Friends of Laguna Seca re-enters talks

Six months of peace and progress made between the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP) and Monterey County at Laguna Seca has taken a step backward.

It also comes after the county spent three months, from Oct.-Dec. 2016, attempting to hand control of the track to FLS before negotiations were ultimately abandoned.

Triggered by a former leader on the county's board of supervisors who insisted upon removing SCRAMP as Laguna Seca's track manager, two separate searches were held in an effort to displace SCRAMP, the non-profit group that has run the circuit since its formation in 1957.

Years of strife came to a head late in 2016 when the FLS group, formed by a team of wealthy local business owners, was awarded the right to sign a long-term management contract. The FLS was chosen over bids tendered by SCRAMP in a partnership with the International Speedway Corporation, and the World Automotive Championship of California group formed by Long Beach Grand Prix founder Chris Pook.

As part of the FLS proposal, a vast sum of money – in the tens of millions – was promised as a charitable gift to overhaul the facility. As weeks and months went by without a signed contract being produced, details emerged suggesting the FLS group did not indeed possess the large angel investment; it had a much smaller amount in hand and verbal commitments for the remainder.

With a change in supervisorial leadership taking place at the beginning of the year, and no contract in sight, a peace accord was established between the county and SCRAMP. By early February, both sides agreed to start fresh and get Laguna Seca back to a place where it would generate income for the county and take a step into the new millennium through widescale infrastructure improvements.

According to The Herald, FLS president Ross Merrill says there are "ongoing discussions" with the board of supervisors and "said Friends of Laguna Seca is still proposing a 25-year agreement with a $50 million financial investment in Laguna Seca, as well as providing leadership for SCRAMP as the facility manager and the large cadre of community volunteers who devote countless hours to the raceway operation."

News of the board's re-engagement with the FLS was not received in a positive manner by the Monterey County Hospitality Association (MCHA). The support for SCRAMP from the MCHA is noteworthy, considering it once backed the board to search for an alternative to SCRAMP in 2015.

Further details provided by The Herald suggest the FLS is the only party the county is negotiating with for a long-term contract, and that per the three-year contract in place with SCRAMP, the board can terminate its agreement with a 60-day notice. This week's track management conversations with the FLS were held in a private session.

SCRAMP president Michael Smith would also like to be included in those closed-door board meetings, and cited the advancements made with its new contract as evidence his group should remain in its current position.

"At the end of the day we're focused on what's best for the raceway, and we believe we've demonstrated a management agreement is cleaner and more efficient," he said. "We've completed more in the past six months than we did in the past six years."