Nu-Way Industries back in control of speedway Track owner gains clearance after bankruptcy ruling Keith Lair, SGVN Posted: 03/20/2012 06:09:52 PM PDT LOS ANGELES - The first hurdle for racing to return to Irwindale Speedway has been cleared. Track owner Nu-Way Industries, Inc. has regained control of the track, considered by many the best short track in America, after a decision in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Jason Rund, the Chapter 7 trustee for Irwindale Speedway, LLC, ended the 33-year lease late last week. That frees Nu-Way to determine what it will do with the property, which includes state-of-the-art half- and third-mile gradually banked ovals and an eighth-mile drag strip. The lease was to expire on July 9, 2029. L.A. Racing, which operates a racing school on the property and is not affiliated with Irwindale Speedway, LLC, has continued running its cl***es and programs since track general manager Bob DeFazio filed bankruptcy papers on Feb. 13. "We're just trying to feel our way through," Nu-Way's Jay Garrett said. "We weren't able to do too much because the property was tied up with the bankruptcy. We can go ahead now." On Tuesday in bankruptcy court, Rund, Nu-Way attorney Yi Sun Kim and Nu-Way's Jim Mnoian queried DeFazio in regards to bankruptcy issues. Garrett said Tuesday that he and Mnoian, who have managed the families-owned property at 500 Speedway Drive for more than 4+0 years, have yet to determine what they will do, still citing the ongoing bankruptcy pe***ion, which will be resumed May 3 after Rund evaluates the contents of an Irwindale Speedway, LLC-rented storage locker and two safes. "We would considered (selling) it, but we're not actively pursing it right now," Garrett said. "We have a lot of different avenues that we're pursing. We're trying to get a few other activities in there that will provide entertainment as well as racing. The phone has been ringing off the hook." Garrett said that the pair have received hundreds of phone calls from parties interested in buying the property or entering into a new lease. "(Racing) will take a little longer to get re-geared back up," Garrett said. "But there are a couple of leading candidates. We'll have to see what it has to take to put it together." L.A. Racing owner Jim Cohen has been overseeing the property since the LLC vacated the premises. He has retained Bob Klein, who was the track's operations manager and supervised drag strip activities. Garrett and Mnoian said one of the first things they want to accomplish is re-opening the drag strip. After Irwindale closed, drag racing at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana also ended because of a residential lawsuit, leaving Southern California drag racers without a place to race. "It's locked, loaded and ready," Cohen said of the drag strip. "We know it's very popular." Cohen said that drag racing may be held on both Thursdays and Saturdays. In the meantime, Garrett said there are tentative plans for resuming filming - the facility is frequently used for television commercials - and for events such as drifting. When racing resumes, he said it might not be on a weekly schedule. "We might reduce racing a little bit so that it will be a little better attended," Garrett said. "Now that the property is released, we are in a spot where we can make some announcements." But it will all still take some time, he said. "I'll be glad when this is all over," Mnoian said of the court hearings. "It was unneccesary. They didn't have to do this." Irwindale Speedway, LLC had filed papers indicating it was more than $331,000 in debt. Most of Tuesday's 25-minute hearing centered on contents of a rented storage unit and two safes at the offices of LLC president Jim Williams. DeFazio testified that computer equipment, time and scoring equipment, transponders, which determine a car's speed, pictures, video and newspaper clippings are in the storage lockers. He said that employee information was stored in the safes. More than 1,200 gallons of racing diesel fuel is still in tanks on the facility, along with a few items, such as pressure washers. Contact Keith via email, by phone at 626-962-8811, ext. 2242, or on Twitter @KeithLLair. Read more: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/new...ndustries-back-control-speedway#ixzz1poHePeo7 ...
