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http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_20217667/nu-way-industries-back-control-speedway
Nu-Way Industries back in control of speedwayTrack owner gains clearance after bankruptcy ruling
Keith Lair, SGVNsgvtribune.com
Posted: 03/20/2012 06:09:52 PM PDT
LOS ANGELES - The first hurdle for racing to return to Irwindale Speedway has been cleared.
Track owner Nu-Way Industries, Inc. has regained control of the track, considered by many the best short track in America, after a decision in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Jason Rund, the Chapter 7 trustee for Irwindale Speedway, LLC, ended the 33-year lease late last week. That frees Nu-Way to determine what it will do with the property, which includes state-of-the-art half- and third-mile gradually banked ovals and an eighth-mile drag strip. The lease was to expire on July 9, 2029.
L.A. Racing, which operates a racing school on the property and is not affiliated with Irwindale Speedway, LLC, has continued running its classes and programs since track general manager Bob DeFazio filed bankruptcy papers on Feb. 13.
"We're just trying to feel our way through," Nu-Way's Jay Garrett said. "We weren't able to do too much because the property was tied up with the bankruptcy. We can go ahead now."
On Tuesday in bankruptcy court, Rund, Nu-Way attorney Yi Sun Kim and Nu-Way's Jim Mnoian queried DeFazio in regards to bankruptcy issues.
Garrett said Tuesday that he and Mnoian, who have managed the families-owned property at 500 Speedway Drive for more than 4+0 years, have yet to determine what they will do, still citing the ongoing bankruptcy petition, which will be resumed May 3 after Rund evaluates the contents of an Irwindale Speedway, LLC-rented storage locker and two safes.
"We would considered (selling) it, but we're not actively pursing it right now," Garrett said. "We have a lot of different avenues that we're pursing. We're trying to get a few other activities in there that will provide entertainment as well as racing. The phone has been ringing off the hook."
Garrett said that the pair have received hundreds of phone calls from parties interested in buying the property or entering into a new lease.
"(Racing) will take a little longer to get re-geared back up," Garrett said. "But there are a couple of leading candidates. We'll have to see what it has to take to put it together."
L.A. Racing owner Jim Cohen has been overseeing the property since the LLC vacated the premises. He has retained Bob Klein, who was the track's operations manager and supervised drag strip activities.
Garrett and Mnoian said one of the first things they want to accomplish is re-opening the drag strip. After Irwindale closed, drag racing at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana also ended because of a residential lawsuit, leaving Southern California drag racers without a place to race.
"It's locked, loaded and ready," Cohen said of the drag strip. "We know it's very popular."
Cohen said that drag racing may be held on both Thursdays and Saturdays.
In the meantime, Garrett said there are tentative plans for resuming filming - the facility is frequently used for television commercials - and for events such as drifting.
When racing resumes, he said it might not be on a weekly schedule.
"We might reduce racing a little bit so that it will be a little better attended," Garrett said. "Now that the property is released, we are in a spot where we can make some announcements."
But it will all still take some time, he said.
"I'll be glad when this is all over," Mnoian said of the court hearings. "It was unneccesary. They didn't have to do this."
Irwindale Speedway, LLC had filed papers indicating it was more than $331,000 in debt.
Most of Tuesday's 25-minute hearing centered on contents of a rented storage unit and two safes at the offices of LLC president Jim Williams.
DeFazio testified that computer equipment, time and scoring equipment, transponders, which determine a car's speed, pictures, video and newspaper clippings are in the storage lockers. He said that employee information was stored in the safes.
More than 1,200 gallons of racing diesel fuel is still in tanks on the facility, along with a few items, such as pressure washers.
Contact Keith via email, by phone at 626-962-8811, ext. 2242, or on Twitter @KeithLLair.
Copyright 2012 San Gabriel Valley Tribune. All rights reserved.
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