Dirt Track Motorsports Sanctioning Body To Move HQ To N.C.

DIRT will invest $1.26 million in its new offices and create 52 jobs over the next three years, according to a statement from Governor Mike Easley's office. The firm is moving from Oklahoma.

Among incentives DIRT MotorSports will receive to make the move is a $20,000 One North Carolina Fund grant. Such grants require a local match.

Under this name, DIRT MotorSports was founded in 2004 and currently employs more than 60 people. Formerly known as Boundless Racing, the company has been in existence for 30 years. It is publicly traded (OTCBB: DMSP). Shares traded Tuesday at $3, up 20 cents.

The company sanctions such groups as the World of Outlaws, Advance Auto Parts Modified Super DIRT Series, United MidWestern Promoters (UMP) and the Mid-America Racing Series (MARS).

Dirt track racing attracts more than 52 million fans a year, according to the firm's website.

"The motorsports industry is a tremendous economic engine for our state, already worth almost $6 billion a year," Easley said in a statement. "I am committed to maintaining North Carolina's reputation as a motorsports powerhouse to attract new and expanding businesses with high-skill jobs in our state."

DIRT MotorSports oversees a variety of national and regional dirt track auto racing series. It sanctions more than 2,000 races in the United States and Canada.

"Gov. Easley and the state of North Carolina have demonstrated the importance of economic development for the state and have made our decision to locate in North Carolina very easy," said Tom Deery, DIRT MotorSports' chief executive officer. "The entire staff, as well as the regional (economic) partnership and the local economic development commissions, have gone out of their way to attract leading motorsports organizations."

Also participating in the recruitment of DIRT MotorSports were the N.C. Department of Commerce, Cabarrus County, the City of Concord, Cabarrus Chamber of Commerce and the Charlotte Regional Partnership.

The company is currently located in Norman, OK.

Jobs at DIRT MotorSports will pay an average wage of $1.140 plus benefits - nearly double the average wage in Cabarrus County, where Concord is located.