[BKSG1198]

Gator,

Yes, I have to agree that running a racetrack is very hard and sometimes not profitable. COVID Killed a lot of tracks last year with not being allowed to operate, they lost Pan Am & Honda Days and love or hate them, I was once told by the late Joe Sway those events would basically pay for the whole entire years bills and every other event was just cash in hand as profit. I don't fault the owner for wanting to sell, any person would do the same thing if someone came and knocked on the door and said, your property is worth $400,000 and we want to give you 5 million. You wouldn't think twice about what they were going to put there and packed up and rolled.

The problem is and if you go up to the "Live from the Southern Sportsman Nationals" thread and the third post down it says "Bo said when we pulled in was “ Anything you need just let me know, Thanks for being here” and every time you see him he asks if you need anything". You always want to root on a track owner or promoter because it's a tough job and they are doing this for us but, I've heard from numerous racers who have had run ins with the owner about issues and the response given to them is "You need me, more then I need you, you can pack your stuff up and get out" and we're talking MINOR issues. I have witnessed it first hand with my .90 series where he personally called everyone a P***y at a drivers meeting because is was a less then marginal racetrack and my racers didn't want to go down because of fear of wrecking their cars. Most wanted to pack up and leave and some did, the next day my phone was flooded with calls telling me that if it wasn't for me running the series, they would never go back and will only go back for my races and the D1 events.

We all know this sport isn't cheap and you want to feel welcomed when spending your hard earned cash at any venue. I was always told a Thank you & a smile goes a long way in the 20 years I spent in the food industry, you learn from your mistakes and find out ways to make it better, not force people away and unfortunately that is what has happened at that track and the car counts have shown that recently. When Richmond Dragway closed up this past season, nobody trashed the owner because he wanted to spend more time with his family but, because he treated the racers with respect, they did nothing but, praise him for doing what he wanted to do in hopes of someone buying it to reopen. I feel that alot of people don't want to see the sale go through because of how they've been treated to see the owner make out like a bandit.