Private equity group reportedly buying Willow Springs Raceway

A Boston-based private equity real estate firm has struck a deal to buy California’s Willow Springs International Raceway, The Drive reported Friday.

CrossHarbor Capital Partners, which specializes in “property turnarounds” for commercial real estate and currently has a property portfolio valued at over $10 billion, confirmed to the website that a deal to purchase the historic track, opened in 1953, is pending.

Willow Springs has had the same owners for the past 62 years, the Huth family, but it was listed for sale last year at an undisclosed price. The track has been maintained in more or less the same condition over the decades, so as other racetracks have modernized and focused more on a rich clientele—or simply disappeared into housing tracts, shopping centers, or industrial parks—Willow Springs has remained unpretentious and accessible.

Whether that will remain the case under new ownership remains to be seen. In a statement to The Drive, a CrossHarbor spokesperson said the firm aims to “preserve the legacy and enthusiast access” to Willow Springs, “while also setting up the property for growth and success in the future.”

That provides some hope that Willow Springs will remain more or less as it is. Opened in 1953, it’s actually a complex of seven tracks, including the 2.5-mile Big Willow road course, Streets of Willow, and Horse Thief Mile, along with a skidpad, autocross area, and dirt oval.

Located about 80 miles north of Los Angeles, Willow Springs has never been a mainstay of big-time professional racing. But it’s extremely popular with enthusiasts, in part because the Huth family has kept it accessible and cheap to rent. It was also a filming location for “Ford v. Ferrari,” which is fitting as Ken Miles, who the film’s story centers around, helped design the facility.

Willow Springs isn’t the only track to come up for sale recently. Palm Beach International Raceway was listed for sale earlier this year, and real estate listings for Oregon Raceway Park and Michigan’s Grattan Raceway have popped up over the past few years as well.