One of the hottest topics in drag racing last season revolved around the imminent closure of the beloved Gateway International Raceway just across the mighty Mississippi from downtown St. Louis, Missouri. And subsequently, that chatter spilled over into the off season as racers and fans discussed what might become of the midwest drag racing staple following it’s ceased operations back in October. While the names of many interested buyers – hailing from both stateside and beyond – have been rumored, the most likely candidate has been that of the management group behind the Palm Beach International Raceway in Florida.
Headed up by CEO and seasoned motorsports executive Jason Rittenberry, the PBIR group recently acquired at auction another former Dover Motorsports holding, the Memphis Motorsports Park, with plans to bring the longtime racing landmark back to life. And that they have done, already announcing the addition of an ADRL event and a possible IHRA Nitro Jam in the near future.
Rittenberry and the PBIR group have been very open about their desire to add the Gateway facility to their lineup, and in a recent interview with Bret Kepner on the ADRL Drag Racing Live radio show, Jason shared their ongoing plans to make the acquisition. Dover Motorsports has reportedly walked way from the facility completely, relinquishing the their parcel of the land and the leases on the other parcels to the four other entities that share ownership of the land that the track sits on.
When questioned by Kepner as to the ongoing rumors of a Gateway acquisition, Rittenberry stated “that’s the goal. That’s been the goal for six to eight months now. Now the possibility for us purchasing the facility is even more positive than it was when we working with Dover Motorsports. We’re now working directly with the land owners, and we have been in discussions with them over the last three days this week. That’s our goal, and that’s our hope, and really what we’re working toward is to purchase that facility as we have Memphis and get it back open and running with drag racing in the midwest.”
While the future of Gateway seems promising given the great success that Rittenberry and company have already achieved with the rebirth of their other two facilities, there are still hurdles to climb in this latest venture. Namely, the $2.5 million in taxes for 2010 owed to St. Clair County and $10,000 for three other parcels located in Madison County. The PBIR group and the land owners are in discussions with the local governments and tax agencies to find a compromise on the tax situation that brought the track down to begin with in order to make it viable and profitable in the future.
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