Penske assumes control of Rockingham

Report from Motorsport News International

Here are the details of the agreement

NASCAR Public Relations

Penske to assume control of "The Rock"

DETROIT (April 11, 1997) Penske Motorsports, Inc. has entered into a definitive option and voting agreement with Carrie B. DeWitt, who owns approximately 65 percent of the stock of North Carolina Motor Speedway, Inc., in Rockingham, N.C. Penske Motorsports (PMI) proposed the merger with North Carolina Motor Speedway for consideration by the speedway's Board of Directors at a meeting of the Board of Directors held Wednesday. In the merger, each stockholder of North Carolina Motor Speedway would receive, at their option, either $18.61 in cash per share of stock or that number of shares of PMI stock equal to $18.61 multiplied by the shares of speedway stock owned, divided by $30. The cash price of $18.61 per share is an increase of $4.61 per share over the cash price previously announced. The agreement is, and the merger would be, subject to customary conditions. DeWitt has agreed to vote her shares in favor of the merger and to exchange her shares in North Carolina Motor Speedway for shares in Penske Motorsports Inc. if the merger takes place. DeWitt has also granted Penske an option to purchase her shares of the speedway in exchange for approximately 906,542 shares of PMI stock. North Carolina Motor Speedway, a one-mile oval track located in Rockingham, N.C., was constructed in 1965 by a group of local investors, including Carrie B. DeWitt and her husband, the late L.G. DeWitt. The speedway promotes two NASCAR Winston Cup Series events, the GM Goodwrench Service 400, run Feb. 23, and the ACDelco 400, scheduled for Oct. 26. "The Rock" also hosts two NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division events, the GM Goodwrench Service 200, run on Feb. 22, and the ACDelco 200, set for Oct. 25. Rockingham is also the site for the Unocal Rockingham World Pit Crew Championship in October, the only NASCAR sanctioned pit crew event. The track has 42,951 reserved and 3,000 unreserved grandstand seats, and 33 luxury boxes. Penske Motorsports Inc. already owns Michigan Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, Pa., and the new California Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

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