Monarch Motor Speedway on Kiel Road in Wichita Falls will not reopen this season, according to a post on the company’s Facebook page.
The company said the main reason for the closure is utilities.
“It is with much sadness and a sense of defeat that we signal to our racing family today that we will not be reopening Monarch Motor Speedway in 2023,” the post on Wednesday read.
“We are reasonable people, but we feel we are literally being held hostage by the City where it could easily turn into a very large and unnecessary utility bill which could very well eliminate any chance that our business would even break even per season,” he said. read in the post.
The company called the city’s spending “unwarranted” and urged fans to tell city officials how they feel.
The city responded Wednesday on its Facebook page.
“The City of Wichita Falls has supported and continues to support Monarch Motor Speedway. In an effort to support this business and its operations, the City has assisted owners for the past three years as they resolve private utility issues with the adjacent landowner,” reads the post.
The city said it has provided utility payment extensions when utility bills have not been paid and has suggested solutions to the problems.
Monarch said parking and registration purchases will be refunded.
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This included, but was not limited to, providing utility payment extensions due to non-payment and proposing utility, engineering and plating solutions that would resolve utility issues. While it is unfortunate that the track ownership has chosen not to host a 2023 season, Council stands ready to assist if and when the owners decide on their desired course.
To those of you who have already purchased parking and registration, we will be refunding those purchases by Saturday 25th February. You will be refunded to the same source with which you paid online (without fees).
That said, the question I’m sure all of you have at this point, after such a strong launch campaign, is WHY.
There are several reasons why, but the main one
We are reasonable people, but we feel we are literally being held hostage by the City where it could easily turn into a very large and unnecessary utility bill which could very well eliminate any chance our business would even have of breaking even for the season.
Between the personal investment in time and costs required to prepare the race structure for each event, coupled with this sudden unplanned (and unwarranted) expense, we’ve decided it’s not in our best interests to move forward.
If you would like to let City Administrators know what Monarch Motor Speedway has meant to you and your family, please feel free to contact them at and/or email [email protected] or leave a review at address https://goo. gl/maps/jLCS7Eg8N5LyVKzy5
We wish you all the best.
