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Junior interested in buying Memphis Motorsports Park?
By admin | November 24, 2009
By Richard Allen
On October 30, 2009 Dover Motorsports, Inc. announced their intention to essentially shut down the Memphis Motorsports Park. That site contains a .75 mile asphalt track, a drag racing facility and a dirt oval. According to the press release issued by the management of DMI they planned to move already scheduled Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series events to other facilities owned by that company.
Immediately after the announcement of the track’s shut down, rumors surfaced that Sheik Khalin bin Hamad Al-Thani of the middle eastern nation of Qatar might be interested in buying the facility. The sheik is partnered with drag racer Alan Johnson in an NHRA team that fields both top fuel and funny car drag racing teams.
Now, a second and seemingly unrelated rumor has circulated from the same source as the previous gossip. The drag racing world is passing around the story that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. may be part of a group looking to buy the abandoned facility.
Often times these rumors emerge from the hopes someone may have for keeping a favorite track alive. Or, the rumors may simply be the product of people with nothing better to do than come up with things to talk about. Or, there is always the possibility that there is some basis for this speculation.
As with the rumors involving the sheik buying MMP, this appears to be the product of one of the first two options mentioned above. It would seem highly unlikely that either party mentioned would be interested in the purchase of this facility. However, the rumor is out there and there is always at least the possibility that the third option mentioned is the case.
Why would Junior be interested in MMP? That is especially questionable given the fact that the track’s NASCAR dates have been moved and the NHRA does not list Memphis on their 2010 schedule.
This is merely being reported as a rumor I have heard. In all likelihood that is all it will amount to. But if it comes to pass, just remember you heard it here first. (Please take that last statement in the tongue-in-cheek way it was intended.)
Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly column appears in The Mountain Press every Wednesday.
Topics: ALL ARTICLES | 1 Comment »
November 24th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Dale Jr., Kelley and Kerry Earnhardt were part of a group looking to build the Alabama Motorsports Park just north of Mobile, AL. http://www.alabamamotorsportspark.com/ AMP has been in negotiations with Dover to purchase MMP for some time now. I suspect that that is where this rumor originated. However, the Earnhardts have parted ways with AMP. Supposedly the parting was mutual and amicable. I can’t see AMP purchasing anything right now considering that they don’t even have their own facility built out yet. If AMP ever gets their facility built, no one will be more surprised than me. I’d be even more surprised if they follow through with the purchase of MMP.