Jacksonville group to take over Quincy Raceways
Quincy, Ill (September 8, 2013) – A new team of promoters will be running Quincy Raceways in 2014.
Sunday night a tentative deal had been reached between a three-man group from Jacksonville, Ill., and the track’s current ownership tandem of Paul Holtschlag and Bob Rhinberger.
Last Chance Promotion (LCP) — which consists of Mike Wankel, Tom Casson and Ken Dobson — will be taking over the track once legal counsel on both sides finishes the necessary paperwork. LCP will lease the 20-acre facility at 8000 Broadway. The deal is expected to be concluded around mid-October.
The track was put on the market July 28.
LCP took over the Jacksonville Speedway in 2012 after that quarter-mile facility was on the verge of closing and in less than two seasons has turned it into successful and popular attraction. The track is scheduled to host a World of Outlaws sprint-car show in 2014.
“There will be some big shows coming to Quincy in the future,” Dobson said Sunday night. “Quincy Raceways is a track with a rich history of great racing, great race fans and great support from the community. The track has the ability to be considered one of the premier dirt-track racing venues in the Midwest.”
Dobson is also the director of the Midwest Open Wheel Association (MOWA), which fields the big-motored 410 sprints that appeared at Quincy Raceways Sept. 1.
Quincy Raceways will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year and the LCP partners said they are anxious to start planning for that historic season.
“We will look at all options to provide the best racing and best entertainment possible,” Wankel said. “We’re all dirt-track fans who have also owned race cars. We don’t want to see dirt tracks (disappear).”
Holtschlag and Rhinberger were equally pleased a deal had been reached, although no terms on the lease — length or dollar amount — were made public. When Holtschlag and Rhinberger put the track up for sale, lease or lease to buy in late July they stated it could be leased for $36,000 per year.
“I want to see racing here,” Holtschlag said. “I just don’t have the time to devote to it any longer.”
Holtschlag said at the time the track was put on the market if no deal could be reached by next season Quincy Raceways would be closed, except for a handful of special shows. But he insisted that he was confident another party could be found to operate the .29-mile, semi-banked track and devote the necessary attention the entire facility needed.
Five parties expressed interest in the track by early August, but that list was quickly trimmed to two serious inquiries. By the first of September, it was LCP showing the most interest and a sincere desire to take over the track, according to Holtschlag.
“Everyone we have talked with in Quincy, from people in the community to the racers themselves, have been cooperative and excellent to work with,” Dobson said. “Everyone wants to see Quincy Raceways succeed. We want to build a spirit of cooperation between all involved.”
Dobson said as soon as the legal work is out of the way, plans for 2014 will begin so drivers and fans alike will know what to expect next season.
Holtschlag and Rhinberger were the sixth ownership group to oversee the track, and the fourth since January 2007 when Bob Scott sold the site to Tony Rhinberger and Mike Karhoff. The sale ended the Scott family’s 32-year association with the track. The late Albert Scott, who died at age 87 in August 2000, founded the track in 1975 and was directly involved in its operation until three years before his death.
Category: Illinois, Quincy Raceway
