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Monroe Motor Speedway’s new prospective owner delivered the message racing fans were waiting on during an impromptu meeting on Sunday, Oct. 16 at the Monroe Civic Center.

“We’ll get that racetrack going,” said Victor Scott of Rochester, Minn. “I guarantee you guys.”

That brought enthusiastic applause from more than 70 racing fans who attended the meeting introducing Scott and his son Randy.

Scott, the patriarch of Scott Properties, delivered the $726,000 winning bid for the bankrupt racetrack by telephone during an auction at the speedway Tuesday.

“I came home and told my wife I bought a racetrack and she said, ‘You bought a racetrack?’” Scott said, laughing. “At 82, I don’t need it, but I enjoy what I’m doing.”

Scott, who has been a real estate developer for more than 50 years, said he has owned everything from cold storage units to trailer parks, but this is his family’s first racetrack.

His family won’t own the speedway until it closes the deal on Nov. 11.

“We want to make it first class,” Scott said, drawing another round of applause. “I’ve never seen such friendly people and helpful government officials as those here in Monroe.”

The Scotts said they drove to Monroe to assess the track’s needs, and among the top priorities is building a paved parking lot for racers and fans.

“There are things that need to be done out there,” Scott said. “We want this track to be an asset to the community, and we need all of your help.”

Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo said he was “thrilled to have the Scotts here. A new day has come for the speedway,” Mayo said.

Dave Fancher of Monterey, who has been racing since the 1950s, drove in from a weekend race at the South Alabama Speedway to meet the Scotts.

“I’d like to see them have good races and good regional promotion that will get the racers to the track and the fans there to watch,” said Fancher, who now helps his grandson race. “They’ve got to have a parking lot and detail the facility out. If they do that, people will come.”

Monroe Motor Speedway, which was plagued early by rain-outs and later by management turnover during its short history, held its last race in June 2010. It was built for about $6.3 million in 2008.

The speedway is on 55 acres on the Interstate 20 frontage road between the Garrett Road and Millhaven Road exits.

Scott will have the advantage of a frontage road extension all the way to the Millhaven exit, which will improve access to the facility and which he called a huge asset.

The Scotts said they plan to have a racing season at the speedway next year.