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West Valley City Journal

RMR announces that 2018 is its final season

Apr 03, 2018 04:36PM ● By Greg James

RMR Caption: The final season at Rocky Mountain Raceway has a jam-packed schedule of big events. (Action Sports Photography)

The 2018 summer racing season will be the last at West Valley City’s Rocky Mountain Raceway.

The 50-acre property where RMR stands was sold to Freeport West in 2014 and a five-year lease to continue racing operations was negotiated in order for the facility to continue serving racers and fans. That lease will expire at the end of the 2018 season. 

“We’ve invested a great deal in the racing community and aren’t walking away from that,” Spencer Young Sr. said in a press release. “We will continue to sponsor racers and support racing.”

The Young Automotive Group explored different avenues to extend the life of the track. They looked into purchasing new property to build another facility. They also contacted the State of Utah and West Valley City to gauge interest in a public joint venture, but the company ultimately decided to close the track.

“Since the venue opened so many memories and lifelong friendships have been created,” RMR General Manager Mike Eames said. “I am proud of the 22 years and historic racing and family memories we’ve made. We invite everyone to come out and celebrate with us during our final season.”

The multi-purpose racing facility has many large events scheduled for its final go around. The NHRA sanctioned drag strip, motocross track and super oval schedules are filled with opportunities to experience their “need for speed.”

The motocross track opens its season with several events in April. The drag strip will open May 4 and the oval May 5.

The drag strip schedule includes its first midnight drags event Friday May 4. Gates open at 7 p.m. and cars will be on track at 9 p.m. This is an opportunity for the fans to race in the safe environment of a track instead of the street. These events are also paired with the Salt City Drifters club racing on the oval.

On May 26, the Heritage Funny Cars will be part of May Madness at the track. This event features cars on both the drag strip and oval the same night. The track also reintroduced its widely popular Fox Hunt on June 9, with ladies receiving free admission that day.

The quarter-mile track is scheduled to finish its season with the Night of Fire and they expect more than a dozen jet cars Sept. 15.

The motocross track has scheduled its Pro Day Challenge with over $10,000 in purse money up for grabs July 20. The event will include downhill mini Jeep races and a slowest rider competition.

The oval has scheduled a large winged sprint car event Sept. 1. The Salt City 100 should draw cars from across the western United States. They also have penciled in the Clash of the Titans monster truck event for Aug. 11 and 12.

They will host the longtime Utah Copper Classic with super modified racing and fireworks Saturday, July 7.

The first documented racing in Utah was in 1912 at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Its history has included a track near downtown at the fairgrounds, Bonneville raceway where RMR currently stands, the closed Suntanna raceway in Springville, Utah, Motorsports Park in Tooele and dirt tracks in Delta, Ephriam and Price.

A full track schedule and more information can be found on their website www.rmrracing.com