Toyota Speedway at Irwindale is a motorsports facility located in
Irwindale, CaliforniaIrwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 1,422 at the 2010 census, down from 1,446 at the 2000 census....
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It features banked, paved 1/2- and 1/3-mile oval tracks and a 1/8-mile drag strip. It opened on March 27, 1999, as
Irwindale Speedway and held that name until Toyota purchased the
naming rightsIn the private sector, naming rights are a financial transaction whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three...
to the facility in 2008. It is currently mainly used for
NASCARThe National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
races such as NASCAR K&N Pro Series West and
Whelen All-American SeriesThe Whelen All-American Series is a points championship for NASCAR sanctioned local racetracks around the United States and Canada....
events.
Since 2003, the main 1/2-mile oval has hosted the NASCAR
Toyota All-Star ShowdownThe Toyota All-Star Showdown is a nonpoints, all-star race that brings together the top drivers in NASCAR's lower-level series.It was inaugurated in 2003, and all six events so far have been held at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale in suburban Los Angeles...
. In this event, the top 30 drivers in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and the top 40 drivers in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series come from their respective regional tours to compete in a "best-of-the-best" race. The races are televised live on the
Speed ChannelSpeed , is a cable and satellite television network broadcast to various parts of North America, but primarily the United States...
. It is also the home of the
Turkey Night Grand PrixThe Turkey Night Grand Prix is an annual race of midget cars. It has been held on Thanksgiving night most years since 1934. It is currently held in Irwindale, California.-Drivers:The event is considered a major event in the midget cars series...
race, a
ThanksgivingThanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
midget car racingMidget cars, also Speedcars in Australia, are very small race cars with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four-cylinder engines.-Cars:Typically, these cars have 300 to 400 horsepower and weigh...
tradition in
southern CaliforniaSouthern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
since 1934, when the race debuted at
Gilmore StadiumGilmore Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Los Angeles, California. It was opened in May 1934 and demolished in 1952, when the land was used to build CBS Television City. The stadium held 18,000. It was located next to Gilmore Field...
. Among the 2005 participants were
Tony StewartAnthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart is an American auto racing driver and owner. Throughout his racing career, Stewart has won titles in Indy cars and stock cars as well as midget, sprint and USAC Silver Crown cars, giving him the recognition of "one of the finest racers of his generation."Stewart...
,
Jason LefflerJason Leffler is a NASCAR driver from Long Beach, California. Leffler began racing in the open-wheel ranks before moving to NASCAR's three major series...
, and
J. J. YeleyChristopher Beltram Hernandez Yeley is a NASCAR driver. Nicknamed "J. J." , he is currently a competitor in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving for Front Row Motorsports.-Open wheel:Yeley initially made a mark for himself in the world of auto racing when he took the Hoosier state by...
. It was also seen in an episode of
Malcolm in the MiddleMalcolm in the Middle is an American television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. The series was first broadcast on January 9, 2000, and ended its six-and-a-half-year run on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes...
, titled "Stock Car Races".
In 2010, they hosted the first Lucas Oil California Classic on Thanksgiving weekend. This was a two-day (Actually 3 due to rain on Saturday night) event for the Spears SRL Southwest Tour, Super Late Models, and Late Models. They will run 125, 100, and 75 laps respectively, for a $50,000+ purse. They expect to have an event similar to this in 2011, although the SRL has not been confirmed.
The 1/8-mile
drag racingDrag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....
strip opened on September 29, 2001. In 2003, in cooperation with local law enforcement, Irwindale Speedway opened its own dragstrip and hosts legal drag races for street-legal cars, trucks, and motorcycles. The dragstrip is proud to extinguish the "nowhere else to go" excuse used by illegal street racers, and local police often hand out flyers to offenders for free entry into drag races at the dragstrip to promote safe racing.
The venue is also known for
driftingDrifting refers to a driving technique and to a motorsport where the driver intentionally over steers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while maintaining vehicle control and a high exit speed...
events; when it hosted
D1 Grand Prix'sThe , abbreviated as D1GP and subtitled Professional Drift, is a production car drifting series from Japan. After several years of hosting amateur drifting contests, Option magazine & Tokyo Auto Salon founder Daijiro Inada, and drifting legend Keiichi Tsuchiya hosted a professional level drifting...
first overseas event in , with a sell-out crowd attendance of 10,000, it had surpassed all other events Irwindale hosted in the past, the previous being 8,700. Since then, it has become the series regular opening round in February and a non championship event in December and has also hosted a round of the domestic series,
Formula DFormula DRIFT or Formula D is the premier United States drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that brought D1 Grand Prix to the United States. The new entity would solely own,...
. The venue has been expanded to accommodate 15,000 spectators. The circuit is regarded as one of the most popular courses for crowds and drivers despite the unforgiving concrete wall which drivers usually brush through with their rear bumpers. Because of its popularity, the circuit is nicknamed the
House of Drift.
The 2003
Guinness Book of World Records lists the fastest-ever top speed of a
radio-controlled carRadio-controlled cars are self-powered model cars or trucks that can be controlled from a distance using a specialized transmitter...
as 111 mph (178.63 km/h) set by Cliff Lett of
Associated ElectricsThe acronym TC5 redirects here. For the American rock band, see The Click Five.Associated Electrics, Incorporated of Lake Forest, California is one of the world's leading manufacturers of radio controlled cars, trucks and accessories...
. Lett, a Team Associated professional driver and one of the designers and developers of the aforementioned RC10, set the record with a heavily modified
Associated RC10L3The Associated Electrics RC10 2WD off-road buggy was first introduced insind 1984 as an electric, 1:10 scale off-road dune buggy. Associated had previous success with its 1:12 scale RC12 on-road electric R/C car...
touring carA touring car, or tourer, is an open car seating five or more. Touring cars may have two or four doors. Often, the belt line is lowered in the front doors to give the car a more sportive character. They were often fitted with a folding roof and side curtains. Engines on early models were either in...
at Irwindale Speedway on January 13, 2001.
External links