CONCORD, N.C. — Concord Speedway is closing its doors for the final time.
The Laton family, which has owned the facility for more than 20 years, is expecting to close on the sale of the facility to the owners of Copart, a provider of online vehicle auction and remarketing services, by the end of the month.
The closure of the facility was announced in a Facebook post on the official Concord Speedway page Tuesday.
Jennifer Campbell, Concord Speedway’s marketing director, confirmed to SPEED SPORT via email Tuesday that Copart is in the process of acquiring the property.
“The speedway was re-listed last fall when the owners were looking to retire. The buyer is Copart,” Campbell said in her email to SPEED SPORT. “The sale of the property should close by the end of the month. This has been a long process for the Laton family that started at the beginning of the year, so of course there has been plenty of time for rumors to get made up and circulated. It took several months to get environmental studies completed as well as a change in zoning with the township of Midland.”
The facility is home to two race tracks, a half-mile tri-oval and quarter-mile oval. The half-mile oval has hosted numerous touring series and weekly events, including the North-South Shootout and touring series such as the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, the CARS Tour and Pro All Stars Series.
The last major event on the half-mile was run in November of 2018, when Jon McKennedy won the 125-lap tour-type modified race run as part of the North-South Shootout. That event will take place at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway this year.
A number of active NASCAR competitors, including Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Ryan Preece, Johnny Sauter and Harrison Burton have competed at Concord Speedway.
The quarter-mile oval has regularly hosted Legend Car and Bandolero racing.
“Concord Speedway has seen many of talented drivers come through over the years and has had the most dedicated staff who have given up most of their weekends to support the sport we all love,” Campbell said. “It’s especially bittersweet for me, all three of my kids have grown up working there with my husband (race director) and I. We now look forward to being able to go visit other tracks as a race fan and be able to just enjoy watching for a change.”
Concord Speedway opened as a dirt track in 1981 and was covered with asphalt in 1986.