Daytona to Build 4/10-mile Track Behind Lake Lloyd for Speedweeks Short Track Stars Races in 2013 (Irwindale East?)

Daytona International Speedway to add short track races in 2013
Steppingstone series racers will compete

By GODWIN KELLY, MOTORSPORTS EDITOR send an email to godwin.kelly@news-jrnl.com
February 15, 2012 7:00 AM

DAYTONA BEACH -- There will be no gap in the 2013 Speedweeks stock-car schedule.

Beginning next year, Daytona International Speedway's "dark days," or the Monday and Tuesday before the Daytona 500, will be filled with a mega national event on a short track carved from the backstretch area fronting the Lund Grandstands.

"When I think about adding a short track event here, it's just an opportunity to connect with that local racer supporting NASCAR," Speedway president Joie Chitwood III said.

"Thinking about them, getting the chance to run at the World Center of Racing, it felt like the right thing to do. Whether it's a hobby or profession, everybody should have the chance to race at Daytona."

The lineup includes drivers from NASCAR's K&N Pro Series East and West; Whelen Modified Tour North and South; and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division I, or weekly track.

All these series are used as stepping stones to NASCAR's more lucrative national series, such as Sprint Cup and Nationwide.

A good example is Trevor Bayne. Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500, ran a full K&N schedule in 2008. Three years later, he won NASCAR's biggest race.

Ben Kennedy, great grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., will compete in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series this season. His K&N teammate will be Chase Elliott, Bill Elliott's son.

"It will be awesome for the sport," Kennedy said of next year's short track event. "This will be great for the sport. The K&N Series has a lot of talent."

While all the details are not known -- the official announcement is Friday -- The News-Journal has learned Daytona will create a defined, 0.4-mile, flat oval using the newly paved racetrack and skid pad surfaces.

Removable concrete barriers will be used to identify the short track course. The two-day racing program will run under the lights.

Any K&N or Whelen race winner throughout the 2012 season will get an automatic ticket to Daytona's event. NASCAR's top 10 weekly track drivers (the Whelan All-American Series) will also get a Daytona invitation.

In addition NASCAR champions from Canada, Mexico and Europe will receive invites to this inaugural short track competition.

George Silbermann, NASCAR vice president of regional and touring series, said bringing the short-trackers to Daytona will fill two voids.

"From a racing perspective, this is featuring the future stars of the sport at Daytona," Silbermann said. "From a community standpoint, it's reconnecting Speedweeks; it removes Daytona's dark days."

New Smyrna Speedway, which holds the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing during Speedweeks, cheered the decision, even though on those two days of racing, it would be going head-to-head with Daytona's competition.

"We will obviously see more Modifieds down here," NSS general manager Terry Roberts said. "That certainly can help us.

"It's going to be what it is and we'll have to see how we can make it work to our advantage. We'll make it work."

Not sure it is fair to blame NASCAR for what happened at Irwindale.

From the Pasadena, CA paper regarding the economy doing in the Irwindale track:

But it all came unraveling last season. Car counts were down significantly and nearly every division had the fewest racers since the track opened. More important, attendance was down. There were roughly 900 people in the stands for a Saturday, May 14 race.

Attendance over the past two seasons gradually has dwindled since the heydays of the early 2000s. The track does not release attendance numbers, but they averaged about 2,700 people at 28 races last year.

Speedway president Joie Chitwood III.............

"Thinking about them, getting the chance to run at the World Center of Racing, it felt like the right thing to do. Whether it's a hobby or profession, everybody should have the chance to race at Daytona."

A hobbyist, a backyard racer, at the new Daytona short track? Right!

The stories I read all show tremendous unpaid debt, including one $150,000 personal liability judgement and two other personal injury judgements amounts unspecified. I would cite very poor track management as a considerable part of the problem here.

In fact, the property owner has gone on record as wanting to continue the racing.

