Although Pacific Raceways, near Seattle, is on the auction block, President Jason Fiorito said the NHRA’s Northwest Nationals will be back for at least the 28th edition this August.
Fiorito and his family are offering the 320-acre, multi-use motorsports complex for an undisclosed price. And he said he has “one solid offer and few people circling around.”
What complicates any transaction is the Fiorito family’s desire to sell the property to someone committed to its vision of keeping the racing venues operating as the centerpiece of the “automotive and design technology campus” it had planned to build.
His Pacific Innovation Center proposal – 1.2 million square feet of commercial space dedicated to technology-based, racing-related advances – has gotten a “Project of Statewide Significance” designation from the State of Washington.
There’s a lot of elected officials that have put their necks out for us over the years. We feel like it’s our responsibility to do our best to maintain that facility that’s been there for generations. So that’s what we’re going to do. – Jason Fiorito“There are two things going on,” Fiorito said. “There’s money, and then there is responsibility. We feel like there’s a lot of people who have supported us through the years, and we owe them, keeping the racetrack. There’s a lot of elected officials that have put their necks out for us over the years. We feel like it’s our responsibility to do our best to maintain that facility that’s been there for generations. So that’s what we’re going to do.”
He said the Aug. 7-9 NHRA Northwest Nationals will take place as scheduled, as will the NHRA’s Lucas Oil Series divisional race just before that. He said he didn’t anticipate a deal within the next six months.
“It’s not a simple deal. We’re not just selling a racetrack,” Fiorito said. “What we’re selling is a racetrack in conjunction with the development rights that we perfected over the last 12 years.”
The most serious offer, he said, has been “on and off the table over the last month” and comes from a party that “doesn’t necessarily value that commercial development at the level that we do.” He said their terms are “a little bit too far apart” right now.
“There are four other deals that are in different stages of discussion. I won’t say that we’re in full-blown negotiations with any of them, but we’re in the information-gathering stage,” Fiorito said.
He said if the family receives multiple offers in the same price range, “we’re certainly going to go with somebody who’s going to keep it a racing facility.”
Meanwhile, Fiorito said, “We’re full-steam-ahead, racing surfaces all open for business.”
Photo courtesy NHRA/National Dragster
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