Stop me if you've heard this before.

There is apparently a new owner, or owners, of Black Hills Speedway, and he-she-they plan not only to operate the track as a speedway, but also to open for the 2008 season.

The March 11 auction of approximately 7.5 acres of the 35 acre-speedway property along Highway 44 did produce a buyer, according to Todd McPherson of McPherson Auction Co. of Rapid City.

Finalization of the frontage sale and the separate sale of the speedway itself, McPherson said, is at the mercy of city engineers completing the replatting process, which could take anywhere from a few days to six months.

To my understanding, which is minimal at best, the replatting process involves completion of a land survey to determine the actual boundaries of the properties involved, as well as traffic and drainage studies of both the speedway property and the frontage along Highway 44.

No names have been released for either buyers of the frontage or the speedway. Realtor Stan Houk said he is "pushing every button and pulling every string" to expedite the process so that the sale can be completed.

Houk said an announcement of new owner(s) could come within a few days, but I wouldn't bet the ranch on anything at this point.

And I'll believe that a racing season will actually take place when they drop the green flag and the cars pound into the first turn.

In other racing news:

- Todd McPherson's son Alex finished fifth in the 60cc (7-9) class at the Toyota Arenacross on Feb. 29-March 2 at the Denver Coliseum. McPherson, 9, who also competes locally in the Black Hills Arena Racing Winter Indoor Series as well as the South Dakota Motocross Association outdoor series during the summer months, finished 14th in the AMA Arenacross Western Division.

- The Corvette Racing C6.R driven by Johnny O'Connell, Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows captured ninth overall and first in the GT1 class at last weekend's 12 hours of Sebring in Florida, the season opener for the American Le Mans Series. The Intersport Racing Lola driven by Clint Field, Jon Field and Richard Berry finished tenth overall and third in the LMP1 class. The Drayson-Barwell Racing Aston Martin driven by Jonny Cocken, Paul Drayson and Tim Sugden was 31st overall and 15th in the GT2 class.

All three teams are using E85 ethanol racing fuel produced by Rapid City-based KL Process Design Group.

- According to J.R. Hughes' Web Site, www.westernwandererphoto.com, Lake County Speedway near Madison will not open for the 2008 season.