Just because folks don't necessarily know what they're getting into or what they are doing does not make NASCAR a culprit. You have to look at the facts.

900 spectators?? Come on.. as I've stated before, I can draw more than 900 people to a snake race in downtown Charlotte.

You know my feelings about NASCAR, but it wasn't NASCAR that tried to build a Taj Mahal and didn't know how to promote it.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm....

We used to have that at Daytona... back in the day.

We called them the Late Model Sportsman race and the Modified race as I recall.

I'll have to side with Dave here. Unpaid sanction fees, loss of "naming" sponsoramong other things including THE ECONOMY probably hastened NASCAR"s decision to pull the sanction and All-Star race. If the loss of one event spelled doom for the facility, there was something else wrong and Dave probably nailed it. While many tracks do just fine without a NASCAR sanction, Irwindale was the poster child for what the "big fish" in Florida was talking about when they began downsizing the number of short track sanctions after RJR left but the $1,350.00 weekly sanction fee isn't what killed the track. Too much debt to service was the killer. However it is rumored that Ransome Lucas is looking at the property.

Replacing it with an event at Daytona is probably about the only place they could find that could afford the event. What I hate is the fact it will screw up things at New Smyrna andVolusia County. I remember whenVCS was a NASCAR sanctioned track and tried to run Modifieds there against New Smyrna with NASCAR's blessing. Screwed up both places. Terry is just putting lipstick on the proverbial pig with his comments. Just another case of pushing the little guy out (ProCup, SMART Modifieds & Friendship Speedway come to mind).

Randy, several reports I read indicate that the Irwindale promoters had misled Lucas into believing they owned the track, resulting in his previously pulling a proposed Lucas Oil track sponsorship. Now, I am also reading of "alleged" accounting irregularities on the part of the promoters.

Like both you and PattyKay, I hate to see anything screw up New Smyrna or Volusia. Had some fun nights at New Smyrna with Derrike Cope back in the early 80s, although that place is COLD (brrr) at night in February. And, Volusia had some really stout things going at one time. They kinda confused me, though, transitioning back and forth from asphalt to dirt. I'm not sure what surface they currently run.

None of us want to see failure at a track, but track operators have also got to be realistic and honest.

A little more information on the Irwindale Speedway bankruptcy and how the property owner hopes somebody with race experience would step up to the plate. By the way, the folks leasing the property filed Chapter 7, meaning they're abandoning the place and sticking the creditors, rather than Chapter 11 which would have let them reorganize and attempt to restructure debt and pay off some of their obligations. The more I hear and read, the shadier the Irwindale operators seem to have been.

Irwindale Speedway Files Chapter 7; Owes Money to SCV Firm
By Tim Haddock, AM-1220 KHTS | Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012

Irwindale Speedway LLC filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Monday, the same day track management announced that it was canceling the race schedule for 2012.

In paperwork filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District California, Irwindale Speedway LLC owes creditors $331,773.11. One of the creditors is Cantrell Aire Inc. in Santa Clarita. Irwindale Speedway LLC owes $1,379 to Cantrell Aire, which is owned by Jim Cantrell, whose son Connor Cantrell won the NASCAR Super Trucks championship at the track in 2011.

Irwindale Speedway LLC leased the track and offices from a company called Nu-Way Industries Inc. in Arcadia. Jim Mnoian, the president of Nu-Way Industries Inc., said he would like to find a company or group to take over racing operations at the track and resume racing as soon as possible.

He has been in talks with city of Irwindale officials, who also would like to see racing return to Irwindale Speedway. Irwindale Speedway LLC had a 33-year initial lease with two 10-year options with Nu-Way Industries Inc., Mnoian said. Bankruptcy court papers show that Irwindale Speedway LLC owes Nu-Way Industries $55,000 in rent. Mnoian said in an exclusive interview that Irwindale Speedway is not behind in its rent.

