Images Courtesy: Arizona Auto Scene

Way back in June we detailed the closure of Chandler, Arizona’s Firebird International Raceway and the resurrection of the facility as Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, and today we’ve got some new details on the improvements that have been made over the last half-year. According to the folks at Arizona Auto Scene, the track will be completely ready to go for the first Friday Night Drags event of the season tomorrow, January 24th.  

With the Gila River Indian Community now in charge of the track and its facilities, there has been a large investment into the facility, with all-new concrete lanes on the dragstrip, new track maintenance equipment, and a renewed commitment to the local racer population. As we discussed in June, we don’t think the Gila River Community would invest all of the money required to turn the facility into a winner without a solid business plan in the works. 

From the images shared on Arizona Auto Scene, it appears that they’ve corrected all of the issues that racers used to complain about –  including the not-so-hot track surface – with this round of improvements.

The NHRA Mello Yello series is scheduled to return to the facility with the Carquest NHRA Nationals over the weekend of February 21-23, 2014, so the nitro boomers are poised to make noise in Arizona shortly. The improvements appear to be exactly the shot in the arm that Arizona’s drag racing scene needed, and we look forward to seeing the facility live and in color on TV once the NHRA boys and girls hit town.