Len Imbrogno.....Seriously now

[Mike Mayhew]

>>501c Not-For-Profit Organizations do not have a profit. And their financial statements are public knowledge. <<

Isn't this your quote from an earlier post Lee ? First you say their financal statements are public knowledge, now your saying they don't even have financial statements ? Which is it ?
Your statement here that Not_For_Profit Organization 's do not have profit, shows you have yet to get to the 501c class at your school it seems. 501c's are in fact both allowed to make a profit, and in fact are supposed to be run TO make a profit. The difference in a 501c is how the profit can be spent.
Brings me to another point. I believe your sidekick said it's none of our business how the $ will be spent. I believe he said Wally can stick it in his pocket for all he cares. That would actually be illegal. That would get Wally, or anyone in Glendora indicted.
Any profit, including from a sale such as this, can either be invested ( to make more profit ), and if not invested must be used to further the original charter of the 501c. You see, this is NOT Wally's money, or Tom C's or anyone in Glendora's.
Can you see how we ARE entitled to see how the money will be spent now Lee ? Or are you at the back of the class.


Mike ( madness & ) Mayhem



Mike ( madness & ) Mayhem

[Michael Beard]

New editorial on DRO: http://www.dragracingonline.com/analysis/ix_5-questions-1.html

Old DRO stories:
2002 Tax Return: http://www.dragracingonline.com/anal..._10-tax-1.html
2004 Tax Return: http://www.dragracingonline.com/anal...nhratax-1.html
2005 Tax Return http://www.dragracingonline.com/anal..._12-tax-1.html




Michael Beard
Staging Light Graphic Design & Printing
Duck Tape/Loctite Racing
H - I - J/CM '80 Volare 360 Magnum

[Mike Mayhew]

Don't know how that double post happened, took the duplicate off.
But just so you know Lee and Mr.V,
At the Rockingham National this year, a packed house. Probably 30-40 thousand in the stands, 3 deep on the fence. When they called Stock for second round I had a couple friends in line at the concession stand. They said the lines virtually emptied. As we were paired to run, at least 500 + very respectful spectators were in the back of staging watching all the goings on. At 10:30 a.m. as I pulled in to the water I looked into absolutley FULL stands. Top fuel runs were 2 1/2 hours away yet.
I have seen the same thing at Bristol, and at Houston. Other places not as much.
The thing is, there are many people that love sportsman, even at national events. And obviously I realize that we are not the main attraction at Nationals, but we have to get over this low grade mentality. How can anyone try to promote themselves and better themselves when the mindset is we are nothing ? At Sav. dragway untill it closed we drew 500 to 1000 spectators every Sat. night. To a simple bracket race.
The few like Ray And Lee on here with defeatest attitudes will never help our cause. And it takes only a few to bring down any chance we have for change. ( Jeff Teuton, you were right. )
Lee, you say you DON'T want more round money. Great, thats yor choice. But you are in the minority. I have received several e-mails and at least 3 phone calls in support. ( Why don't you guys POST ! )
Most of us DO want more $$. But the 2 of you that don't have highjacked this thread and can make it seem as though you are the majority with your many protest posts. Which you are not.
There will be PLENTY of money to go around now. The 100 mill can be stretched to infinity with investments. All can benefit...........but we have to ASK.

Mike ( madness & ) Mayhem

[tgriffith]

As stated before in another topic,,,,,What bothers me ( and I hope the SEC) is that the sale of property of a non profit org to public held company for what I think is too reasonable............I know very little about commercial real estate and tax law...,,,BUT,,,,I would think this sale should be ethically questioned by someone ,,,,somewhere.....

I would think that in the sale of assets of a "non profit org' that an independent appraisal be done of the property and business consideration and then a price set,,,Nhra is going to be left spineless other than the cash it generates from the sale,,,(from what I read)...You mark this down,,,,,,sometime in the, not so distant future,,,Nhra will decide they cant function any longer and will sale the remaining license aggreement,,,,sportsman ,,etc............to this new company for pennies on the dollar , just to clear up debts ,,,,,thus the final transaction from Non profit to profit company completed,,without a dime paid to the IRS

,,,a companys REAL WORTH is what they own,,,,not business they do ,,,but real property,,,such as real estate and cash in banks

without real estate, in time of financial hardships, NHra will not be able to borrow any money down the road if needed......thus,,Nhra is actually a paper company,,,or a junk bond,,IMO

from what I have seen ,,the ones making the decision to sale is also the ones going to be running the new company....and I would bet a dollar to a doughnut,,,with some excellent new perks,,,,(stock,,,paychecks,,whatever)....