Just a few months back, Mnoian said. That was not the case. Mnoian also said the Irwindale Speedway management team was actively seeking a partner. OnThursday, thats what we were told. They were looking for a partner.

Mnoian said he had no idea Irwindale Speedway LLC was going to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Monday.

I thought Jim Williams was above that, Mnoian said. When asked if $330,000, the estimated amount Irwindale Speedway declared it owed to its creditors in the bankruptcy paperwork filed on Monday, was a lot for Williams and his management group, Mnoian said, Not for someone of his means.

Williams is the majority shareholder in Irwindale Speedway LLC.

Mnoian said he would like to see another company come in and take over the racing operations of the track.

We wanted to re-lease the site or sell it, Mnoian said. Our companys intention is to find a new tenant.

We want an operator who has experience operating a track and take it over. The people who were running it didnt have the experience and didnt find anyone with experience in 15 years. Anyone is better than what they had.

Phone messages left for Irwindale Speedway vice president and general manager Bob DeFazio were not returned.

I guess technically, you are right although Friendship, SMART, VCS and New Smyrna aren't NASCAR, they are what you would call "collateral damage". The politics of the short track industry are just like in the big leagues. Just never talked about in the press.

I wish NASCAR would just let the short track industry run it's own business.

I agree with what you have said Dave.

Poor management or lack thereof have been the downfall of many racetracks.

One being right in my backyard. Middle Georgia Raceway. A former NASCAR Racetrack.

MGR was opened in 1966 and was successful for a few years and then with different promoters it ran off and on until 1984 when it finally closed it's doors.

It could have been another Bristol had it been managed right.

Opening a short track inside the Daytone Track isa great idea. Whether it came from Chitwood or from someone else in NASCAR it is good business. Who wouldn't want to race at "Daytona" ?

I also hate it for Volusia and New Smyrna but I imagine they will still have full fields if they schedule them right.

How many tracks have closed because of poor scheduling. Why have races at two tracks 30 miles apart on the same night? If one runs on Sat. night then schedule the other for Friday night or even Sunday afternoon. But NO. They want to run on the same night and try to outdraw the other. POOR MANAGEMENT.

I can see it NOW!!!!! THE DAYTONAVINTAGE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS !!!!! Presented by Flock's Restaurant.......hot biscuits all the time!

Bobby.

Don't forget "Junior's Lounge" "Serving The Best Homemade Drinks In The South"

Tommie,

Thank you for mentioning scheduling.

One of the big reasons (besides great racing) that my hometown Southside Speedway in Richmond was successful for many years with several different promoters was that it found a niche. It ran on FRIDAY night in a Saturday night world. So guess what?? The guys who ran at South Boston and Langley and Trico/Orange County and Bowman-Gray and the western Virginia Saturday night tracks converged in Richmond on Friday nights, before going to a half dozen different racing venues on Saturday nights.

Too many tracks have killed each other running against each other.

Back in the day, Sanford and Rockingham had a good Friday/Saturday deal as did Wake County and Wilson. Smart promoters.

Tommie, LOL!

Just wondering if anybody has heard any recent news about the Daytona Short Track deal?

Everytime I hear Pkl lament the loss of our beloved Winston Racing Series I want to cry.

Bobby, They called me 2 years ago when I was Vice President of DAARA and asked if we would be interested in have a Vintage National Deal of some type at the Daytona track. I went over and met with them and they were ,at that time talking about the other side of the track on the west end where they ran the flat track motorcycles. This means they have been planning this for a while.

Randy, The 1/2 mile track at Volusia hasnt run a regular program this year. They are only running special big time events and not many of those. I love that dirt track and have enjoyed many races there both as a spectator and racer. The track condition had began to really slip the past couple years. I remember a race two seasons ago and the track was rutted so bad the battery and box was bounced out of its brackets....

I have enjoyed many speed week deals at New Smyrna and can see that the extra publicity will bring more cars down to the area so hopefully it wont hurt their schedule.