After spending much of his early career competing at Irwindale Speedway, Ryan Vargas is returning to the racetrack for its final Late Model event on December 21. The fan-favorite short track, based in California, will be hosting its final racing event later this month, with several classes competing around the half-mile track in its ‘Farewell Extravaganza’.
Vargas will get behind the wheel of the No. 23 Chevrolet in the event.
“It means the world,” Vargas told TobyChristie.com. “It’s no secret, Irwindale is probably my favorite short track that I’ve ever raced on. It’s up there on my list of favorite tracks, period. I’ve been fortunate to race at nearly every NASCAR track, as well as tracks over in Europe, and Irwindale is still near the top of that list because of how racy it is.”
“To go back to a track like that in its last ever race – and it seems like this one is real, you know, it seems like this is actually going to be the final race. For me, this is more of a just I want to be there situation. I want to do good, I want to race my tail off and get a good result, but you know, the number one thing to me was at least to get one more race under my belt there, no matter how it goes.”
The La Marida, California native says Irwindale having one final event on December 21 played perfectly into his ability to compete in the event, as he’ll be at home in California for the holidays anyway, allowing things to line up almost perfectly.
Swann Security will continue its relationship with Vargas in this Late Model event, serving as the primary sponsor. It’s the first time in nearly two seasons that the company has partnered with the 24-year-old in his racing endeavors.
“It’s great to have Swann Security back aboard,” Vargas said. “I have a great relationship with those folks. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to do any races in 2023 or [2024] on the NASCAR side, but I always made sure I kept a great relationship with those folks. It’s just business, it’s tough in the world of business, so for them to come back aboard, that says a lot about what our program has done.”
“Swann is able to see what we’ve done and they see the value in it and they want to come back and do some work with us. Yeah, it’s on the Late Model level, but at the end of the day, to have a sponsor return in any capacity is a huge deal.”
With this event being local to the state of California, Vargas has also brought on another brand-new sponsor in Sandy Vans, a company which is based in San Diego that produces custom luxury vans that you can camp in, explore in, or even do long road trips.
“Alan, the owner [of Sandy Vans] is actually a former racer himself, so it’s kind of funny how this all works out. We had toyed with the idea of working together for the last couple of months, and finally, when this opened up and it was within their market, it just made sense. So, just stoked to bring a new brand aboard and bring another company into the sport.”
This Late Model event at Irwindale Speedway, being close to the end of December, will indeed be the final race of the season for Vargas. So, with the 24-year-old being one of the most unpredictable drivers in NASCAR, what does next season hold for him?
“This is the earliest I’ve ever really known what I’m doing for the most part, which is great. I can’t really give any details as to what I’m doing right now, but I know I’ll be racing NASCAR,” Vargas exclaimed. “I know I’ll be doing a lot of different stuff yet again, so it’s gonna be a little bit of everything, I guess you could say.”
During the last couple of seasons, Vargas has been diversifying his racing resume quite a bit, between competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and last season, expanding his racing experience into the NASCAR Euro Series.
For the time being, it’s as simple as this: Ryan Vargas is doing whatever makes him the happiest.
