Closing date on Memphis Motorsports Park sale extended to September
For the second time this year, Dover Motorsports has extended the closing date so Gulf Coast Entertainment can get the financing to purchase Memphis Motorsports Park. GCE is building Alabama Motorsports Park, a project that includes Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his siblings as investors.
Dover had agreed to sell the track for $10 million in January with a closing date scheduled for the end of April. The closing date was then extended to June 29, and Dover Motorsports filed a notice with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday indicating that it is in the process of negotiating an amendment to the purchase agreement to extend the closing date to Sept. 29.
“While we were not able to close the transaction on the timing previously announced, the parties are completing an extension for a revised closing date,” said Dover Motorsports Executive Vice President Michael Tatoian in a statement. “We remain optimistic that this transaction will close and look forward to continuing to work with GCE and their plans for continuing operations in Memphis and developing a fantastic project in Alabama.”
GCE has not broken ground on the Alabama complex, which is expected to include a 0.7-mile D-shaped oval.
“It’s still on paper yet,” Earnhardt Jr. said Thursday. “I don’t think they’ve hit earth yet. I guess they’re still trying to pull together investments and investors, and that has obviously slowed down for everybody. So it’s still on a rail, just taking a little longer to get there, I guess.”
Once the sale is complete, Dover Motorsports will operate Memphis Motorsports Park under an agreement with GCE, which could request realignment of the Truck and Nationwide races from Memphis to the Alabama track.
