Photo credit: Jeff Gross/ Getty Images

After being scheduled to close next month to be bulldozed and turned into a mall, California’s Irwindale Speedway isn’t done for after all. Posts on social media said the speedway announced it Thursday night, and a spokesperson from the track confirmed to Jalopnik on Friday that Irwindale will stay open.


The track announced in August that its final date in operation would be Jan. 31, and that the land would become a 700,000-square-foot mall—something that’s been rumored for years. Our Andrew Collins went out there and drifted recently, thinking it would be the last time he’d see the place. That’s a sad realization.

But plans changed somewhere along the way, and while the spokesperson couldn’t give Jalopnik the details what did change, even vague news about a race track staying open is all we can really ask for. After all, who needs more shopping malls? Order it online. Save the short tracks.


While social posts had the general idea about Irwindale staying open down, don’t believe everything that’s out there about the track right now. Some posts say the track will be open for at least another year, some say the track signed a five-year deal. Some say the deal happened because nothing could be built on the landfill the track is on. (There’s a track on the landfill.)

The track spokesperson said there is no announced timeline in regards to the deal, and that the announcement from the other night was something along the lines of, “Literally 30 minutes ago, a deal was made to keep Irwindale Speedway and drag strip open. More details in the following days.” That was all, he said.



The spokesperson, who’s working on those details, said they will hopefully be out before the start of the new year. He said he’ll keep Jalopnik in the loop, and we’ll update as soon as we know more.

Until then, just know that the House of Drift will stay open. We don’t know for how long, and we don’t know why, but it will. That’s what matters.


Hat tip to Paulo!

Update, Dec. 30 at 7:40 p.m. Irwindale sent out an announcement that appears to confirm the deal to keep it a race track will be for multiple years, but did not specify how many. From the announcement:

It was announced on Thursday evening that Irwindale Event Center, the home of Irwindale Speedway and Irwindale Drag Strip, will remain open and in full operation under a new multi-year agreement with a group of motorsports enthusiasts led by Tim Huddleston and Justice Brothers and the property owners.


The announcement ended by saying more details will be available soon.

