CHARLOTTE, N.C. --Guys like Richard Petty used to love racing at The Rock.
"I think a lot of people really liked it, because it was challenging to the driver, "the NASCAR legend told NBC Charlotte in 2012."
You go down in the corner, and there's be people on the inside, people in the middle, people up against the wall."
Rockingham Speedway, formerly known as the North Carolina Motor Speedway, is about 80 miles east of Charlotte. It was a regular stop for NASCAR's top series until 10 years ago. And it looks like an effort to bring it back to its glory days has fallen short.
According to court documents, its current owners have defaulted on millions of dollars worth of loans, and the track could be headed back to the auction block.
The track has seen its share of hard times over the last decade. In 2004, with NASCAR trying to turn itself from a Southern to a national sport, then-owner Bruton Smith moved Rockingham's last NASCAR race to Texas, and in 2007, the speedway went up for auction.
That's when former race car driver Andy Hillenburg bought it for $4 million, moved his racing school there, and rented the track out to NASCAR teams for testing.
"One thing will not work," Hillenburg said, shortly after buying the track. "You cannot open the gates and have a race and expect to make the payments here, keep the upkeep."
In 2012 and 2013, he succeeded in bringing NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races back to Rockingham Speedway.
But now, NASCAR has left again, declining to hold another truck race there this year. The track has been seized by a bank, and court documents show Hillenburg and his co-owners owe more than $4 million in loans and taxes.
Hillenburg told the Richmond County Daily Journal that he's still trying to save the place, but in court documents, he's talked about auctioning off the track to avoid foreclosure. NBC Charlotte was unable to reach Hillenburg for comment, and the bank's attorney declined to comment. A court hearing on the track is set for Thursday afternoon in Rockingham.
So, what happens now? Who would buy it?
"If I was 30 years old, I'd do it in a minute," former Charlotte Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler said Wednesday.
He says you have to think outside of the box. On Tuesday, NASCAR banned private testing, so that takes away a potential source of revenue. But he says a place like Rockingham could fit in with today's NASCAR, which is drawing fewer fans.
"I think everybody thought you had to have 150,000 seats, and that is long gone," Wheeler said. "They're covering seats up and taking seats down. Well, they've got about 45,000 seats down there [in Rockingham], and that would be enough, if you filled it up, to make it work, with the TV money being what it is. And you'd put on a heck of a show."
Another option, Wheeler says, run monthly races for cheaper cars, to give up and coming drivers a chance to prove themselves on a tough track.
"Somebody's got a chance now, to go down there and turn that place around," he says.
The only question now, would be... who?
