Al Gennarelli and Dan Van Horn, two successful businessmen united by their passion for fast cars, have taken the first step toward becoming the new owners of Rockingham Dragway, the iconic Carolina facility that, upon its construction in 1968, was one of the first dragstrips to feature amenities like permanent restrooms, concrete grandstands and corporate suites.
Through a unique agreement with Steve Earwood, who has owned, operated and upgraded the multi-purpose facility since buying it from the L.G. Dewitt family in 1992, Gennarelli, 49, and Van Horn, 47, will spend the next two years observing events at the track and learning the basics of racetrack operation before assuming full ownership in October, 2022.
In the interim, Earwood emphasized that it will be business as usual at The Rock with a full slate of diverse events including next week’s 29th annual Griffin Motors MOPARS at the Rock expo featuring the Modern Street Hemi Shootout series Van Horn created in 2009 and in which he and Gennarelli both compete.