Reported by: Nathan Ledford
Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 @06:34pm
The Monroe Motor Speedway will soon be for sale.
This comes just three months after it was revealed that investors hadn’t been paying on the loan they took out to build the track.
So what does this mean for the future of the speedway and its race car drivers?
The Monroe Motor Speedway was supposed to be the area’s hot new attraction and money maker when it first opened two years ago.
But in a month the track is to be sold by the Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s Office.
And that has area race car drivers asking questions about their future in the business.
Wendy Merchant says her husband has had racing running through his blood almost his entire life mostly on dirt tracks
“Started out in street stock cars on dirt and worked his way up to dirt late models,” said Merchant
But Merchant says her husband put money into a new car for the hard track when Monroe Motor Speedway moved in two years ago.
You see merchant’s car every time you open the phonebook.
“Drove out there and got it and worked on it and we were in the asphalt racing business,” said Merchant.
But the track built for speed could be slowing down for good.
A sign at the track says it will be up for sale on March 17.
Just one year ago the NASCAR Whelen All American Series announced it was bringing racing to the Monroe Motor Speedway. Now the track sits empty and its flags lay tattered on the ground.
In November BizCapital, the financial institution that put up the loan to build the track said the speedway hadn’t paid its note in six months.
Those notes totaled $30 thousand of the $4.5 million loan.
Now BizCapital wants its money
“I’ve spoken with them a couple of times; I don’t think I’ll be ready to speak to them until we get close,” said Speedway Board Member Gus Campbell.
Gus Campbell is on the board of directors at the Monroe speedway.
“Try not to look back; look forward and we’ve got a new business plan, new projections,” said Campbell.
But Campbell wasn’t clear what that plan actually is.
When BizCapital made their announcement in November, Campbell vowed to raise money to pay off the loan.
He says that plan hasn’t changed.
“We’re doing everything we can to raise the money,” said Campbell.
Until then race car families like the Merchants say they’ll leave the hard track race car in park.
“You can’t make yourself dive off there and invest money in a racing side if you don’t know if you have a place to race it,” said Merchant.
Campbell tells me that he plans on meeting with the speedway board of directors Wednesday to discuss what can be done to save the speedway, but he says right now he can’t really make any promises.