Bank set to take 'immediate and exclusive custody' of Rockingham Speedway

    A Richmond County Superior Court judge will hear a motion next week which, if granted, will allow The Finley Group - a managing agent for Farmers and Merchants Bank - to "take immediate and exclusive custody" of Rockingham Speedway.

   The Salisbury, N.C.-based bank is also seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the track's current co-owners Andy Hillenburg and Bill Silas from accessing the property. The bank claims Rockingham Racing Park LLC, co-owned by Hillenburg and Silas, owes more then $4.5 million.

   The motion is set to be heard on Sept. 25. 

   Hillenburg and Silas purchased the then-dormant track for $4 million in 2007 from Speedway Motorsports Inc. The track served as a testing site for NASCAR teams and hosted several lower-level series until 2012 when NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series debuted at the track. The series hosted another event in 2013 before the track was dropped from the series schedule.

   In an interview with the Observer in 2013, Hillenburg said, "We've got a number of issues that have to be resolved before we can host races again. These issues have been mounting over the last two or three years."

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/24/4412907/rockingham-loses-truck-series.html#storylink=cpy

   The Pee Dee Post first reported the bank's court motion on Wednesday.  You can read it here. 

   To read more on NASCAR's return to 'The Rock' in 2012 from the Observer, go here.