From BangShift.com: Posted 3/21/12 by Brian Lohnes BangShift has learned that Nu-Way Industries, the property owner of Irwindale Speedway has regained legal control of the facility and that they have set their sights on getting the track operating again with a special concentration on getting the drag strip running as soon as possible. We have heard that racing may take place twice a week once the strip is opened again. We do not have a hard date on when this will happen, but by our understanding, Nu-Way wants it to happen ASAP. A report in the Pasadena Star News confirms the conversations we have had with sources familiar to the situation and parties involved. The oval track will not be reopened with the speed of the drag strip and it is doubtful that a weekly program will be held there, but the plan is to have racing on the oval again in some capacity. The higher priority on that part of the operation is getting filming and rental revenue rolling again as the oval track is a very popular spot for television commercials and other types of media stuff to be filmed. When we learn more about this situation, especially a time line of when the track will open again, we will update this story, but for now, that is some GOOD news for drag racers in the LA area. You are on the short road to having a strip again! ...
To me, this does not sound exciting. Everybody "PRAISING" that speedway drag strip. I know this is the ONLY drag strip locally(using mufflers), BUT you guys deserve something better! WTF??? That drag strip was put in after that speedway was built. It's "Mickey Mouse", all downhill, and ONE HELL OF A SHORT DANGEROUS SHUTDOWN TO ONE LANE AREA! A racers "Public Safety" issue. You racers deserve something better! Sorry to bring this up. Be safe! <!-- / message -->
Never been an issue if you pay attention and can handle your car!! Beats the **** out of street racing!! I was never a fan of 1/8 mile drags until I started testing there on Thursday nights about 3 years ago.I have a 6.50-6.60,104-106 mph car,not some 12 second[1/8th mile] cruiser.YES,it would be awesome if we could get a full quarter mile track here in So.CA.[AGAIN],I started racing in 1968 at most of the local tracks and watched as they were closed down,sad days! ROY.
Posted by Brian Lohnes on BangShift.com 3/23/12 Some breaking news this afternoon that confirms the drag strip at Irwindale Speedway will be reopening. The guys on the Ultimate Air Cooled message board have gotten confirmation that their Bug-In drag race on April 29th is a go. We are working on finding the exact reopen date for the track, but it will be soon! ...
Here's a little tidbit from Darr Hawtorne. (I know a lot of people have an issue with him, don't want to get in to that.) SoCal Drag Strips -- who needs ‘em? Sure, we all know that Southern California is the cradle of civilization for drag racing. It all started here in Goleta, Saugus, San Gabriel, Santa Ana, San Fernando, Irwindale, Lions, and the list goes on. Including the virtual loss of Pomona Raceway. Now, in the first quarter of 2012, two more SoCal drag strips bit the dust, Auto Club Dragway and Irwindale Dragstrip. While they might not be forever closed, right now there is only the eighth-mile strip at Barona Drag Strip in San Diego County where local drag racers can compete wide open. Barona is a treasure, but it is rather doubtful that a lot of Los Angeles area DOT tire racers will make the long trek down there. But wait, there’s always street racing! Seriously, I have no idea if there is any correlation between the gradual increase in SoCal street racing and two street racing deaths that have occurred in the same period as we find both Fontana and Irwindale closed. What is really surprising to me is that there has not been one word, not a whimper of protest or support, from the National Hot Rod ***ociation. Actually there has been very little or no support for any local SoCal dragstrip in recent years. After all, the Big Show has basically stolen Pomona Raceway from anything but the Big Show; there is no weekly racing. What caught my eye this week was the online Huffington Post, owned by AOL. It’s not something I read very often, and is basically a political and topical news website. Yet it ran an article with the headline “Drag Racers in LA: As Tracks Close Racers Turn to the Streets”. Over the weekend I read on laist.com a similar article with the headline “Drag Racing in SoCal: “We’re not Going Anywhere”. Why is it that two online, non-drag racing publications noticed our missing drag racing venues but NHRA hasn’t? Now that I think back on it, I joked and dared two members of the NHRA elite to show up at Irwindale Dragstrip a half dozen times over the course of two years, but something always came up preventing anyone from taking my offer to show them how the rest of SoCal experiences drag racing, how the other half lives. Big Show arrogance seemed to get in the way. Guess they’re just not that interested in drag racing unless they HAVE to attend for their jobs, or to smile for the photogs for a media groundbreaking.
where's "big willy"? can't he be hired for something over there? big willy! big willy! i worked for him in the late 70's, and the crowd loved that man.
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