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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA team including former IndyCar driver Sarah Fisher has acquired Whiteland Raceway Park in a last-ditch effort to prevent the karting track from being bulldozed.
Fisher, her husband and business partner Andy O’Gara, and businessman Willis "Wink" Hartman announced Friday that they bought the aging track from Mike Swails and plan to renovate it. Hartman has been a longtime investor in Fisher’s racing efforts.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The new owners said a real estate developer had been prepared to buy the property for another use.
“When Andy called to tell me that Mike had offered us the purchase of WRP, we immediately agreed that investing in the karting community by reconditioning the facility was an obvious decision,” Fisher said in a written statement.
WRP, founded in 1958, bills itself as “America’s oldest kart track.”
“First and foremost, please know that our ultimate goal is to restore Whiteland Raceway Park to its former glory,” the new owners said on Facebook. “We want to preserve the history and heritage of WRP while bringing new life to the facility.”
The owners said WRP will continue to operate throughout the remainder of the 2018 season. Three races and a number of open practice days remain on the schedule. The Sept. 22 race will be rescheduled so renovation efforts can begin.
Fisher and O’Gara also own Speedway Indoor Karting, just blocks from Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, which opened in 2016.
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