The fate of the Guam Raceway Park has been stalled for some time. Members of the island’s racing community, alongside the CHamoru Land Trust Commission, strapped-in for an almost four-hour-long ride with lawmakers to find a road forward.  The wheels continued to spin during a lengthy hearing on Bill 287 - a measure bill sponsor Speaker Therese Terlaje hopes could be a win-win for the CLTC and the island’s racing enthusiasts. 

The now-dormant Guam Raceway in Yigo left the diverse sporting community at a red light, with many testifying during a public hearing Thursday.

Preident of the Guam Cycling Federation Eric Tydingco said, “For us, not subdividing the community is important for the Guam Cycling Federation because we have limited areas for us to mountain bike.”

And Thomas Ferejan, a motorsports enthusiast, added, “One of the things I like to do is watch off-roading and go off-roading. I did buy myself a 4-x-4 to participate in other events like Smokin' Wheels, but I can’t do that anymore because you guys took it away from us. ”

The racing community advocated for another road forward, contending it can not afford to pay commercial lease rates as a non-profit.  But CLTC commissioner David Herrera noted how operations of raceways run stateside, saying, “You want a drag strip, you buy your own drag strip.”

For the time being, the bill’s aim to authorize the CLTC to subdivide a portion of Lot 7161-R1 for the operation of a raceway also sparked debate. CLTC chairperson Arlene Bordallo said, “We need to subdivide this lot - because there’s more need for land to be leased out to our CHamoru people.”  

“We could accommodate the raceway people. But also…they don't need the whole thing.” 

That accommodation, according to Hererra, looks like a proposed 50 acres of land. But the racing community projects it needs more to operate, as motorsports enthusiast John Burch shared, “Based on our estimations, around 150 acres will adequately meet our needs. By considering a more targeted allocation of land, we can make significant progress to reopening the Guam Raceway Park.”  

The conversation continued with lengthy testimony from the racing community. 

In the meantime, Speaker Terlaje doubled-down that the bill is not a permanent solution, dispelling any rationale of property being taken away from the raceway. She adds the bill allows the community to operate as soon as possible. 

As Bill 287 sponsor, the speaker started the long-awaited public hearing with a presentation on the bumpy history of the Guam Racing Federation’s questioned activity on the Yigo property.  “It’s my intention that despite the history and the questioned activities–particularly, the mineral extraction that we are able to go forward that we are able to provide a raceway if we can do that safely and we can do that to the approval of the CLTC," she stated.