Michael Grondahl, the new leaseholder of the Southwick Motocross 338 track has met with school and town officials to help reopen the track. (File photo by Frederick Gore)
SOUTHWICK – The start of the new year has brought the start of a new era for Motocross 338.
New lease holder Michael Grondahl is making plans to begin a new season and the first order of business involves the town and school department.
According to an article on www.vitalmx.com, Grondahl is hoping to lease a parcel of land from the town which has been used for parking in the past.
Board of Selectman Chairman Russell Fox said this morning that the issue is on the agenda of the board’s Jan. 27 meeting.
“There is a chunk of property there that is under control of the schools,” said Fox. “It is in the woods and motocross has used it for parking in the past – the boundaries of what was town property were not clear and we want to make sure the schools and town are protected.”
Fox said the schools do not actively use the land.
Grandahl’s local representative met with town officials last week for a preliminary discussion on the topic.
“They’ve had discussions, and as a board we are aware of the change in management and look forward to working with them,” said Fox, adding that all decisions would be “in the best interest of the community.”
Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart said Gary Yelin is acting on behalf of Grandahl in town right now and he spoke with both the police and fire chiefs and was the liaison to the schools for now.
Stinehart said he does not know if the name MMX 338 will remain.
“We haven’t had anyone file anything yet,” Stinehart said.
Vitalmx.com reported that in the past, due to the limited spectator parking available at the facility for the Southwick National, Motocross 338 partnered with the school which provided parking on school property for the event. It was a win-win for Motocross 338 and the school because there was plenty of temporary spectator parking for the National and it gave the school additional income for education. The decision to enter into a long-term lease for the one acre of school property is ultimately up to the Southwick town officials.
“If an agreement is reached quickly, there will likely be time to hold a few races later in 2014. Since the scheduling of NESC and NEMX races could not wait for this issue to be resolved, it is hoped they will be able to fit at least one Southwick event into their 2014 schedules with a return to a normal schedule in 2015. If there are additional delays it is possible there won’t be any races until 2015,” according to vitalmx.com.
Grandahl told vitalmx.com he is optimistic an agreement will be reached with the town and is currently negotiating with another adjacent land owner to either enter into a long-term lease or to purchase 30 acres of land.
Among the goals Mike has set for 2015 and beyond is to restore Southwick to the NESC and NEMX schedules, bring the AMA National back to Southwick, host a round of the USGP and host the MXoN. In addition, he has many ideas to bring some big one-off motocross events to the iconic track,” states the vitalmx.com article.
Grandahl Mike began racing in Southwick in 1979 with the NESC and earned his AMA Pro Motocross license in 1981. He has been involved in the sport ever since. He is the co-founder and former CEO of Planet Fitness, one of the partners of the GEICO Honda team as well as Alias MX and owns several businesses outside the motocross industry.
