land.  AZ state paid a large $$ settlement.  I have not verified that lawsuit happened or not

Firebird rumor I heard weeks ago, about a management team being formed by the Indian Tribe to operate Firebird Raceway after march 31 , looks like that may actually happen. I have no idea if the Tribe is forming a group or an independent  group approached the Tribe

  We in Ontario,Canada have been there done that. People hurt on Crown land.
 Now it is VERY SIMPLE! Not on your OWN property?=
Ownership,lic.,insurance,just whatever the manufacturer put on that vehicle you better have it on there.Don't even think about taking ANYTHING on property that is not YOURS up here WITHOUT ALL the above! You paddle your canoe in a river up here..BETTER HAVE!
ALL the stuff you are supposed to. Cops,Ministry of Natural Resources personel,game wardens, and others enforce this
 Cops etc patrol on all kinds of vehicles..boats,atv's,bikes,bicycles,skidoos. People call in about something they don't like on Crown land=here come the cops.And they come!
  Just curious how it is elsewhere?
  Government land..even private vacant land(better have it insured!)
just a HUGE! liability issue now.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

I received notice last nite that a nostalgia drag race that has  been at SpeedWorld for a number of yrs will be held at FireBird Drag strip in April 2013.

This tells me 2 things..  Firebird track will be operated by the Tribe Management team  and that SpeedWorld is dead.

Also, for about a week now there has been a notice on Speedworld drag race web site that the vendor is selling alll race gasoline out at reduced prices.  Another indication to  me SpeedWorld is dead

[Glen]

as much as I love speedworld.....and I love the fact we have two tracks.
If the new management co. runs firebird correctly it could be an awesome facility.  

The firebird name and tennants are supposed to be out on the 30th right?  that means someone is taking over the lease?