Rockingham gets a race and more

Wednesday, Apr. 23, 2008

By Andy Cagle

To most people, auto racing is simply a sport.

But in Richmond County, N.C., home of the Rockingham Dragway and the one-mile oval formerly known as the North Carolina Speedway, racing has been part of the economic lifeblood of the community for the better part of four decades.

So, understandably, the county and the region took quite a hit in 2004 when NASCAR and Speedway Motorsports Inc.'s Bruton Smith moved Rockingham's races to points west.

“Everybody here saw a decrease when NASCAR left,” said Richmond County Economic Developer Rick Sago.

“The exact impact is hard to calculate, but losing NASCAR definitely didn’t help the economic situation in the county and the region.”

Couple the loss of tourism dollars with the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs regionally over the last decade and it creates an unenviable economic situation.

Fast forward to Oct. 2, 2007.

SMI, which acquired North Carolina Speedway from International Speedway Corp. in the deal that ultimately led to the loss of the track’s NASCAR dates, sold the track at auction - after deeming it terminally unprofitable - to former driver Andy Hillenburg for $4.4 million.

On the day of the auction, Hillenburg promised to return racing to the track.

“We will definitely have racing here in the next 13 months,” Hillenburg told the assembled crowd after the auction.

With that statement, Hillenburg began restoring hope to a community.

“The folks in Rockingham, and race fans everywhere, should be excited about Andy Hillenburg purchasing the North Carolina Speedway," said Rockingham Mayor Gene McLaurin. “I’m ecstatic, I’ll tell you that.”

Shortly after closing on the transaction to buy the track, Hillenburg announced that he had entered into an agreement for the track to host an ARCA/REMAX Series race in 2008.

That race is scheduled for May 4.

Local leaders are looking for an economic boost from the return of stock car racing to the newly rechristened Rockingham Speedway.

“Racing is going to bring some direct revenue,” Sago said. “Hotels are going to be full. Grocery stores are going to see increased sales. There will definitely be money spent here that wouldn’t have been spent otherwise.”

In addition to the increased retail business and hotel occupancy, the reopening of the speedway, has positively impacted the employment situation.

According to Hillenburg, the speedway has created 10 full-time and 20 part-time jobs and will employ more than 200 people over the course of the race weekend.

Even before the scheduled races, the economic impact has reached beyond the county lines.

“The race is a three day event,” Hillenburg told the Laurinburg Rotary.

“A typical racing team will rent six to seven hotel rooms, and Richmond County hotels are already full for racing weekend. The racing crowd is branching out to Scotland and Moore counties now, and we have placed icons on our website to steer people here.”

Laurinburg is located in Scotland County, immediately east of Richmond County.

While the economic impact is undeniable, many in the area have focused on the return of racing to Rockingham as more of boost to community pride.

“The people of Rockingham are proud to have another chance,” said McLaurin. “Rockingham has a chance to regain its place in the racing world.

"Racing means a lot to who we are as a community. The people here didn’t accept the closing of the track and fought to do something about it.”

According to McLaurin, Hillenburg has been a perfect fit for the community and the track.

“There are a lot of parallels between our story and Andy’s,” said McLaurin. “This is not a real glamorous place, but it is home to many hardworking, down-to-earth people. People like Andy Hillenburg.

“What we need now is for people to come out in force to help us continue what Andy has helped us rebuild.”

Andy Cagle is a freelance writer from Southern Pines, N.C.

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