Like a real-life Rocky Balboa’ Andy Hillenburg refuses to stay down. After spending the last seven years battling to revive the legendary Rockingham Speedway’ the former ARCA racing champion has taken his share of lumps. Hillenburg and his partners returned NASCAR racing to The Rock in 2012’² when the track hosted an event on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The Trucks raced there again in late 2013’² but a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East event scheduled for November of last year was cancelled’ with the sanctioning body saying that the track ‘failed to meet its obligations.’ Since then’ there has been little in the way of good news from the Richmond County oval. Until [now]. Battered’ bloodied’ but unbowed’ Hillenburg climbed off the canvas yet again ‘¦.’ confirming that after a hearing in Richmond County Superior Court’ a new plan is in place to save the track from financial receivership. Farmers and Merchants Bank of Salisbury’ NC’ had asked that the track be placed into receivership as a first-step toward seizing control of the facility and putting it up for auction. However’ with the assistance of a group of advisors’ Hillenburg has assembled a new business plan that he hopes will put the speedway back on solid financial ground. ‘We went in front of a judge recently and presented our proposal” said Hillenburg. ‘We explained that we need 90 days to perform the necessary due diligence’ and he issued a Bridge Order to continue the case until today. Now’ he has approved our request’ and the speedway will remain in our hands.’ Hillenburg stressed that the deal is not yet complete’ saying’ ‘Our request was for the procedings to be delayed’ in order to allow us to assemble a new financial plan. We now have until Jan. 1’² 2015 to finalize a workable financial plan with our new partners. Our goal is to return racing to The Rock’ put the track on solid financial footing and continue to make a positive contribution to our community.’(Godfather Motorsports)(10-16-2014)
UPDATE: The Rockingham Speedway, formerly the North Carolina Speedway, is going to be sold for the second time in less than a decade because its current owners have run into financial trouble. Back in 2012, Andy Hillenburg did what a lot of people thought was impossible and brought NASCAR racing back to a track that it left. The NASCAR truck series came back in 2013, but didn’t get a race date this year. NASCAR also cancelled a minor league event there as well. Now we know the track has hit hard times. Court documents now show Hillenburg and his co-owners owe more than $4 million in loans and taxes, and the bank threatened to foreclose. To avoid that, Hillenburg agreed last week to sell or auction off the track. NBC Charlotte was unable to contact the owners on Monday, but court documents say there has to be a sale or auction in place by the first of the year, and a new owner in place by March 15, 2015. Hillenburg paid a little more than $4 million to buy the track at auction in 2007.(WCNC)
