Friends of Laguna Seca take over long-term management of the park and its iconic track.

A saga delayed by an aimless lawsuit finally played out to its much-anticipated happy ending—and beginning.

Friends of Laguna Seca assumed management of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and the surrounding recreational area, according to a statement issued by the organization on Thursday, Aug. 1. The announcement completes an agreement between the nonprofit and the County of Monterey signed last July and originally intended to begin Jan. 1 of this year.

“The Friends team has been squarely focused on reaching this important milestone and providing a smooth transition of operations,” the organization’s CEO, Lauri Eberhart, said in a statement.

While the county continues to own the property, the concession agreement gives management of Laguna Seca Recreation Area to FLS, with financial responsibility for all maintenance and upgrades to the facility—essentially taking over the role held previously by the county. A&D Narigi will continue to handle day-to-day operations.

If the organization continues to meet its requirements, the agreement is scheduled to extend for 55 years. The long-term contract will, for the first time in the park’s history, allow the race course built in 1957 to be brought up to modern standards.

“We’re bringing stability and capital,” Eberhart told the Weekly earlier this year, noting that money raised by the nonprofit will be invested in the track and park. “It’s an opportunity to restore, revitalize and reinvent the facility.”

The first step for FLS is to conduct a site assessment and develop a master plan that will be submitted for public comment. A sound impact assessment will be part of that process.

From there, the focus will turn to updating amenities and completing maintenance that had been deferred by the county. Long-term possibilities include bringing in musical performances and new signature events.

Sound impact and the lack of environmental review were at the center of a lawsuit that sought to block the concession agreement. Filed in December 2023 by a small group calling themselves the Highway 68 Coalition, but stirring for some time before, the suit delayed any FLS fundraising efforts toward the initial $6 million that would trigger the transition of control.

The group claimed that the county’s approved use permit, which specifies a number of spectator event days of different sizes, does not address motorsports and that the last environmental impact review of the park—dating to 1983, according to court documents—did not assess noise from the track.

The 1983 EIR does note that race activity and noise generated would remain unchanged, “therefore no change in raceway-related noise at existing residences would be anticipated.”

In recent years, the number of major racing events at WeatherTech Raceway have been steady. The track is often rented for private events.

The coalition settled out of court in March at essentially status quo. The sound impact study and mitigation measures demanded by the suit was already part of the FLS proposal, first submitted when Friends had previously sought a contract with the county in 2016.

“It’s nothing new—all of those things are in our focus,” FLS President Ross Merrill told the Weekly at the time. “It only makes good business sense. We want to be good neighbors.”

Throughout the history of the track, constructed in 1957, and the land deeded by the Department of Defense to the county in the 1970s, the county had assumed financial responsibility for the park. Little was done to keep pace with developments over the decades, as the county could not always direct the necessary funds to Laguna Seca. Race fans have been excited about the long-term concession agreement and plans by FLS to make the amenities and safety features match the global stature of the track.

Friends of Laguna Seca plan to host a ribbon cutting ceremony at WeatherTech Raceway at noon on Aug. 15.