‘It isn’t an easy decision’: What Myrtle Beach Speedway could become if sale is completed
Myrtle Beach Speedway is under contract to a developer that would turn the iconic short track into a commercial and housing development if a forthcoming rezoning request is approved.
Speedway owner Bob Lutz said Tuesday he has a sales contract with a developer based in Charlotte, North Carolina that will soon be submitting a rezoning request to Horry County.
Lutz said the property is zoned for commercial development, and the sale is contingent upon the rezoning request being passed by Horry County Council to allow the residential element to be built.
The speedway will remain open and continue to host a regular racing schedule and special events for the foreseeable future, Lutz said, at least until a rezoning is passed.
Events include the Horry County Fair from April 24-May 3, MB Nationals (formally NOPI Nationals), drifting, concerts and monster trucks.
“I have a developer that has an interest in the property and that interest is contingent on getting it rezoned for what he wants to use it for,” Lutz said. “We all know that’s a long process and sometimes they go through and sometimes they don’t. So we are operating the facility on a normal basis as if nothing’s going to change.
“If it does then we come out with the revised schedule or plans with the speedway. . . . It is not shutting down, that’s what I want people to know. There is not a date we’re going to shut the facility down and close it.”
The speedway is off U.S. 501 North, a couple miles west of the Intracoastal Waterway, and has been part of the Myrtle Beach community since it opened in 1958.
The track is slightly longer than a half-mile, hosted the NASCAR Cup series in its early years and NASCAR’s secondary Busch Series (now the Xfinity Series) annually as late as 2000.
It has hosted many of NASCAR’s top names over the years and was the home track of Dale Earnhardt Jr. early in his racing career.
But Lutz said attendance at the track has waned, and he hasn’t been able to turn a profit with the property in recent years. He has brought in other events in an attempt to supplement the racing losses, he said.
“It isn’t an easy decision to do that but the problem is it’s getting harder and harder for short tracks to survive, and the reason why is because we’re just not getting the attendance that they used to years ago,” Lutz said. “It makes it hard, because you struggle and do everything you can. I think me and my team have shown that we have put 100 percent effort into building the speedway and making it successful and making it a great place for people to race at, and even though we’ve put in all the effort it still continues to lose money.”
According to Horry County land records Myrtle Beach Speedway is 45.5 acres and the county estimates the value to be approximately $2.17 million.
Lutz purchased the speedway in 2012 with two partners in Shark Investments LLC for $2.5 million, he confirmed, and said he bought his partners out to become the sole owner shortly after the purchase.
“It is so expensive to operate a facility like that, we continue losing money year after year and just at some point you have to say we tried with everything we possibly could and realize that without people in the stands you’re never going to be able to survive,” Lutz said. “So the people that say, ‘Why is it going away?’ and ‘We wish it would stay,’ I wish those people would support us week after week and we wouldn’t have to do this.”
Lutz operates the NASCAR Experience and Mario Andretti Racing Experience businesses and owns an outdoor go-kart and miniature golf park in the Charlotte area.
“I’ve got several different businesses, this isn’t my only business, so I’ve been making it work. I have no intentions of shutting it down and never have,” Lutz said. “. . . The deficit has been getting smaller but it hasn’t gone away for the facility yet. It’s something I’m committed to continuing to operate.
“We will run it as a race track and do as many events we can do in there to try to bring in whatever we can from year to year, and what it falls short on I’ve put in to keep it going and will continue to do that as long as I own it.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 8:38 PM with the headline "‘It isn’t an easy decision’: What Myrtle Beach Speedway could become if sale is completed."
