LAGUNA SECA >> Management and other personnel changes continue at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with about the same speed as a race car negotiating a lap on the world famous track.

The latest departure occurred a few weeks ago when Friends of Laguna Seca CEO Lauri Eberhart’s exit was announced in conjunction with the expanded responsibilities of Mel Harder.

Harder, the former manager of Chip Ganassi Racing, was hired in March as president and general manager of the nonprofit organization that operates the facility.

According to a press release, attributed only to Friends of Laguna Seca, Harder’s role has expanded to include daily operation of the track.

The raceway has four events scheduled in the next 11 weeks: the MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest (July 11-13), Grand Prix of Monterey (July 25-27), Monterey Pre-Reunion and the Corkscrew Hillclimb (Aug. 9-10) and the Monterey Rolex Motorsports Reunion (Aug. 13-16).

Eberhart’s departure occurred a few weeks after the announcement of Kahn Media replacing the facility’s former media relations and marketing staff.

Longtime industry veteran Barry Toepke, director of heritage events, and Alicia Busa, hired in February 2023 as communications manager, were among those also exiting.

Last November, Friends of Laguna Seca and A&D Narigi Consulting, LLC jointly announced the management agreement between the parties would end Dec. 31. A&D Narigi Consulting assumed the management of the facilities in 2020.

Repeated requests for comment by The Herald to Friends of Laguna management, including President Ross Merrill, Vice President Bruce Canepa, and Harder, were not returned. Eberhart, who ran Charlotte Motor Speedway for three years and served as lead counsel of Speedway Motorsports and Charlotte Motor Speedway for more than a decade, was named as the organization’s CEO in May 2024. Eberhart, who visited Laguna Seca often before assuming her new responsibilities, said during a telephone interview with The Herald last year she had several ideas for raceway changes. “Yes, I do have something in my mind that I would like to see, but we have to do a full assessment of what’s there, what we can use, what we can’t use,” she said. Eberhart and her husband were in the process of relocating to the Monterey Peninsula at the time of her hire.

“There are a lot of permitting issues we have to work through and deed restrictions we have to work through,” she said. “I don’t want to put anything out there. But it would be something on par with the (international) events at the Monterey Aquarium or in Carmel-by-the-Sea. That’s the three-to-five-year plan.”

The nonprofit, which began in 2016, signed a 55-year concession agreement with the recreation area in 2023.

Eberhart’s contributions, including updating the facility’s business model, restructuring its management and organizing the financial structure, were cited in the announcement of the management change.

It also noted Eberhart will “continue her private sector legal and corporate consulting practices, focusing on motorsports.” In December 2023, a group called the Highway 68 Coalition filed a lawsuit against Monterey County, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and the Friends of Laguna Seca. It alleged nuisance issues for local residents, including increased noise and traffic, during racing events and on track days. A settlement of the lawsuit was announced in March last year. Friends of Laguna Seca reiterated in a press release the “long-term plans of Friends of Laguna Seca to conduct a previously planned sound impact assessment at the racetrack and carry out appropriate sound mitigation measures, all as part of being a good neighbor to the surrounding community.”

A few months after being hired, Eberhart elaborated on her long-term plans.

“Anything is possible,” she said. “What we are going to do is take a look at the physical plant. We are going to assess the property and the facilities. We are going to assess the schedule. We are going to take a look at everything. “As a nonprofit, we have to make sure we are making as much money as possible to invest in the facility. And we have an obligation to make sure we have the highest and best use of the facility. But everything is on the table.”