The Irwindale Drag Strip (Irwindale, CA) announced last week it’s plan to host six Summit Series races again this year. The series starts in March and runs through the summer, culminating in the finals in September.

Following a bankruptcy, brief closure, change of ownership, and reopening of the track in the last year, there was some question as to whether or not the show would go on in Irwindale. It’s a relief to see that the racers, with the support of the NHRA, have prevailed in the battle to keep this track, and its major race series, open.

Summit Racing’s marketing manager, Jeff Winters, hit the nail on the head when describing the sort of grassroots racer that is able to partake in the series. “Many racers can’t travel across the country to participate in the professional drag racing circuit. The NHRA Summit Racing Series gives weekly Sportsman racers an opportunity to be more than a champion in their division — they have a shot at winning a national championship. There are racers in the series who would otherwise not be able to compete at such a level…”

In the last year, some 80,000 racers competed in Summit Series, according to the National Hot Rod Association. That makes the series the largest of its kind, running at 140 dragstrips all across North America.

The Irwindale Drag Strip is the last drag strip sanctioned for regular use for over a hundred miles in any direction since the closure of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana nearly a full year ago. In an area sorely deprived of its drag racing events, Southern California’s drag racers (and their spectators) finally have something to look forward to. 

For more information on the upcoming series, racers and fans should visit www.nhra.com or irwindalespeedway.com/dragstrip.