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It's a sad day. Great place to go for a race in PHX...

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Arizona Speedway - ET Motopark

6h

Jonah Trussel - San Tan Valley, AZ March 17, 2021

It is with a heavy heart and a lump in my throat that I’m announcing effective April 4, 2021 Arizona Speedway and ET Motopark will cease operations. The Arizona State Land Department has decided that the facility and noise it produces does not fit into their neighboring development plan and no further negotiations will be had. As per agreement, we will continue with events for the next few weeks and concluded April 3rd with the last dance. ET Motopark has been part of the motorsports community for 20 years and Arizona Speedway has been part of that same community since April of 2011. We have held thousands of motocross practices and events, nearly 400 dirt track events, more than 100 mud bog and sand drag events and a long list of other events and functions that we are proud to be part of. Through the facility, we have met hundreds of thousands of fantastic people, fans, racers and now friends from all over the country. Our staff members and tremendously supportive sponsors, have been instrumental to our success. Along with them, our patrons, fans, racers, event partners which have became friends, sanctioning bodies and mx riders were key in taking us from dirt hills in the middle of the desert, to being able to become a large part of what will now be Arizona racing history.

The rest is more personal to me and I understand not the correct way to write a release. There are far too many people to thank and list individually, please don’t get offended if not mentioned. Mark Paludan, you have as much to do with the success of the facility as Steve and myself. Tim, Stacy, Danelle and Tyler Mecl, Steve and Lisa Soboski, Pete and Stacy Hernandez, Jerry Milanowski, Sandra Ellisor, Ronnie and Brenda Sanchez, Bill Huesman, Wes Koskela and Linda Carson, Gary Burt, Harry and Nancy Luge, Rick Setzer, Kurt Rainbolt, Tom Withers, Bruce and Kim Sipes, Dion and Jason Phillips, Harley and Stacy Coy, the Toops, Ray, CJ, Kiernan, Val, Rominger, Cathy, Conrad, David, Sherylene, Allison, Dan, Carl and all of DRP, Leroy, the Hooks, Carter, Steven, Riley your often volunteered service, friendship and long hours ongoing support helped either get us started or kept us going if joining later on and were instrumental in our success and I thank you for your dedication.

I looked all day for someone that still had a copy of our high school yearbooks. I was in there quoted saying, “I will run a race track and be making millions” by a certain age it was either 35 or 45. Well, 1 outta 2 isn’t bad and I did by a lottery ticket today so there’s still hope. More than anything yet mentioned, I am forever indebted to and thankful for my entire family. My wife Jamila, my kids Teagan and Ryker, my mother Sherry and my dad and partner Steve and my sister Kaily. For the countless unpaid hours and struggles I put all of you through, the backseats that you and your plans were forced to take so that the facility could continue to progress, for spending most every weekend working and making you work also and creating work that really didn’t need to be done as I just “had an idea”, for all the arguments, all of the times I had to answer just one more call, one more message, put on one more load of water or make one more pass in the blade while you waited in the truck or on me to come home, all the balls I didn’t throw to you, all my kid stories I didn’t focus on while you were telling me, all the things I didn’t teach but should have and all the trips we didn’t take and romantic things I didn’t make time for and all the times I treated you like employees instead of parents or my wife and sometimes kids. I apologize for all of it and all I missed on the list. I love you and I appreciate all of your sacrifice’s that selfishly allowed me to live my dream for so long and I will try my best to repay my debt to you and make up for time passed. I have been blessed with a great family and great friends, a great staff that have always been better than me, fantastic sponsors and 13 years of a business that has been full of ups and downs but it has been the absolute coolest damn thing I can think of doing for a living. We are leaving here blessed, fortunate and filled with gratitude for everyone that played a part in making this a hell of a ride.

Thank you to everyone for years of support from myself and my family and we will likely see you somewhere again in the future! We hope to see everyone at one, some, any and better yet all of the remaining events listed below.

