This is the best news!!
To: All IHRA Member Tracks, Sponsors and Members
I’m pleased to announce that IHRA has been purchased from Feld Entertainment by an investor group of “car guys” and current members of the drag racing community.
Each time we have been through an ownership group change, that group purchased the entire motorsports division that we have been a part of for the last 10 + years and we basically came along for the ride. This time we will be breaking away from the motorsports division and will be 100% owned by the group that currently owns and manages Palm Beach International Raceway and Memphis International Raceway. These folks have been working on purchasing IHRA from Feld Entertainment for the last several years even though IHRA was never “for sale”.
Joe Lubek, Michael Dezer and Jason Rittenberry are the three people that will own IHRA. I have included some background info on each below and a quick link to Mr. Dezer’s personal car collection which spans over 1,800 vehicles!
http://www.dezercollection.com/about/ To be honest, it will be nice to get back to being owned by folks in our industry. It doesn’t change anything from a business plan point of view. We are still a for profit company that conducts sportsman racing events, sanctions tracks and puts on shows during the season.
The reason IHRA was purchased was because of our focus on member tracks, sportsman racing and entertainment. These things really line up with the ownership’s core values since they have purchased and restored major facilities. The Nitro Jam entertainment model has made enough steady progress to be invested in and grown. The product of our hard work is that were targeted for being purchased because these folks see what the potential is and they understand our business.
Each time IHRA is purchased there is always hesitation, reservation and speculation about the future. I swear IHRA has probably been out of business or dead ten times in the last ten years according to the internet. This time there won’t be any of that. The ownership vision is much clearer, there are no corporate giants to contend with for resources and as a bonus, the new owners already have a track record of buying, investing in and growing two magnificent facilities within our sport.
IHRA will still be located in Norwalk Ohio in the same offices we just moved into a few months ago. The same people will still be here working hard every day to help our member tracks, improve sportsman racing and help our corporate partners sell their products. None of the core philosophies I’ve just mentioned will be changing. What will be changing is our ability to think beyond our limits and make a good business plan to grow that is nurtured by several people with the financial resources and passion for our sport. These folks made an investment in today’s IHRA and all that it has become. They will provide the stability and resources necessary to move IHRA forward as it continues to evolve as long as we have a financially sound game plan in place.
I hope you are as excited about the future as we are. This is all pretty new to us so I’m sure there will be more that I have not covered. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Other than an e-mail change back to @ihra.com in a few weeks, all of my contact info below is still the same.
Best Regards,
Skooter Peaco
Skooter Peaco | Vice President
IHRA Motorsports
(:: (419) 660-4217 / 419-668-6601 fx
8::
speaco@feldinc.com *:: 300 Cleveland Road | Norwalk, Ohio | 44857
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Joseph G. Lubeck > Managing Partner Moroso Investment Partners, LLC (Palm Beach International Raceway™)
Joseph G. Lubeck, Esq. is Founder and Managing Partner of Landmark Residential, a major owner and manager of multifamily rental properties throughout the Southeast. The current portfolio encompasses 12,000 units in eight states. In his career with Landmark, Mr. Lubeck has orchestrated approximately $1.5 billion in investments, representing equity of over $400 million. With his oversight, Landmark investors have averaged a return of 23% IRR. Now a subsidiary of publicly traded Israeli company Elco Holdings, (TSE) Mr. Lubeck continues to run Landmark as CEO and managing partner, overseeing additional committed equity of $700 million.
Joe has significant training and expertise in key areas of residential, multifamily and commercial acquisition, finance and development and is a skilled zoning and transactional attorney. Joe grew up in the real estate business and learned every aspect of apartment operations literally from the ground up. An honors graduate of Cornell University, Joe holds a Juris Doctor degree
from Delaware Law School.