Boys,,it flat out reecks of foul stinch,,,,,,,,,,,come on,,,,,,I start a non profit company,,,build it to be worth millions,,,,,and then sell it to some buddies, for a fraction of probably what its worth, and then become president of this new "profit company",,,cashing in on items I was prohibited from touching while it was a "non profit"............

Personally , I could care less about Nhra`s business .....what what I do care about is this tax shelter and the personal gain of certain individuals that so many racers have taken decades to build.........

LNORTON,,,you said you were an accounting major,,,,,is this transaction legal???? ethical????,,,,,can membership stop this sale???? If no one owns a "non profit",,who has the "say so",,,I mean, with new laws that are in effect that does make it illegal for officers to be "stupid" with other peoples money (remember nhra doesnt belong to them),,,,,if this sale evidentually causes the callapse of the Nhra as we know it,,,,do they go to jail??? some serious questions......

[Bruce Noland]

This could be one of those carrot and stick deals. The carrot for the Sportsman racers is the supposed funding of our side of the sport for 25 years. Although none of us know what the sport will look like this time next year. That is where the stick comes in.

It's hard to believe that much will improve for the Sportsman racers when you review Tom Compton's record. I think it is fair to say that his enhancements have diminished our over all enjoyment of the sport. In short, he came to NHRA to boost the Pro's and increase the value of the organization. Did he do it? I don't think so. He should have left the Pro Stock Trucks alone and let them run their course instead of blasting them off the program

100 mil sounds like a lot but the HDP folks do get a lot of security when they take over ownership of the tracks. Not enough to cover the whole 100 mil but enough to make the deal work for them. The troubling part for me is - what happens if these guys decide they aren't getting enough bang for their buck or some new regualtion puts the Nitro cars out of business and the HDP folks decide to shut down the operation. I'm sure the HDP folks have had a good risk assessment team look this over, but what happens to the tracks if they do shut down? Shopping malls and townhouses that's what!

This is a very risky deal from a Sportsman racers point of view. This sale represents a donkey that can not be put back in the bottle if it goes south. Yeah maybe NHRA.org will have first right of refusal on the tracks but the money will be tied up in funding the Sportsman and the retirement accounts of all the NHRA executives. To me it looks as though Tom and Co. have done all they can for better or worse and decided to bail and to ride the donkey as far as it will take them; which may not be very far. But it's not that big a deal to them because the 100 mil has helped fund their retirement accounts. Just my two cents worth. And I am entitled to my two cents worth.

[Jim Wahl]

Mike and Bruce I agree with both of you. Sportsman racing will never evolve or grow with the naysaying I have heard on this thread. I started this thread to emphasize that we must demand an accurate accounting of the monies that go with this deal! No, we are not shareholders in the NHRA but we are members of what apparently has become, even though being very top heavy, a rather lucrative company. Morally, we are owed more than an after the fact paragraph in an obscure area of an internet web page. This deal rates a multipage article in National Dragster as well as the NHRA web site. Yes Wally and Company have steered the ship for all these years and done a reasonable job, but the $100 million is nothing compaired to the money and sweat the racers have spent with the NHRA in the last 50 years! You want to try and go into the professional sports entertainment buisness by splitting the Pro racers from the Sportsman racers, fine, but now is the time to nurture your "amateur" ranks. From these ranks come your future professional racers. Two things need to happen immediately:

1. A full as possible disclosure of the deal and the predicted path of the monies associated.

2. Arrange a meeting, either face to face or internet, with representitives of the Sportsman ranks to discuss in good faith the future of Sportsman racing and the perceived ramifications of current and future enhancements.

I believe if these two simple objectives were met by the NHRA it would relieve most of the angst that is being felt by the majority of the Sportsman racers at this time.

