A Richmond County Superior Court judge will hear a motion next week which, if granted, will allow The Finley Group – a managing agent for Farmers and Merchants Bank – to ‘take immediate and exclusive custody’ of Rockingham Speedway. The Salisbury, N.C.-based bank is also seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the track’s current co-owners Andy Hillenburg and Bill Silas from accessing the property located on U.S. 1 in Richmond County. The bank claims Rockingham Racing Park LLC, co-owned by Hillenburg and Silas, owes more then $4.5 million as of Aug. 8. The motion is set to be heard at 2:00pm Sept. 25.(Charlotte Observer)(9-19-2014)
UPDATE: An eleventh-hour deal that could save the Rockingham Speedway from foreclosure is in the works following closed-door negotiations Thursday. Superior Court Judge David Lee extended a temporary restraining order to allow attorneys for speedway co-owners Andy Hillenburg and Bill Silas more time to hammer out an agreement with Farmers & Merchants Bank of Salisbury that would stall foreclosure proceedings. Court filings show that lawyers for the speedway’s owners had been in discussions with the bank’s attorneys to sell the 1.017-mile track at a private auction under a forbearance agreement that would halt F&M’s seizure of the speedway property. F&M Bank attorney David M. Schilli requested the order on behalf of the plaintiffs and said the restraining order could be extended ‘for a very brief period of time so that we can go back and draw up another order that will be tendered to the court with all the parties’ consent.’ Hillenburg and Silas were required to turn over all locks, keys and access codes to the track while the bank’s verified complaint for default on a $4.2 million loan works its way through the court system. The bank and its management company may not ‘enter into any contracts for the marketing, listing or sale of the property’ while Lee’s Sept. 8 order is in force.(in part from the Richmond County Daily Journal)
