Plans to bring racing back to Rockingham Speedway have hit a wall. James Martin, of Level 1 Motorsports in Union County, announced on Facebook Monday night that the inaugural season for the X-Cup Series ‘is at least temporarily on hold.’ An open test was planned for this coming Sunday so drivers could get their cars on the track to prepare for the opening race on April 23 – the first scheduled at the storied speedway in three years. Martin said he learned speedway co-owner Bill Silas – who holds the lien on the property and is a partner with Andy Hillenburg in Rockingham Raceway Park LLC, which owns the track – terminated the lease Vets-Help.org had signed with Hillenburg. ‘I was kind of as blown away as anybody else,’ he said. Martin then called the drivers to tell them the news. ‘I did what I felt was best.’ However, Craig Northacker says the lease is still valid and a purchase agreement is in negotiation. ‘As far as I’m concerned, we’re still on track to do what we’re going to do,’ said Northacker, executive director of Vets-Help. Despite the caution flags, Jim Blankenbaker [vice president of operations and development for Vets-Help] said he and Curt Trent – who was vice president of motorsports and automotive programs – are still trying to move forward and there are ‘conversations going on trying to salvage something in 2016,’ which could possibly include the X-Cup Series. ‘If there’s a way to do something, we’re doing it,’ he said. ‘There’s too much synergy not to be able to pull something off.’ Records with the Richmond County tax office show a payment of $11,350.61 – $9,324.91 for taxes plus $1,965.70 in interest and a $60 lien cost – was made March 21. Another payment of $47,189 was made Tuesday, zeroing out the speedway tax bill.(Richmond County Daily Journal)(4-7-2016)
