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Nu-Way Retakes Irwindale Speedway: Dragstrip First Order Of Business

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Southern California’s Irwindale Speedway, shuttered in January amid bankruptcy filings by the longtime lease holders, got one step closer to a determination on its future on Tuesday per a report by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune [2], as land and track owner Nu-Way Industries regained control of the facility in a ruling by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

According to the report, Jason Rund, the Chapter 7 trustee for Irwindale Speedway LLC, ended the 33-year lease held on the facility last week, turning [3]control back over to Nu-Way. With this hurdle in the rear view mirror, Nu-Way is now free to determine what it will do with the property, which features state-of-the-art half and third-mile paved ovals and an eighth-mile drag strip.

“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.”

Nu-Way’s Garrett and Jim Mnoian, who have managed the family-owned property for more than 40 years, are still in the determination phase of what they plan to do with the property. “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 indicated that he and Mnoian have fielded hundreds of phone calls from interested buyers of the property and racing facilities. “(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.”

In a great bit of news for the drag racing community, Garrett and Mnoian indicated that their first order of business is re-opening the drag strip, citing the recent closure of the Auto Club Dragway in Fontana and the need for a straight-line venue in the region. “It’s locked, loaded and ready,” Cohen said of the drag strip. “We know it’s very popular.”