Rockingham Speedway is coming back.
The speedway would come back as an entertainment complex as North Carolina Governor Ray Cooper detailed in a long-term budget though 2021.
About $8 million would go to upgrading the Speedway, its grounds and Rockingham Dragway.
Money would be used for wastewater and water extension, a pedestrian bridge, replacement, facility upgrade, bathrooms and grandstand repairs.
The budget requires that for every $3 that the state invests, there must be an additional $1 non-state match to round out the funding for the overall $11.45 million project. That non-state match will likely come from a variety of sources including Speedway owner Dan Lovenheim, who purchased the facility last year from BK Rock Holdings, Dragway owner Steve Earwood, and Richmond and Moore counties.
The last major on-track action at “The Rock” occurred in 2012 when a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series event.
Already planned is a three-day music festival over Mother Day weekend, May 10-12. Bands expected to perform are Foo Fighters, Judas Priest, Korn, Evanescence, Tool, Bush and Rob Zombie.
