Speedway racing season “on hold”

Track closed while tribal council reassess future of facility

Cocopah Speedway closed, again.

Following the resignation of general manager Tom Dalen in July, the Cocopah Indian Tribe, owner of the Somerton track, has chosen to keep the gates locked for what drivers, crews and fans believed was supposed to be the remainder of the 2018 racing season.

A decision regarding the future of the track will be made in “early 2019,” according to an official announcement made on Aug. 13.

It marks the third time in the history of the track, which first opened in 1968 as Yuma Speedway, that it has been closed indefinitely. Original owner Frank Golden closed the track following the 1979 season and it did not reopen until 1989, after it was is purchased and renovated by Yuma contractor Jerry Thomas. The track was then sold to Dome Valley farmer Ronnie Moore, who closed it following the 1999 season.

The Cocopah Tribe purchased the track from Moore in 2005 and reopened it in 2010 after extensive work to repair 11 years of weather damage and extensive vandalism.

The 2018 season began in January and the last race in the Cocopah Speedway Racing Series before the annual summer break was on May 12. At that race, then general manager Tom Dalen announced at the drivers meeting that contrary to what might have heard, the track would reopen on Sept. 29, the