Mr. Lubeck, in addition to being a successful executive and investor, has collected and raced numerous cars of all types and ages. He led the investment group that purchased and rebuilt Palm Beach International Raceway and established the Palm Beach
Driving Club. Since acquiring PBIR, Mr. Lubeck has served as Managing Partner of Moroso Investment Partners, LLC, and will continue to serve as Managing Partner of IHRA Entertainment. In conjunction with Mr. Feld, Mr. Lubeck has assembled an outstanding group of seasoned motorsports and entertainment professionals to oversee, operate and grow IHRA Entertainment.
Michael Dezer > Partner Moroso Investment Partners, LLC (Palm Beach International Raceway™)
The name of Michael Dezer is synonymous with the spirit of community and achievement. Born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel, Michael Dezer immigrated to the United States in 1962 after having served in the Israeli Air Force. In 1970 Michael Dezer founded Dezer Properties Company, a now prominent New York City commercial Real Estate Company. Today the Dezer Properties Company portfolio boasts holdings which include 20 commercial buildings, 8 Commercial coop’s and 1 luxury residential loft condominium, ranging from a 9-story, 50 foot wide building to a 19-story building with over 120,000 square feet. The Dezer Properties of New York’s portfolio is the largest of its kind and currently encompasses more than 1.3 million square feet of rental space.
In 1985, Michael began to purchase oceanfront property in Miami Beach. Today he owns the well-known Howard Johnson Plaza Dezerland Beach & Spa in Miami Beach Florida, which is situated on over two oceanfront acres, as well as the Travelodge Monaco Beach Resort, the Days Hotel Thunderbird Beach Resort and several other local condo and resort properties that represent over
25 oceanfront acres and 2000 linear feet of beachfront. In addition to the aforementioned holdings, Mr. Dezer also retains the development rights to additional properties in Sunny Isles Beach that represent over 30 oceanfront acres.
Together with his son Gil, Michael Dezer is currently the developer of several ongoing oceanfront projects in Sunny Isles Beach, namely Ocean IV, Trump Grande Ocean Resort & Residences featuring Trump International Beach Resort- a condo hotel, and two luxury residential condominium towers, Trump Palace and Trump Royale respectively. In addition to these projects in Sunny Isles
Beach, Florida they are also partners with Jorge Perez in the Trump Towers (Miami) project, and with Wood Partners in the Trump Towers Atlanta project in Georgia.
Jason M. Rittenberry, CFE > President & Chief Executive Officer
Moroso Investment Partners, LLC (Palm Beach International Raceway™)
Jason Rittenberry, CFE is President and Chief Executive Officer of Moroso Entertainment, LLC, the privately held parent company of multiple sports and entertainment properties. The company’s showcase facility is the state-of-the-art Palm Beach International Raceway in Jupiter, Florida and the premier high performance private membership club, the Palm Beach Driving Club in Palm Beach, Florida. In 2011, under the direction of Rittenberry, Moroso Entertainment acquired Memphis International Raceway (formerly Memphis Motorsports Park) in Memphis, Tennessee and he currently oversees operations of 850+ events at the multiple venues owned and operated by the Company.
As one of the industry’s forward-thinking executives, Rittenberry is a proven successful senior level sports and entertainment venue manager with extensive experience in all facets of public facility management. These include P&L management, event management, event promotion, event booking, strategic and budgetary planning, business development, sponsorship sales, box office operations, emergency preparedness, crisis management, and turn-around operations. He has managed venues that host hundreds of events annually, secured, maintained and developed a $40M+ annual operating budget and facilitated mid-eight figure strategic business development initiatives with private equity partners. He is well respected by his peers in the venue management industry and is actively involved through several industry associations, as well as serving as the face of the venues in the community and media.
In November 2009, Rittenberry’s sports and entertainment management expertise brought him to Moroso Entertainment. His extensive background includes promoting live events for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) & International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) drag racing, dirt racing, sports cars and road racing, in addition to concerts, festivals, trade shows,
meetings, corporate and lifestyle entertainment events. Prior to his position with Moroso, Rittenberry served as Vice President & General Manager of Memphis Motorsports Park in Memphis, TN (a
Dover Motorsports, Inc. NASCAR facility NYSE:DVD) for nine years.
