Rumors have been swirling over the past several months that South Georgia Motorsports Park was facing legal issues and could potentially see a temporary closure. Former lease holders Kim and Rowland Wood were dealing with some fairly significant legal troubles and rumors ramped to a fever pitch last week when bankruptcy papers were discovered online.

Wade Rich (L) Donald Long (C) and Ozzy Moya celebrate the 5-year contract for Duck X Productions’ two-race series at SGMP.

However, to avoid a catastrophic closure, property owner Larry Dean basically purchased his own property back from the state by paying off the outstanding debts racked up by the Woodses to keep the property in his name. That was followed by an immediate purchase of the lease to the facility by Ozzy Moya, who also operates the famed Orlando Speed World Dragway.  Moya’s purchase should bring some much-needed stability to the Adel, Georgia facility and ensure racing continues for the foreseeable future.

Wade Rich, who is the general manager at Orlando, will coordinate and manage the major events to be held at SGMP, including Duck X Productions’ tandem of radial blowouts, Lights Out – taking place in just two short weeks – and No Mercy, which traditionally takes place in late September. Donald Long, the driving force behind Duck X Productions, admitted the timing was about as close as it could get.

“I was ready to get with Larry [Dean] and he and I run the whole deal ourselves. It would have been tough, but thankfully Ozzy stepped up for us BIG TIME,” said Long of the tight timeframe. “It’s great to have Wade [Rich] to help run Lights Out. He kind of prodded me into doing the first one of these races, and helped me out a lot; he prepped the track and ran the computers too!”

It was also announced that Long and the new management had reached a deal securing SGMP as the home of both Duck X events for the next five years, ensuring radial racing’s two largest events will have a home for at least that long.

At least one of the other major events planned for SGMP, the NHRA Lucas Oil Racing Series divisional event planned for next month, has been relocated to Gainesville Raceway to allow the facility to fully transition to its new staff. NHRA’s Division director Rich Schaefer said on NHRA’s Division 2 website that he fully expects the event to return to SGMP for the 2016 season. As of now, the remainder of the SGMP schedule is under review. We will pass along any updates as soon as they are made available.