Seth Angel knows how to move the earth.

At least he knows how get the next-door neighbors to move it.

Angel, executive vice-President and general manager of Royal Purple Raceway at Baytown, Texas, said he's moving forward after reaching a settlement with HPP Materials.

That's the company with which he and the racetrack were locked in a legal duel about a 40-foot-tall pile of construction debris that materialized just over the property line, threatening to wreak havoc on racing operations and jeopardizing the facility's sanction with the National Hot Rod Association.

Seth Angel knows how to move the earth.

At least he knows how get the next-door neighbors to move it.

Angel, executive vice-President and general manager of Royal Purple Raceway at Baytown, Texas, said he's moving forward after reaching a settlement with HPP Materials.

That's the company with which he and the racetrack were locked in a legal duel about a 40-foot-tall pile of construction debris that materialized just over the property line, threatening to wreak havoc on racing operations and jeopardizing the facility's sanction with the National Hot Rod Association.

"We reached a settlement agreement last month, at the end of February, and as part of the agreement they're required to relocate that stockpile of concrete, rubble, and debris to a more northern location further away from the racetrack. That process has already started. They're moving concrete as we speak," Angel told Competition Plus this week.

"As part of the agreement, we sort of restricted them to the days that they could move it. Obviously, when we're racing on the weekend, they're restricted from having any activity moving it. But certainly during the week, we want them to as quickly as possible move the pile. And they're doing that," he said.

"I think the primary thing that was accomplished in the settlement was (1) it removed this threat of contamination of this debris into our facility and (2) it allowed them to continue to operate and do their business as we move forward. The biggest thing was to get that concrete pile completely moved and get it away from our racetrack."

Both sides have withdrawn their offsetting lawsuits regarding this issue, Angel said.

For decades, Angel's family has owned rival Century Asphalt Materials and will continue to be a competitor with HPP, among other construction-industry companies, apart from its racetrack operations. However, Angel expressed gratitude for the truce and its accompanying stipulations.

"We're optimistic that as we move forward we can live side by side and operate our businesses. That's what the goal is," he said.

"At this point, we're going to operate our business and they're going to operate theirs, and we'll work together. We'll coordinate our major events and be a good neighbor as best we can going forward," Angel said. "And I think they'll do the same."

Angel said putting a thumb on the operations of one of his family's rival business was not at the heart of Royal Purple Raceway's argument.

"It was never, ever about competition," he said, acknowledging that away from the racetrack, the Angel family's Century Asphalt Materials will compete with HPP for business.

"When they go to crushing concrete, we're in competition with each other at that point. And that's OK with us. We’re not scared by it. Competition is something we deal with every day. It's what separates the haves and the have-nots and whether you can be successful. I think our family's history over the last 30 years demonstrates that we can handle competition," Angel said. "This was never about that. For them, that was the only thing that they could hang their hat on that made sense in their eyes. That was unfortunate."

Royal Purple Raceway will host the April 25-27 O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals, as well as its weekly Legal Street Racing and E.T. Bracket series.

"We're just happy we can put this behind us, and we have," Angel said of the legal battle. "And come April, when we host our 27th SpringNationals, all the racers and fans can be comforted to know that their track is not going anywhere anytime soon. We’re pressing forward at full speed ahead."

Graham Light, the NHRA's senior vice-president of racing operations, joined Houston-native Pro Stock racer Erica Enders-Stevens, NHRA team owner Don Schumacher, and Schumacher drivers Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan last September in lobbying for Royal Purple Raceway and its concerns about the dirt pile and HPP's request for a permit to build a concrete-crushing operation on the adjacent property. They spoke at a packed public hearing before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

"That was a game-changer in this whole process," Angel said. "The fact that those individuals took the time to come down here and speak on our behalf for the facility was huge. It just clearly showed how important and how sensitive this whole issue was, not only to us but for them as professionals representing professional race teams. The NHRA has been extremely helpful, and they have a lot of interest in the outcome of this case. And certainly Graham Light representing the sanctioning body, that was a big step. I think it was part of the reason why we were able to successfully negotiate an agreement.

"It just wasn't the top brass of NHRA. The teams from Schumacher and Erica  . . . There were literally hundreds of people who – thousands of people throughout the course of this whole process – who have shown their support for the fight that we had on our hands," he said.

Before the hearing took place, at least one event was suspended while the track was cleaned and treated. Angel said that no longer appears to be a problem and the track has not incurred any costs for cleaning during this legally ordered dirt-removal process.

"There were only several occasions at the beginning of this whole conflict between our two businesses that required some clean-up. But since then, they have taken some severe, drastic measures to prevent it from continuing it to happen," Angel said. "Their efforts suppressed a lot of the dust. So we aren't seeing huge issues.

"Our biggest concern was in the future, if they were able to crush concrete at that specific location the hazard that would create," he said. "So we obviously had a strong fight against them being able to do that. And we feel like we prevailed, in that sense. They are moving the pile at their cost. It's always been our position it never should have been there in the first place. There's absolutely no reason for that type of operation to sit next to a racetrack or any outdoor facility of any kind, for that matter. That's what we were fighting so hard against.

"So as part of the settlement agreement," Angel said, "they're not going to be able to crush concrete next to the racetrack. They're forced to take this existing stockpile that they've prematurely disposed of in a location that was not suitable and they're having to incur the cost to have to move it, which is quite substantial, I would imagine. And they're doing that."

The Angel family didn’t get off the hook financially, either.

"We've spent a large sum of money in litigation. It’s nice to put that behind us. But we had a multimillion dollar facility we had to protect. And while it certainly cost us several hundred thousand dollars to defend, it certainly was worth every penny we spent to make sure we protected our racetrack, protected our sanction with the National Hot Rod Association. We stood up for our race fans and our racers who support our facility.”

So the latest dirt on Royal Purple Raceway is that it has no dirt.

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