New ownership confident it will revive NHRA Kansas Nationals

Coughlin at Topeka in 2013

After nearly two years in limbo, Heartland Park Topeka has new ownership.

That should excite local race fans as it virtually guarantees the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will return to the Topeka drag strip for its annual Memorial Day race weekend.

Monopoly Acquisitions LLC in Raytown signed a contract with CoreFirst Bank & Trust to take possession of the 650-acre facility, Heartland Park’s new owner Chris Payne told The Star on Thursday by phone.

“It’s a done deal," said Payne, a real-estate developer from Kansas City. “There were a few contingencies in the last 10 days or so, but they’ve all been taken care of."

CoreFirst took possession of the facility earlier this year with former owner Raymond Irwin in default. He didn’t open Heartland Park for the 2015 season.

The NHRA stepped up and staged the Kansas Nationals on its own last May, but vowed that it would not do it again.

Heartland Park wasn’t put on the 2016 schedule, which was released in September, but the NHRA kept Memorial Day weekend open in hopes new ownership could be found and the event could be revived.

That day apparently has arrived.

Payne said he anticipated a deal Thursday during a conference call with the NHRA that would keep the Mello Yello Series at Heartland Park Topeka “for many years to come."

“We were out there all day (Wednesday) sizing up what needs to be done and engaging contractors, because there’s some deferred maintenance," Payne said. “It’s not deceitful stuff, but stuff that happens when you buy a property from the bank. We’re quite certain (the NHRA will return)."

There were a single-weekend record 15 Funny Car passes under 4 seconds during the 2014 Kansas Nationals and drivers raved about the 1,000-foot drag strip.

“It’s a great facility without a doubt, and it’s withstood the time pretty well," Payne said.

The track also serves as a critical hub for developmental and regional NHRA-affiliated racing.

Payne — who used to own Kansas City International Raceway before it was closed by the city — and his business partner, Todd Crossley, have long coveted Heartland Park Topeka, which opened in 1989.

Payne said a proposal to buy the track in May was scuttled when the Topeka City Council voted against buying Heartland Park from Irwin with STAR bonds.

Payne and Crossley assumed the deal was dead.

Another ownership group — Heartland USA LLC, which was spearheaded by Minnesota businessman Jim Farnum — entered talks to purchase the track last summer, but negotiations broke down Wednesday night, according to Rick Peterson at the Topeka Capital-Journal.

“The bank called a couple weeks ago and asked if I was still interested," Payne said. “We’ve stayed in touch, and I said, ‘Yes, we still are, if it’s become a cleaner deal.’ I knew things were getting to the end with the Minnesota group. We stepped in, immediately contracted it and got it under control and are in the middle of finalizing a very long-term agreement with NHRA."

Reviving an agreement with the NHRA, which signed a new broadcast deal with Fox Sports in July, was Payne’s most immediate goal, but it’s not his only plan for Heartland Park.

“The agreement with NHRA was our first priority to get through, but Heartland has a lot more to offer than just the national event," Payne said. “That’s certainly the biggest event by far," but there’s still a 3/8 -mile dirt track and road/off-road races course along with campgrounds and several hundred undeveloped acres. Todd Palmer/Kansas City Star