The 25-year-old Immokalee Regional Raceway has been granted another season to operate and will close in April to allow the expansion of Immokalee Regional Airport to begin.
The Collier County Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted Aug. 13 to direct County Attorney Jeff Klatzkow to work with county airport staff to coordinate with Quality Enterprises USA Inc. and RTH Enterprise Inc., which does business as the International Hot Rod Association, to formalize an agreement to continue using land for another racing season. Due to imminent development on 500 acres, the county had given notice that it was terminating the raceway’s $2,700 monthly lease and asked it to vacate by Aug. 10.
But Commissioner Bill McDaniel Jr., whose district encompasses the 1,333-acre airport, told commissioners the county has been working on a resolution with the raceway operators and an airport lessee, which is under contract for construction on hangars. “A negotiation has been agreed upon by the parties to extend the raceway’s operations through next March for nine months,” McDaniel said before the vote.
Once finalized, commissioners will approve the agreement.
The one-eighth mile drag strip, which was started by Ralph Hester, has been operating since 1999 on a closed runway at the airport’s northwest quadrant, drawing racecar and motorcycle competitors from as far as Canada and California. Three years ago, at considerable expense, the Hester family moved the track due to airport expansion and they don’t believe they can afford to relocate again.
The Board of County Commissioners, acting as the Airport Authority, signed RTH’s license agreement in April 1999, allowing drag racing and automotive events. The popular raceway attracted prominent county families, including the Jollys, and became a spot for families and father-son teams to race on weekends. It’s also known for a monthlong Winterfest, which attracts hundreds of vehicles and thousands of visitors, and the non-competitive Runday Sunday on the last Sunday of each month.
The raceway charges $30-$100 entry fees and $10 to watch, but admission is free for kids 12 and under. It’s now managed by Hester’s son, Thomas, who has scouted for other locations but hasn’t found one due to the hefty expense.
The Hesters’ lease has been amended several times to extend or revise various terms and the most recent three-year agreement expired Jan. 12, when it began a month-to-month lease. In addition to commercial use, the airport is home to aerial firefighting and crop-dusting operations.
In December 2022, the county had sought bids to develop two parcels and commercial hangars next to the drag strip and on one parcel that overlaps the raceway. This June, the county approved a lease agreement with Quality Enterprises to develop 31 aircraft hangars on one parcel and part of the parcel overlapping the drag strip, or Parcel E. The lessee, Global Flight Training Solutions, a local and international flight school that’s been there since fall 2020, also finished negotiations to develop 12 aircraft hangars on the remaining portion of Parcel E. Construction will begin once the raceway is removed.
In May 2021, Global and the county executed a 40-year ground lease for roughly 141,330 square feet to be used for the construction and operation of aircraft hangars and office space. The school’s future plans include developing an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility, and a Federal Aviation Administration-approved jet-charter operation.
The Florida Department of Transportation estimates the airport’s total local economic impact is $50.3 million annually. It’s a designated HUB Empowerment Zone and Florida Rural Enterprise Zone, which supports economic revitalization in high unemployment and economically disadvantaged areas by offering tax incentives to businesses within the zone. Another 60-acre zone has been designated as a Foreign Trade Zone, which allows companies to defer duties or taxes until goods are shipped.