Jim Wahl
6 Time National record Holder
2239 BF/S
I miss Buster Couch also! 'cause Div.2 will always be "Buster's Rebels"

[Lynn A McCarty]

$10 would be appreciated towards our cause, but wouldnt count on it. Sportsmen have all been the subject of the lack of focus.

In Indy the media gets hyped up at every 500 race (three of them now), but the US Nationals gets 10 seconds, and the Indy points race there are 15 people and the stands and I know 13 of them.. The new investment group has a chance to make a difference.

Sportsmen can grow with simply a clear direction and focus.

Lynn

[david ring]

Sportsman racing will remain a part of national events so long as the benefits from doing so are greater than the costs of doing so. It's that simple.

What's not so simple is what we as racers can do to make sure that we increase the benefits and help control the costs.

On the benefits side we can make sure that our cars are attractive to fans and that we present ourselves with class. That means keeping the language clean when the fans are around and asking them if they have any questions when they come by to check out our cars. Remember that a casual fan may not understand a lot about handicap racing, but they are likely to really appreciate cool cars. And class cars are cool. If we try to sell our cars as hot rods which are also race cars, we'll be ok.

[Randall Klein]

So true Dave, we have basically Show Cars that perform; many hot rod enthusiasts pay to attend Car Shows, mostly in the winter, but rod runs and Power Tours are big as well...this came up during the muffler debate to promote ourselves....some volunteered to come to races a day or so early to show at car dealerships or automotive parts houses to generate interest

We (I) are our worst enemy by not self promoting and thinking outside the box (for the greater good) but rather keyboard complainers

Just thinking out loud: say 3 to 6 S/SS cars, and 2-3 Comp cars contact a local car dealer, or Advance Auto or O'Reilly's, get a radio station to do a live remote, hand out some hero cards, dress well and explain our type of racing...advise track and owner that we want to partner with them to increase awareness and attendence; in each Division ask for a rotation of those who would come a day early...maybe track reserves a few good pits spots as a comp for help in promotion...winter banquets might be good to bring the parties together, sign a "committment" agreement (not a binding contract) and give it a try

One other thing I would like to see, is that a LODRS race feature a class and promote it....say SS at noon, 2 rounds Round Robin, come right back down return road and fire 'em up again...it can't take much time, and our cars are supposed to be capable of that...maybe not COMP, or could it?

Anyway just some thinking to stir up other opinions

Randall Klein

[Poverty Bay]

It might be helpful to the dialogue if all concerned were to review some of the facts as disclosed by NHRA to the IRS in its most recent 501c filing, which covers the year 2005. This is something that all non-profits have to do annually in order to maintain their tax-free status with IRS. Non-profits do not distribute dividends (read ?profits?) but must disclose in detail all of their revenue and expenses (essentially an income statement in accountantese) and the value of all of their assets and liabilities (essentially a balance sheet in accountantese). They also must disclose who their officers and directors are, and what their compensation is. That information is all provided in the 501c document, and some interesting portions of it are summarized below. Values are stated in millions and rounded off for convenience. Less significant amounts are left unmentioned. Now the disclaimer: I am no accountant, so this is the interpretation of a layman. Apologies for the formatting.

REVENUE ($m)

Royalties/Concessions 7
Sponsorships/Advertising 40
Spectator Admissions 44
Licenses & Fees 12
Memberships & Assessments 4

Total Revenue 107

EXPENSES ($m)

Officers compensation 2
Other salaries/wages 12
Pension plan contributions 5
Other employee benefits 1
Payroll taxes 1
Office supplies, rents, etc 4
Equipment rental & mainten. 6
Printing & publications 4
Depreciation 2
Prize money, awards 22
TV production 9
Food/bev. Concessions 1
Track operators / sponsor share 9
Advertising 7
Sponsor analysis, advertising 2
Contract labor 2
Professional services 1
Insurance 3
Other* 13

Total expenses 106

*(includes about 25 accounts ranging from utilities to marketing materials)

ASSETS ($m)

Cash 1
Savings & temp investment 8
Accounts receivable 4
Investments (2c corporations) 6
Land, buildings, equipment 53
Depreciation on above (19)
Other assets 3

Total assets 56

LIABILITIES ($m)

Accounts payable 6
Deferred revenue 10
Mortgages, other notes 10

Total liabilities 26

NET ASSETS 30