NASCAR's iconic Rockingham Speedway to be auctioned off

A notice of foreclosure sale filed in Richmond County (N.C.) Superior Court last week declares the iconic NASCAR track will be sold to the highest bidder at a public auction on May 5.

From 1965 through 2004 Rockingham Speedway hosted races in NASCAR’s premier Cup series.

According to a report Tuesday by The (Rockingham) Daily Journal, the auction will include “the real property, together with all rights, privileges and appurtenances thereto … and the personal property described in the deed of trust.”

Former Cup driver Andy Hillenburg and partner Bill Silas bought the track for $4 million in 2007 from Speedway Motorsports Inc., which bought the facility from the International Speedway Corp. in 2004.

SMI moved the Cup race from Rockingham to Texas as part of a settlement in an SMI shareholder lawsuit, leaving the track void of NASCAR events at the time.

Hillenburg could not be reached for comment Tuesday night by Motorsport.com.

Hillenburg and Silas re-opened the 1-mile track, located about 90 miles southeast of Charlotte, in 2012 and the track hosted its first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. The event, won by Kasey Kahne, was considered a success with a near-capacity crowd on hand.

Attendance was down at the following year’s race, won by Kyle Larson, but the venue was still considered to have been successful enough to continue on the series schedule.

In mid-2014, Hillenburg admitted “a number of issues” had to be resolved between he and Silas before races could be hosted at the facility again. The track’s future has been in limbo ever since, held up in numerous court proceedings until foreclosure sale date was announced last week.