The future of Greenville-Pickens Speedway was in real danger when developers announced its demolition. The decision to replace it with an industrial park didn’t sit well with the local fans, whose efforts have now saved the track’s fate. The developers have withdrawn, and the historic track is on the verge of receiving a new fate, as a multi-million dollar project awaits.

Greenville-Pickens Speedway fetching a $4 million lease fee?

In a recent interview with Frontstretch, Jackie Manley, a potential buyer of the racetrack, shed light on how he came to know about it. When asked about it, he said:

“From the meeting, one of the meetings here, either this meeting or the Pickens county board. They gave their card and said anybody interested? This is what we’re going to do. So I just reached out.

Following this, he was asked about the four-million-dollar loan, which is reported to be the cost of getting the lease.

“Oh, the four million that they are asking us just to buy the upgrades. Yeah, the upgrades is after that, which is the way the community is. Behind it, I don’t see it being a problem to get it up and running. I don’t see a problem at all.”

Notably, the Pickens County Planning Commission initially proposed to demolish the historic speedway to build an industrial park around it. The track, which was built around the 1940s, hosted NASCAR-sanctioned races, CARS Tour races, and the Upper South Carolina State Fair.

It is the second-oldest NASCAR track in the United States, and the venue from which the first race was aired back in 1971. Given the track’s history, locals and racing fans strongly opposed the demolition.

Senior producer at FloRacing, Matthew Dillner, had also tweeted how the developer “lied” about the development plans and urged saving its legacy.

However, the racetrack’s future remains undecided, and amid this, a $4 million lease surfaced. Once the sale goes through, the buyer is expected to get it involved in racing duties, but if it does not go through, chances are that the developers will reapply for the park, something the RealtyLink group put emphasis on.

Greenville-Pickens Speedway developer group inching closer to sale

RealtyLink group, the developers involved with the maintenance, repair, and selling of the Greenville-Pickens Speedway, said that they were close to finalizing a sale of the track. Speaking about this, Phil Wilson with RealtyLink said:

“We’re really close on a contract. I actually thought it would be signed before tonight, and I think I would to help kind of, planning commission, to make a better decision, or at least a better decision for us, but it didn’t happen, so we’ll pick it back up tomorrow and hopefully we’ll get the contract complete and they get what they want, and we can get what we want.”

With that said, it will be interesting to see if the historic speedway gets another owner and potentially attracts future races. If not, one might expect the group to take over and see it turn into an industrial park.