NHRA: New 1/8 mile drag strip to become part of Irwindale Speedway
20 July 2000
Irwindale, Calif. - - A brand new 1/8-Mile National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag strip is on the drawing boards for Irwindale Speedway. Its July 1 announcement represents another component in the broad spectrum of automotive services and sporting uses that the Speedway complex was designed to support. "We're now running regular Karting events, filming feature movies and TV shows, have commercial shoots on site almost weekly, are the site for The Race Training Center and The Advanced Driver Training School, for new car introductions, sales training, car club slalom events, and all sorts of auto-related weekend shows … Our drag strip will further add to Irwindale's growing reputation as a total performance automotive destination," said Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Bob DeFazio. The strip, to be located along the southernmost property line of the 63-acre facility, will be dedicated exclusively to NHRA Street Legal automobiles and Junior Dragsters. One-eighth mile long, the 660 feet of acceleration will see some spectacular tire-smoking launches and top speeds approaching the 100 mile-per-hour levels at the timing lights. Many categories of Street Legal cars will take to the new strip, from bone stock "grocery getters" to tricked-out sport compacts that look like standard two door coupe and run as though they've been catapulted out of a cannon. In the Junior Dragster category, real scaled-down "Top Fuel" dragsters, powered by modified 4-cycle engines and driven by the young John Forces and Tony Schumachers of the future; will challenge each other over the 1/8-mile course. All cars that run on the new strip will have to meet very strict safety and noise requirements. In the Street Legal class, if the DMV won't license it, it won't run at Irwindale. For the Junior Dragsters, the NHRA has laid down (and will enforce) a set of solid rules for construction and operation of the mini-monsters. And, working mufflers are an absolute must on all cars. This strip will not only be fun for all the participants but a good neighbor to the surrounding communities. Many of the local police agencies have expressed interest in the new strip and will be working with the facility to foster safer on-street driving through programs associated with this facility. The groundbreaking for this facility has been set for August 12 at 1:30 with all interested parties invited to take part in the historic event by "Showing up in their hottest ride … ." Plans are to have the strip in operation by late Fall.