Interest is 'overwhelming' in auction for Topeka's Heartland Motorsports Park, owner says

Two Corvette Stingrays, one model each from 1972 and 1974, are among items Heartland Motorsports Park is selling at the going-out-of-business auction it kicked off Wednesday.

So are guitars signed by former Country Stampede performers Hank Williams Jr., Reba McEntire, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Alan Jackson, Blake Shelton, Faith Hill and Dierks Bentley.

Also being sold is the Heartland Park property itself.

"CBRE and KS Commercial are pleased to present a 'Call for Offers' for Heartland Motorsports Park, the most unique and substantial redevelopment sale opportunity in the Midwest," said a document the facility posted last month on its Facebook page. Offers for the land are due Feb. 15, it said.

"The volume of inquiries and interest has been overwhelming, with over 1,100 lots and over 20,000 items being auctioned," Heartland Park owner Chris Payne told The Capital-Journal last week.

Heartland Park, 7530 S.W. Topeka Blvd., will use revenue gained from the auction to pay outstanding property taxes it owes to Shawnee County, Payne said.

Why is Heartland Park closing?

Heartland Park owed the county $3,149,630.19 as of Thursday, said Shawnee County Treasurer Larry Mah.

Payne since early 2016 has owned Heartland Park, which hosted events that included the Country Stampede music festival and the Menards NHRA Nationals, a major drag racing competition.

Payne said he spent $2.4 million to buy the racing facility.

He said he paid the facility's 2016 property taxes but hadn't paid them since because the county has been taxing him "to death" by appraising its value at far more than he'd be able to sell it for.

However, the county ended up winning its tax battle with Payne when the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled in its favor in July.

Payne announced in September that Heartland Park would close its doors and cease operations after its racing season finished at the end of October.

What's being sold in Heartland Park's auction?

Heartland Park posted a 22-page document on its Facebook page Nov. 18 sharing information regarding the planned sale of its land.

The 621.65-acre park features a roughly 175-acre racing facility and contains about 89,000 square feet of high-quality existing buildings, as well as about 100 acres of paved area, that document said.

The property involved includes 29 separate tracts of real estate, it said.

The park then posted information on its Facebook site Sunday about the auction in which it is selling its equipment and assets through the website of Steffes Group Inc.

That online auction opened Dec. 13 and runs until Dec. 27, Payne told The Capital-Journal.

Items that are up for sale may be viewed during an open house, which will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday at the facility, he said.

Equipment, assets to be sold in 'rings'

Heartland Park will auction off assets and equipment in each of six different "rings" on the website of auctioneer Steffes Group, according to its Facebook site.

That site identified those as the following:

• Ring 1, for which available items include trucks, tractors, trailers and forklifts. The two Corvette Stingrays are part of Ring 1.

• Ring 2, including grandstands, bleachers, barricades, billboards and portable buildings.

• Ring 3, including computer equipment, speakers, tables, chairs and office equipment.

• Ring 4, including picnic tables, coolers, fryers and concessions and kitchen equipment.

• Ring 5, including welders, snowblowers, generators, air compressors, tools and shop equipment.

• Ring 6, featuring memorabilia from Heartland Motorsports Park and the Country Stampede, including guitars signed by country music stars and photos from the facility's history.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Revenue from Heartland Park auction will pay its property taxes