ISC really screwed up in Pikes Peak

ISC really screwed up when they bought Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) if they thought they could really shutter it to kill competition for a track they still hope to build closer to Denver as this article says.

A company formed by South Carolina businessmen has paid $9 million for the shuttered Pikes Peak International Raceway, which is scheduled to host its first race in more than three years on Labor Day weekend.

Pikes Peak Raceway Inc. of Greenville, S.C., bought the 12-year-old track and 1,115 surrounding acres in Fountain on June 24 from a subsidiary of Daytona Beach, Fla.-based International Speedway Corp. Pikes Peak Raceway immediately transferred parts of the property into three other companies all formed by the same group of South Carolina businessmen, according to El Paso County land records.

One of those companies, Raceway 200 LLC, financed the purchase by borrowing $6.75 million for three years at a 6.54 percent interest rate from Chicago-based financial giant Northern Trust Co. Pikes Peak Raceway agreed to buy the property in June 2007.

Vincent Salas of Austin, Texas-based Salas Public Relations LLC, spokesman for the new owners, declined to comment on the sale or answer any questions about the owners or their plans for the track and surrounding land.

The track and surrounding land are adjacent to Fort Carson, which is expected to add 15,000 troops in the next five years. Of the 1,115 acres purchased in June, 640 are zoned for residential use.

Although the track can accommodate more than 40,000 fans, the track's future will not include major races because the sale included a condition that Pikes Peak International not host races with more than 5,000 fans if they are sanctioned by national motor sports groups such as NASCAR or the Indy Racing League and more than 10,000 for unsanctioned races. The restriction applies to all future owners of the track and surrounding land.

The National Auto Sport Association is renting the track's 1.3-mile round course for races involving 120-130 cars scheduled for the Labor Day weekend, said Revkah Balingit, an association regional director. The races are expected to draw crowds of 300-400, she said.

"A $12 million sale of the track fell through in February 2007 after the buyers, who were never identified, determined that Colorado Springs Utilities would have the right to buy back a 200-acre parcel used as a parking lot if the land use changed. A Utilities spokesman Friday said he did not have any information on whether the city-owned agency planned to buy back the land, or whether the buy-back provision had been triggered."