Royal Purple Raceway, site of the annual NHRA SpringNationals, will suspend all drag racing activities through the end of the year to help in Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

Utilizing its gigantic footprint in the Houston suburb of Baytown, Royal Purple Raceway will become a temporary storage facility for cars, trucks, boats and construction equipment destroyed by the largest recorded storm in U.S. history.

The track will resume its regular racing schedule in the New Year.

“Some things transcend racing and when you see half of our city underwater, you obviously have to prioritize your energies and resources,” Vice President and General Manager Seth Angel said. “Our focus and priority over the next few months will be on helping our community rebuild and get back on its feet.

“There are literally tens of thousands of vehicles all around Southeast Texas that are completely flooded out and inoperable. We have 400 acres here capable of storing a large quantity of vehicles and we collectively made the decision to do what we could to help.

“The destruction created by this storm can only be described as biblical. It will take quite a bit of time for things to return to normal and considering this city has done so much for the Angel family over the last three decades, we very much want to be part of the recovery.”

Remarkably, considering its proximity to Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, Royal Purple Raceway only suffered minor flooding but many others in the immediate surrounding areas were not as fortunate. Countless numbers of homes, vehicles and businesses have been destroyed in
Baytown alone.

Canceled events include all Friday Night Street races remaining in 2017, the Paul Walker Memorial Car Show (Sept. 9), LS Nationals (Sept. 23), Top Ten After Dark (Oct. 1), Import Face Off (Oct. 22), October Truck Madness (Oct. 29) and the Light the Sky Festival (Nov. 11). Fans that have purchased tickets to these events will be refunded the full purchase amount.

“We fully understand this is difficult news to hear for our loyal racers, fans, sponsors and event promoters, we are confident we are doing the right thing,” Angel said. “Additionally, Royal Purple Raceway is making a $10,000 commitment to the American Red Cross and we encourage everyone to help them as well, if they are able.”

The detailed 2018 event schedule will be released in the fall.