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6/15/12, 2:30 PM   #1
Speedworld in Wittman, Az. ordered to close down
IndyBound
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,626
 

News from the Arizona Republic:

Speedworld is a 320 acre racing property off US 60 and Jomax Road in Whittman, Az. The track started as a drag strip and slot and sports car course in 1961. Today it also includes a motocross course, off road truck course and paintball range.

The site is well known in the racing and each year holds nationally televised motocross and off - road truck events.

Mtthews said closingSpeedworld would be bad for the surrounding community. The racetrack brings in roughly $1 millon a year, and event vistors are a boon to the restaurants and hotels in nearby Surprise and Wittman, Matthews said.

During events, the business employees 50 to 60 part - time employees, he said.

The above paragraphs are from the Arizona Republic, it seems Sppedworld's owner Dan Matthews and Maricopa County have had an on going dispute over Matthews not securing proper permits when he expanded the facility.

Some of you may be asking why I posted this here. First, those nationally televised off-road truck events are USAC events. Seems one more of USAC's divisions will be disappearing fom the Phoenix race scene if Maricopa County does indeed succeed in closing Speedworld down.

Second, last night many posters felt LPS and Joe Spiker didn't provide them with the kind of race track they felt they paid their money to get. I pulled the most important paragraphs from The Arizona newspaper on Speedworld to drive a point home. It doesn't matter how long your favorite race track has been in existence or where it is located in the country, they are all at risk of disappearing at a moments notice for a wide number of reasons. Speedworld's saga just shows one more reson I have never considered in the past. I will admit while I have been by Speedworld and often have seen racers headed there or leaving from there, I have never attended an event there.

I don't have to go there to want to see it stay open, and that was my first impression when my friend Joe Ott posted the newspaper article on his facebook page. I felt sad that another Phoenix area racing venue could be gone and hoped they could work something out to keep it open.

Third, reading this article brought me back to last nights LPS thread that Chris started to give updates that are greatly appreciated by many of us that are not as lucky as the Indiana race fans that can go racing three nights a week on a regular bases and then have midget week and sprint week give you some of the best racing in the country. IMO some went a little too far with their post last night, the language in several post certainly was uncalled for. The bottom line is if you have a gripe with a track owner, take it to that owner or someone that works for them, call the office on the next work day and voice your concerns. Your concerns are not going to be resolved by high jacking a results post.

Fourth, if your favorite track does get it right, be sure to tell them how much you appreciate their efforts. Just because you want to go racing it doesn't always mean the place you want to go to will be there.

Patti