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Heartland Park To Continue To Hold Races
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Apparently, Heartland Park Topeka isn’t dead after all.
The embattled racing facility has been closed since the National Hot Rod Association put on the Mello Yello Racing Series Kansas Nationals in May, but the NHRA announced this week that it will go ahead with plans to host multi-state drag racing events at the track in August and September.
And longtime NHRA official Rob Park said he is confident Heartland Park Topeka, a major player in drag racing since it opened in 1989, has a future, even though there has been no indication who might be interested in taking over as track operator.
“I’ve been involved or at least kept abreast of everything that’s going to happen and that’s happening,” said Park, the NHRA Division V director. “So to me I think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel for (the racing community) if they’ll just be patient.
“That was one of the reasons why I was so adamant about going in and trying to produce these events without a track operator, to show these guys that there is going to be racing in Topeka this year and for years to come.”
The NHRA will host back-to-back Division V Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events August 13–14 and 15–16, following a test-n-tune session on August 12. The NHRA also plans to hold the Division V Summit Racing Series ET Finals at Heartland Park from September 18–20.
NHRA officials are hoping to draw 500 entries for the Division V events in August and perhaps as many as 600 cars for the ET Finals.
The future of the track has been in question since last season and particularly since the city council voted down a proposal for the city to purchase Jayhawk Racing LLC’s interest in the track. Raymond Irwin owns Jayhawk Racing.
Still, Park said the NHRA never seriously considered not holding its 2015 events at HPT.
“(We wanted) to show support for the racers in that area,” Park said. “They’re kind of in shambles right now not knowing what’s going to happen with Heartland Park Topeka and the facility, and we just wanted to prove to them the NHRA supports this event, the city of Topeka, the commerce of Topeka and everybody in that area.
“That race track is very, very important to us. It has a huge market share within the centralized part of the United States, and we just wanted to send a positive message to those people that have just been getting negative messages all of the time.”
The NHRA took over Heartland Park—which had been closed the entire 2015 season—over Memorial Day weekend to hold the track’s marquee event, the Kansas Nationals, and Park said his organization was very pleased with the results of that event despite rain off and on throughout the event.
“The racing was phenomenal,” Park said. “We set national records there and the crowd was decent, particularly for the weather. I think overall the event, particularly with what we were handed, was a phenomenal success.”
The NHRA will be responsible for the expenses incurred with the operation of the Division V events in August and September, and Park said everyone involved has been cooperative in helping the NHRA hold the events—which will draw competitors from all over the United States.
“We are working with every party that’s involved,” Park said, “and it’s kind of fun because everybody’s kind of pitching in. Everybody wants to pitch in and make this thing happen.”
Earlier this year, the Topeka city council voted 6-4 in opposition to moving forward with a plan to purchase Jayhawk Racing’s interest in HPT. The city would have contracted with Shelby LLC, a company formed by Missouri real estate developer Chris Payne, to run the facility.
While the city owns the Heartland Park property, Jayhawk Racing LLC has more than $2 million in reversionary interest in the track and CoreFirst Bank & Trust has loaned Irwin and Jayhawk Racing LLC millions of dollars since he began managing the track in 2003. Between $1.5 million and $2.1 million is still owed to the bank.
CoreFirst reportedly has been talking with potential new track operators since the city proposal was voted down.
The embattled racing facility has been closed since the National Hot Rod Association put on the Mello Yello Racing Series Kansas Nationals in May, but the NHRA announced this week that it will go ahead with plans to host multi-state drag racing events at the track in August and September.
And longtime NHRA official Rob Park said he is confident Heartland Park Topeka, a major player in drag racing since it opened in 1989, has a future, even though there has been no indication who might be interested in taking over as track operator.
“I’ve been involved or at least kept abreast of everything that’s going to happen and that’s happening,” said Park, the NHRA Division V director. “So to me I think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel for (the racing community) if they’ll just be patient.
“That was one of the reasons why I was so adamant about going in and trying to produce these events without a track operator, to show these guys that there is going to be racing in Topeka this year and for years to come.”
The NHRA will host back-to-back Division V Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events August 13–14 and 15–16, following a test-n-tune session on August 12. The NHRA also plans to hold the Division V Summit Racing Series ET Finals at Heartland Park from September 18–20.
NHRA officials are hoping to draw 500 entries for the Division V events in August and perhaps as many as 600 cars for the ET Finals.
The future of the track has been in question since last season and particularly since the city council voted down a proposal for the city to purchase Jayhawk Racing LLC’s interest in the track. Raymond Irwin owns Jayhawk Racing.
Still, Park said the NHRA never seriously considered not holding its 2015 events at HPT.
“(We wanted) to show support for the racers in that area,” Park said. “They’re kind of in shambles right now not knowing what’s going to happen with Heartland Park Topeka and the facility, and we just wanted to prove to them the NHRA supports this event, the city of Topeka, the commerce of Topeka and everybody in that area.
“That race track is very, very important to us. It has a huge market share within the centralized part of the United States, and we just wanted to send a positive message to those people that have just been getting negative messages all of the time.”
The NHRA took over Heartland Park—which had been closed the entire 2015 season—over Memorial Day weekend to hold the track’s marquee event, the Kansas Nationals, and Park said his organization was very pleased with the results of that event despite rain off and on throughout the event.
“The racing was phenomenal,” Park said. “We set national records there and the crowd was decent, particularly for the weather. I think overall the event, particularly with what we were handed, was a phenomenal success.”
The NHRA will be responsible for the expenses incurred with the operation of the Division V events in August and September, and Park said everyone involved has been cooperative in helping the NHRA hold the events—which will draw competitors from all over the United States.
“We are working with every party that’s involved,” Park said, “and it’s kind of fun because everybody’s kind of pitching in. Everybody wants to pitch in and make this thing happen.”
Earlier this year, the Topeka city council voted 6-4 in opposition to moving forward with a plan to purchase Jayhawk Racing’s interest in HPT. The city would have contracted with Shelby LLC, a company formed by Missouri real estate developer Chris Payne, to run the facility.
While the city owns the Heartland Park property, Jayhawk Racing LLC has more than $2 million in reversionary interest in the track and CoreFirst Bank & Trust has loaned Irwin and Jayhawk Racing LLC millions of dollars since he began managing the track in 2003. Between $1.5 million and $2.1 million is still owed to the bank.
CoreFirst reportedly has been talking with potential new track operators since the city proposal was voted down.
