Officials announced in a one-sentence statement that the Irwindale Speedway will be closed down and the 2012 has been cancelled.

The general manager, Bob DeFazio and Jim Williams, owner of the facility, which cost approximately $10 million to build, operated the half-mile track that hosted weekly NASCAR events since it opened in 1999, reported the Orange County Register.

Apparently, money troubles contributed to the downfall of the Irwindale Speedway. They went out of business, said a prominent Irwindale racer who did not want to be identified, according to the Daily News.

Over the past few months, the speedway had many signs that pointed to closure. Car counts were down and sponsorships for teams became harder and harder to find. The 2011 season was cut short by two weeks and they even cancelled the awards banquet honoring the champions. A major blow to Irwindale came when Toyota chose to discontinue their sponsorship of the track at the end of the 2011 season.

On Saturday, the grandstands were taken down, the offices at the track were cleaned out, and the track's website has shutdown reported ESPN.

The track hosted NASCAR late model races, K&N Pro Series races, USAC Midget and Sprint Car races, Legends Cars, stock car and truck races.

Kurt Busch won the NASCAR Elite Division Southwest Tour race at the track in its first season. Joey Logano won two NASCAR All-Star Showdown races at Irwindale, according to ESPN.

Besides racing events, Irwindale was also the site for film making and commercial shoots, driving schools, and private testing.

L.A. Racing Experience is a driving school Irwindale Speedway. However, the CEO said he does not expect there to be any loss in revenue for his company.

We look forward to working with the next owner for sure. I do not see racing finished here. I see too many people that love the sport, said Jim Cohan, according to ESPN.

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