Desert Mavericks.......Sand Box

That sucks Robbie. I know a bunch of people in the same boat. With any luck Firebird will re-open and maybe Speedwold will get a reprive. I can only hope.

 

Way to go Gene!!! I knew it had it in her! Congratulations!

 

Thanks guys!

 

Good times Gene.

 

Woo Hoo...Way to go Gene!!!
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I just received this email from SpeedWorld...this is very sad.

Good morning everyone, I hope this message finds everyone well and staying warm.

This email is to let everyone know exactly what is going on with Speedworld and the County/State situation. First I want to give you our schedule for the next few weeks.

This SaturDAY, January 19 - ADRA + Open Test & Tune, gates 9am
Saturday NIGHT, January 19 - Cruise-In Street Meet, gates 7pm
Next SaturDAY, January 26 - No races scheduled
Saturday NIGHT, January 26 - Street Meet, gates 9am
Friday Feb 1 - Open Test & Tune & move in for National Open Weekend - Gates 10, T&T Noon-7
Saturday Feb 2 - NHRA National Open Qualifying, big car Team Speedworld #1, Jr Team Speedworld #1 & Jr Divisional #1 - Gates 8am
Sunday Feb 3 - NHRA National Open Eliminations, Jr Team Speedworld #2 & Jr Divisional #2 - Gates 8am

There are additional races posted on our website through the end of the year: www.racespeedworld.com. That and our hotline 623-388-2424 are the ONLY places to get ACCURATE information. Do not believe anything else you hear or read except from those two places!

That said, there won't be races to the end of the year, as we have reached the end. Speedworld WILL be closing permanently, we just don't know exactly when. We are in negotiations with the state & county (as I write this) to try and formulate an exit strategy that works for everyone. This must be done before a hearing scheduled for Thursday, Jan 17. Don't ask me why, you don't want to know all the political bull**** that is going on. Suffice to say, it will be much better for us if we can negotiate everything before that hearing.

Like you, I'm pretty much devastated over this situation - and I've only been here 20 years! Speedworld is my life, my family, my home, and for most of you, I know you feel that way too. But after 3 years and about $300,000 in legal fees, the opposition has become so intense and has thrown up so many obstacles that we cannot continue to fight them, in spite of all the tremendous support from you, our racer family.

Let's look to the future. We have found an extremely suitable location for the dirt part of our operations that could possibly have a dragstrip sometime in the future. That would depend on the willingness of the property owner to sell the suitable land next to the dirt operation. Right now, we don't know if that's feasible. From a physical standpoint, it is doable. It will require two things we don't have right at this moment: time and money, but then you already knew that! We can pick up our dirt operations & equipment and move them, we can't do that with a dragstrip. But it IS doable, and I personally assure you, I'm going to do everything I can to see that the dream of a new dragstrip in the Phoenix area becomes reality. We'd probably be looking at nearly two years before racing could begin, but it could happen. We will keep everyone posted.

Now, back to the present. Please support every race that you possibly can, as this will help us considerably to make a new facility happen. AS SOON AS I KNOW A FINAL DATE I WILL TELL YOU! We're asking to run at least through the end of May, to complete our 'spring' schedule. This would include enough Team Speedworld races to qualify for the ET Finals, both Juniors and big cars. It would include the Heritage race, as well as the Lucas Oil Off Road race. But I stress that this is not yet cast in stone, we don't know how much they'll give us. We believe it's a very real possibility they'll allow us that much time, but remember who we're dealing with: self-serving politicians.

From all of us at Speedworld, thank you for your continued support over the past 52 years. We could not have gone on this long without this support, and we sincerely hope that someday soon we'll all be back racing at a new facility. In the meantime, we'll see you at the track!

--
Hal Sanguinetti
Dragstrip Manager, Publications Manager, Announcer
Speedworld Dragstrip, Surprise AZ

 

Personally I am going on a crusade to vote each and every one of these M*** F*** out of office. Politics in this country is going to ruin each and every one of us.

 

I just sent the following in an email to the governor's office:

I am writing in regards to the plight of SpeedWorld Raceway Park and specifically to SpeedWorld Dragstrip. I have been racing at this facility since the mid 80’s along with hundreds of other die hard drag racers. Drag racing is a passion for many valley residents and vintage car owners alike. SpeedWorld is an icon in the valley and I am devastated that this facility will be closed by the state. Not only will this affect the owner, employees and racers alike, but most likely companies in the business of selling/installing high-performance parts here in the valley. I have spoken to several racers who agree with me that there will be no motivation to work on our cars and purchase parts if there is no facility in the northwest valley to continue the sport that we love. Please save SpeedWorld.

 

Sad to say it but they dont give a S*** about us. The government sucks A**.

 

Just got my Maverick back up and running after a long time of sitting. All my other cars are down or loaned out so it will be my daily driver for a while. Im hoping to make the next meet whenever it is. Im going to be in the market for some parts soon like intake, carb, headers but right now I really need a good pair of hallogen headlights.

 

That's exciting! Good for you.

 

Cool! Look forward to seeing you at the next meet.

 

The next meet is going to be Off The Hook. I cant wait for the next meet. The next meet is awesome.

 

Oh good. It sounds like Ryan is planning it!

 

Soooo.....when is the next meet?