Ocean Speedway
February 27, 2014
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Ocean Speedway gets green light in lawsuit settlement

by Donna Jones, Santa Cruz Sentinel
WATSONVILLE -- Ocean Speedway and a community group will each put up $25,000 toward a prize for the development of a muffler that can quiet race cars at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds track.

The $50,000 award is part of a lawsuit settlement that allows racing to continue at the fairgrounds, though with a shorter season, earlier curfew and reduced noise.

"This is welcome news for us all," said fairgrounds manager Dave Kegebein, announcing approval of the settlement by the fair board Tuesday. "Over the last few years, we have spent more than one year's speedway rental income on legal fees. We need to have and support a broad range of recreational and educational activities on the grounds. However, we can't let one activity drive the fairgrounds to financial ruin."

A neighborhood group, Community Alliance for Fairgrounds Accountability, or, as it is better known, CAFA, filed the lawsuit against the fairgrounds and Ocean Speedway in 2011 over noise, traffic and the environmental issues related to the race track and other fairgrounds events.

CAFA leader Max Kelley said the settlement represented a "sweet spot" for all parties. He said neighbors would have liked to see the noise issues resolved more quickly, but are pleased that there's a process in place to eventually quiet the track.

"Nobody got exactly what they wanted, but everybody got something," Kelley said.

Track promoter John Prentice, who secured a three-year contract to continue racing at the fairgrounds in October contingent on the outcome of the lawsuit, expressed relief that the matter was settled after nearly four years.

"It's been a long time," he said. "I have had two kids since this thing started."

Prentice thinks he would have been able to get a better deal if the lawsuit had gone to trial, but he couldn't have stuck it out as long as he did without the free legal work done by his wife, attorney Darlene Kemp.

"When you go into negotiations you're not going to leave 100 percent happy," he said. "Both sides have to give."

Whether racing will remain viable under the deal remains to be seen, Prentice said. Shorter hours and fewer races will mean a loss in revenue, and he has agreed to a 20 percent rent increase, bringing the annual cost of leasing the track to about $80,000. But he said he and his wife have full time jobs, and don't depend on the track for their livelihood.

"The fans and their families, it's their lives," Prentice said. "We couldn't let them down. We really just couldn't."