Latest news with #DanLovenheim
NBC Sports
2 days ago
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Rockingham Speedway listed for sale
Less than six weeks after hosting the return of the NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series, Rockingham Speedway is for sale. It is listed by CBRE, a real estate and investment company. The Charlotte Observer first reported the sale. 'We've basically taken it in first gear as far as we can go, building it out, getting it ready for bigger and better hands,' Dan Lovenheim, who purchased the track in August 2018, told The Charlotte Observer. 'And the time is right to pass the baton to someone who can take it farther than we can.' No price is listed for the facility. Rockingham Speedway hosted the NASCAR Cup Series from 1965-2004 and the Xfinity Series from 1982-2004 before those race dates went away. The track, located about 90 minutes east of Charlotte, North Carolina, hosted the Truck Series in 2012 and 2013 before going away. Lovenheim made several upgrades to the track after purchasing it and the Xfinity and Truck Series returned this year to much fanfare. In the offering memorandum by CBRE, it states a three-year 'existing agreement' with NASCAR for Rockingham Speedway to host the Xfinity and Truck Series in 2025, '26 and '27. NASCAR has not announced any 2026 or 2027 dates. The Charlotte Observer reported that a NASCAR spokesperson stated that no agreement had been signed with Rockingham for 2026 and beyond.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Rockingham Speedway up for sale after NASCAR return
A month after hosting a NASCAR Trucks and Xfinity race for the first time in over a decade, Rockingham Speedway is up for sale, according to Channel 9's partners at the Charlotte Observer. The speedway is listed by CBRE Group, which is a commercial real estate services and investment firm. Racetrack owner Dan Lovenheim confirmed to the Observer he is selling the track. Advertisement The track held a Truck Series race, an Xfinity Series race, and an ARCA race on Easter weekend. The NASCAR Cup Series left the track in 2004, and while Rockingham held several races in other series, Rockingham stayed vacant throughout the 2010s after its final race in 2013. ALSO READ: Prime Video's first NASCAR race averages 2.72 million viewers, younger audience 'We've basically taken it in first gear as far as we can go, building it out, getting it ready for bigger and better hands,' Lovenheim told The Charlotte Observer. 'And the time is right to pass the baton to someone who can take it farther than we can.' A new buyer will be selected by the 1st of July and there is now an open offer period. (WATCH BELOW: Former Mallard Creek star takes break from NFL for first youth football camp in Charlotte)
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
'Really fast. Crazy. Wild.' NASCAR Rockingham Test Brings Back Memories
Rockingham, which opened in 1965, was a bedrock stock car racing facility. Rockingham, originally known as North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway, eventually became lost in the shadows. Cup and Xfinity races declined. NASCAR left in 2004. Rockingham Speedway is the race track that will never go away. Fast cars (and trucks) were on its 1.017-mile surface once again on Jan. 28, NASCAR drivers testing vehicles (and themselves) on a track that hadn't had NASCAR thunder since 2013. The Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series are scheduled to race at Rockingham, N.C., April 18-19, and the series ran test laps. Rockingham, which opened in 1965, was a bedrock stock car racing facility. Located in the North Carolina Sandhills in an area off the beaten path, the facility attracted representative crowds for decades despite its challenging geography. Rockingham, originally known as North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway, eventually became lost in the shadows as NASCAR sought bigger and brighter locations, and attendance for Cup and Xfinity races declined. NASCAR left in 2004. NASCAR driver Andy Hillenburg, along with a group of investors, bought the track in 2007 and began a series of improvements to a facility that was showing its age. The Automobile Racing Club of America raced at the track from 2008 to 2011, and NASCAR made a tentative return in 2012 with the Truck Series. That brief experiment ended the next year, however, and Rockingham again was mostly forgotten until Rockingham Properties, led by North Carolina businessman Dan Lovenheim, bought the facility in 2018. The group began renovations that eventually attracted the attention of NASCAR. It's the first motorsports venture for the Raleigh, N.C.-based Lovenheim. Rockingham's latest chance for redemption arrives Easter weekend, and the hope in these parts is that the Cup Series eventually will bring the big circus to town again. NASCAR races delivered significant revenue to nearby towns, including Southern Pines, known for the rest of the year for golf. With NASCAR experimenting with both the old and the new—racing at ancient Bowman Gray Stadium and Mexico City this year, for examples, no idea seems too remote to earn consideration around the scheduling table. The quality of the Xfinity and Truck races and the level of attendance will be major considerations as NASCAR considers Rockingham for future dates. A crowd of several hundred spectators watched from the fourth-turn grandstand Tuesday as tests began at midday and stretched late into the afternoon. A few perhaps remembered Benny Parsons winning the Cup championship in dramatic fashion here in 1973 or Bobby Allison taking a wild, tumbling ride down the backstretch in 1976 or one of Richard Petty's record 11 Rockingham wins, the last coming in 1983. 'It's just like old Rockingham,' said Terry Brewer, sporting a Joey Logano shirt and watching from outside turn four. 'I remember what it was like here when there were big crowds and the racing was great. It's a short track, but the speeds always were fast. Some of the races got really long, but it was always a good time. There were some great finishes.' 'Fast' was the operative word Tuesday as drivers described their first laps around the track, which was repaved in 2022. The banking and turn exits lead to quick laps for such a small track. 'Really fast. Crazy. Wild,' said Cup regular Ross Chastain. 'It felt like the speeds at Dover or Atlanta. I had to lift, but there's a lot of long-throttle time. I was hanging on during that first run. It was happening fast.' Chastain ran in a Truck race at Rockingham in 2012. Despite the repave, the track is similar, he said. 'It has a lot of the same characteristics,' he said. 'They must not have disturbed a lot of the dirt when they put the new paving down, so they've kept some of the characteristics. And the groove is already widening out. The corner speeds are high, and the cars are already moving around.'
