ST. LOUIS — Residents and businesses across the St. Louis area are cleaning up after Thursday night's storms. One of those businesses is the World Wide Technology Raceway in the Metro East.
Video from the area Friday morning showed some of the bleachers at the raceway flipped onto the bleachers on the opposite side of the track.
An initial statement from the raceway said the storm's high winds caused "extensive and permanent damage" to the west grandstands of the dragstrip. The statement was later updated to remove the words, "extensive and permanent."
It's left local drag racers shocked.
"I was pretty shocked and kind of impressed to see the whole grandstands uprooted and laying on the surface of the track," Jeremy Mifflin said.
"I don't know that I've ever seen a whole grandstand flipped upside down on top of the middle of the track because that's a big, big area," Chris McCrossan said.
"As a result, the dragstrip will be inoperable this weekend while facility operations clear the track’s racing surface," the statement said Friday afternoon.
"I'm always upset when I can't go to the racetrack, so I'm bummed, but it's definitely understandable. "That's not going to be a quick cleanup," Mifflin said.
The closure affects two events: Friday night's Midnight Madness and Saturday’s VP Streetcars.
"I mean, this is an understandable, something that's uncontrollable, and it's now put us in a predicament of where are we going to race this weekend instead," McCrossan said.
McCrossan said some folks are upset about the Raceway's no-refund policy, but that doesn't mean people won't have another opportunity to attend an event.
"They don't leave you high and dry. They do actually move your payment or your current ticket to a future race down the road," said McCrossan.
The full statement from the raceway reads as follows:
"Severe storms on Thursday evening significantly impacted the St. Louis and Metro East, Illinois region. The west grandstands of the World Wide Technology Raceway dragstrip suffered extensive and permanent damage due to high winds. As a result, the dragstrip will be inoperable this weekend while facility operations clear the track’s racing surface.
"The drag racing activities scheduled for this weekend have been canceled. Tonight’s Midnight Madness and Saturday’s VP Streetcars events will not be rescheduled.
"This cancellation does not affect the April 27–28 Tough Mudder endurance obstacle event or the May 2-5 NMCA & NMRA Nationals drag races. Those events will take place as originally scheduled.
"The Gateway Kartplex, which was unaffected by the storm, will be open without interruption this weekend. The Kartplex will be open 12-7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 12-5 p.m. on Sunday."
Thursday's storm caused damage throughout the St. Louis area. The storm ripped the roof off a building at Brookdale Farms and downed power lines elsewhere in Jefferson County. A tornado was recorded touching down in Athensville Township, Illinois, in Greene County.
The National Weather Service has confirmed three tornados in the St. Louis area and is surveying the area to determine if other tornados touched down.
The next Midnight Madness is on May 17, and the VP Streetcar Series is on June 29.