Sincerely,

Jonah Trussel & Steve Coleman

Arizona Speedway and ET Motopark remaining schedule:

3/20 IMCA Modifieds, Sport Mods, Stock Cars, Bombers

3/21 Motocross

3/27 Mud Bogs and Sand Drags Finale

3/28 Motocross

4/3 Final Motocross

4/3 The Last Dance - Sprint Cars, Modifieds, Sport Mods, Stock Cars, Bombers

Thx for the great times we had there.  Always worth the trip from Georgia.  

Did this come out of the blue or has this been an ongoing issue? Man that sucks.

Its sad any day when an established race track goes by the wayside due to planned housing developments. 

In January the word was the track was safe until April 2022.  Unfortunately that did not happen. 

Wow, big time bummer. Is the land leased?  If not can the state simply tell an established property owner they can no longer operate an existing business for whatever reason it determines rational? I moved to PHX for 22 months in the fall of 2000 and watched the houses slowly move in on Manzanita. The writing was on the wall. Maybe Canyon will be next?

When we moved in to our new house in MN in 2014 I knew it was in proximity to a gun range and I accepted it. A couple days a week we hear gun fire and while I don't like it I know they were there first. F you Arizona and FU2 housing developers. Guessing they will have no trouble finding morons with 3 percent down FHA loans to snatch them up.

Have you google map Perris yet?

Petaluma has had some trouble I think.

and Ocean speedway has been putting up fight for decade now.

No Calistoga for 2 years now ?

California dosent seem to have new tracks in the future plans either

so what you see might be the last you get to see in some ares.

When Manzanita shut down, a new location for a track began. Those involved chose the present location due to it being far from any developments or future planned ones.  I do not kbow if the owners/promotors owned the property or not but if they didn't they were at a high risk.  If they did own the property, shame on the state for their actions.  To prevent furthur closures, if a new location is desired, they should try and locate it one of the Indian Reservations.  The Gila River Indian Community owns and opperates the Wild Horse Motorsports complex, west of Chandler.  This is the same facility that once was called Firebird Raceway and there once was a dirt track there for a few years.  There's also another tribal reservation east of Scottsdale that might be an option.  If they were to establish a track on a Reservation, there would be no issues with noise or residential development and depending on the agreement with the tribe, they could never be shut down.  

Petaluma is good through 2022 but after that is questionable.  Right across from the pit area a large shopping center was built a few years ago.  Check that on a satellite view, it makes no sense. 

In Lincoln, CA houses were built spitting distance from the railroad tracks.  Sure enough, homeowners put up a fuss after living in their new home a while about train noise.  All American Speedway in Roseville is the quietest track in the state to keep complaints from homes built way after the track was racing at a minimum.

In least number of new Covid cases per capita, California ranks 4th.  Yes, 46 states have a higher per capita new case rate.  However, restrictions in California are way stronger than other states.  Answers the question as to why an election to recall the governor is coming.

Throw in cost of living, and that explains why the state is losing residents.

Arizona Speedway is the victim of encroaching housing, which of course, ignores the face that the track was there first.

Great info. I spent some time at Firebird and that is a great idea for a new facility. Been to NHRA there a number of times and did a couple ride alongs on the sports car track too. I see the USAC dates that were to be at the soon to be demolished speedway are now TBA.

Is this the track also referred to as Central Arizona Speedway near the 11 mile corner east of Casa Grande?

Remember where I live but I get confused about the Arizona tracks. Seems to me they have similar words in most names and also go by nicknames.

What is the track on the west side of I10 between Casa Geande and Phoenix? I've driven past but dint find it in Google.

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

No, Central Arizona Speedway is about 50 miles South of Phoenix just outside of Casa Grande.  Arizona Speedway is in the Phoenix area.  The track on the west side of I-10 south of phoenix is the Wild Horse Motorsports complex, but does not include a dirt track.  About 20 or so years ago, the Phoenix area developments spread right out next to the complex.  Naturaly the new residence tried and failed to get the place shut down because of the noise and other issues.  They failed because neither Phoeniz area towns or the State have any jurisdiction on the Reservation.  Chock one up for Native Rights!