Irwindale Opening Night 2011!

Irwindale, March 30, 2011: Toyota Speedway at Irwindale will open its 2011 NASCAR season on Saturday night, April 2 with a very special show Presented by Toyota Dealers of Southern California who’ve helped the track to go all out for a fun night of family entertainment that features the widest range of motorized action ever presented on one night in the twelve year history of the Speedway that’s known across the country as; "LA’s Half-Mile SuperSpeedway."

"We’re very proud to have our name on this facility," said Frank Arena from Toyota. "All of our great dealers support the Speedway and we’re able to put our brand’s name in front of thousands of families every week here. Saturday night is special, it’s opening night, but every Saturday night at Toyota Speedway is a reminder that our dealers are backing this kind of entertainment 100%. They’re why we’re here."

And what’s up for the first night of the 2011 season?

Of course there’s NASCAR, this is one of stock car racing favorite Home Tracks, the place where many top drivers have started their careers. Two of the Speedway’s favorite divisions: The Auto Club Late Models and the King Taco Super Trucks will be on tap on Saturday, with the Auto Club drivers going to the starting line twice for points races on the same night! That means the possibility of someone leaving on Saturday night with a nice points lead in the series.

Both events will run on the Speedway’s super-fast, variably-banked half mile oval. 2010 Champion Rod Johnson Jr. from Canyon Country will lead the Auto Club racers into combat with King Taco 2010 Rancho Cucamonga’s Ryan Partridge heading up a strong field in the truck division.

Which leaves the Speedway’s third-mile infield wide open for some rip-roaring snorting Monsters and Metal Mulisha highjinkks. The towering jumps and gravel from last week’s spectacular world debut Global RallyCross event is still here and will be mounded up even higher for the giant trucks and fearless (motorcycle) fliers that are all scheduled for Opening Night 2011.

Brian Deegan, the master Metal Mulisha man himself, will be at Irwindale and unfolding his group’s grab bag of high-flying motorcycle madness (to the delight of all) as the FMX folk take to the tall infield kickers at the Speedway. Fans who have only seen this sort of gravity-demeaning aerial work on television are advised to not be munching on a track dog or stuffing their mouth with a load of popcorn when the Mulisha gets cranking … They could bite right through their tongue.

And then there’s the really big guns: "We really wanted to kick this season off with a night chocked full of action, and we think that what we’ve scheduled for April 2nd is a pretty good effort," said Track VP Bob DeFazio. Right Bob! How about this group of kickbutt trucks: BOUNTY HUNTER, IRON OUTLAW, KING KRUNCH, EL MATADOR, OBSESSION & OBSESSED, RAZIN’ KANE and the one and only "Crime Dog" McGRUFF!

All of these pro teams love coming to the friendly confines of Toyota Speedway where the fans always get there early, meet the drivers of these Monsters, get an autograph, a photo, a close-up and personal look at the inner workings of these 12,000-pound ground-pounders.

There are still some good seats on sale at the track box office and online, but, everyone knows that this one will be an SRO event by 5PM on Saturday.

Toyota Speedway and Event Center opened on March 27, 1999 and has become one of the premier NASCAR Home Tracks in the country. Featuring virtually every aspect of stadium-style motorsports competition; the facility is clean, family-friendly and features a unique money-back guarantee that refunds any fan’s ticket price if they are not 100% happy with the show. Located on the 605 freeway in Irwindale, the track is easy to get to from just about anywhere in southern California.

For more information, tickets, or directions: www.toyotaspeedwayatirwindale.com