Irwindale, Calif. – – The exciting and highly competitive NASCAR season, 2014 edition, has come and gone at Irwindale Speedway leaving behind some great long streaks of burnt rubber and the echoes of roaring crowds. But that hardly means that all sorts of automotive excitement isn’t still on the weekly event agenda at exciting Irwindale Event Center.
DRAG RACING: For example, every Thursday night with only a couple of exceptions (like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s) Irwindale’s very own, very popular NHRA-sanctioned Dragstrip opens for biz and all sort of fast fun ensues. Anyone with a valid driver’s license and a car that can pass a basic safety tech can go up against “the starting lights” just like the pros.
Not as easy as it looks (going straight down the track as fast as you can for 660 feet) from the sidelines. In drag racing the first car to the finish (and that is not always the one that posts the highest top speed) is the winner, so every inch and every millisecond of each run is critical. Every run is recorded and each driver gets a time slip that recounts all of the elements of their pass down the track.
Reaction time, trap speeds along the strip, top speed and total elapsed time are all listed for each run, each slip showing what was happening in each run. Many serious performance types archive these small lists of numbers and use them as a tool to improve their competitive driving skills on the strip. Just for the record, all this fast fun with your car only costs $20 for the whole night.
… And just as many people have just as much fun watching the above drivers make their runs at the clock and against each other. There’s a full-out drag race about every 30 seconds throughout the evening (gates open at 4pm, racing starts at 5 and continues until 10) and (as is typical of any NHRA race) the “Pits” are open to the fans so “close up and personal” with the racers is always part of the deal all event long. Fans pay $10 to watch and everyone parks free on Thursday nights at Irwindale Dragstrip.
DRAGS & DRIFT: On Thursday December 11, the final 2014 night of Formula DRIFT open practice will run at Irwindale with the famous “House of Drift” course open to ALL Drift teams and their fans. Of course the NHRA Drag races will go on as usual that night and fans. Like the Drag races the ticket to watch is only $10 and, for fans who want to take in both shows, there’s a combo ticket for $15. Again (parking is free for both events). Take your choice: tire smoke in a straight line or around a snaking Drift course … or both!
MOONEYES: Saturday, December 13, is the day for one of the most unusual events that takes place at Irwindale each year … the annual Mooneyes Xmas Party. A combination car show, pre ’69 model drag racing, lifestyle expo, and retro-happening all in one place at one time. Tattoos, Pin-Stripes, Live Bands, Hipsters, Hot Rods, Customs, Vendors, Pin-ups, Motorcycles, Good Food & Libations, and (the most fun of all) People. This one starts very early (6am!) and in fact, the colorful parade of cars and participants that comes in at that hour is a show in and of itself! It cost $5.00 to get in and $10.00 to park (more info/photos etc: www.mooneyes.com).
THE 59th ANNUAL HORSELESS CARRIAGE HOLIDAY EXCURSION: Sunday, December 28. This one is a visual feast of the glory days of the automobile with hundreds of pre war (that’s WW1 by the way) vintage automobiles staging here at Irwindale for their annual Holiday run, featuring steam and kerosene, heavy dusters and goggles, hand-cranked, timeless brass-age beauty. Get here early (gates open at 6am and the Excursion leaves for Pasadena at 10am), dress warm, bring a camera, and step back into the past. Cost: $5 per car (free parking). Celebrity sightings optional.
ALL MONTH/ALL YEAR: Irwindale’s own, on-site LA Racing Experience is the place where fans become racing experts, finding out just exactly what it takes to guide a 450-horsepower stock car around Irwindale’s fast, progressively-banked half-mile.
Sit in for some straight talk in ground school, then suit up, pull on a full-face helmet, check the radio with your spotter up there on the top of the grandstands, and then stand on the gas for a set of 20 laps that will excite, thrill, and directly explain (in no uncertain terms) why driving a NASCAR-style stock car is one of those things that every fan should do at least once.
The feel of the track coming at you from the driver’s seat of one of LA Racing’s Super Late Models is something that stays with one for a long time … everyone who drives the Irwindale oval with LA Racing goes on to watch stock car races with a totally different perspective. Sessions are held on Wednesdays and weekends (to schedule a session or for more information: www.laracing.com
The bottom line of all of the above is that there’s plenty of automotive action all winter long at Irwindale Event Center … We’ll see you here!