April 1, 1999 Owners Meeting Not So Secret The meeting had been planned for months, with secret phone calls, clandestine preliminary meetings, and arranged to coincide with a lull in Florida racing. We uncovered this story while investigating the DeSoto Speedway situation, and like many news stories, quite by accident. While digging into the whereabouts of Dewayne Musick, owner of the beleaguered speedway in Manatee County, we were able to uncover the following story. As bizarre as the following may sound we have pretty much documented the entire series of events which will have a generational impact on Florida Stock Car Racing. It all began on Route 41 just about halfway between East Bay Raceway and DeSoto. By chance a contact who is well known to Florida Stock Car Racing, was making a delivery at a small, hidden airport just north of Bradenton, and near the Hillsborough County line, at the same time that several individuals who were later recognized in photographs as being owners of Florida stock car facilities. Once we had the photographic evidence that confirmed the identities we brought in several experienced professionals with backgrounds in surveillance and other sophisticated forms of investigation. The following are the facts as we now know them. On or about March 1st of this year there were a series of phone calls originating from the Charlotte County Speedway to New Smyrna Speedway, DeSoto Speedway, Columbia Speedway, and the Ft Meade facility, which is soon to open. A witness, who at this point is remaining anonymous for personal safety reasons, overheard the calls which supposedly had to do with a meeting planned for late March, of all of the major track owners in the state. It seems that the track owners in response to criticism from fans, drivers, and certain media had decided it was time to act. The meeting according to transcripts of secretly taped conversations discussed how the track owners could collaborate and help each other out of rough times by uniting their sanctioning rules, scheduling and otherwise make their businesses more profitable. One owner, as the tape clearly shows, demanded that it was time to “take back our tracks and return to the good old days when no one dared challenge our authority.” Another said “only by uniting (our rules) will we be able to regain our credibility”. Two days of meetings involving 14 of the most influential owners produced some of the most astonishing evidence yet of collusion on the part of the owners.
“Once we all are operating on the same set of rules for the major classes, they will have nothing legitimate to gripe about”, A muted voice on the surveillance says. {we think it was the Manager of Volusia Speedway, but one analyst said it was probably a lady named Tammy from New Smyrna}. We do know that the person named “Tammy” was at the meeting in attendance with the track owner of New Smyrna and Orlando Speedways. They came to the meeting in a Ford Bronco with frosted windows, and were seen exiting the vehicle by our camera hidden. In any event, the main subject of the meeting was actions they could take together to get the fans packing their stands again. Noticeably absent were several owners from tracks who apparently are having no problems outside the usual complaints of favoritism and cheating by veteran drivers. One owner, Musick himself, proposed that the starting positions for all but the novice or entry level classes be decided by auctioning them off. His proposal clearly seemed to be catching favor, when distractions caused it to be tabled. The proposal fell on deaf ears in the beginning, primarily due to the heated debate between two owners of Late Model programs who each argued the case of tires, one for Goodyear, one for Hoosiers.That argument was settled when one of the owners finally said it was time to mend fences in the name of the sport. And finally to the benefit of all fans and drivers the auction idea was scuttled after the owner of the Charlotte County Speedway threatened to bring his attorneys in if the bickering didn’t stop. “I have more concrete to pour on my entranceway, and my chickens need to be fed”. This is the point that Musick stated quite loudly to our hidden tapes which, though distorted, clearly heard him say,” I’m no Tom Stimus, I’m a real businessman”. It was about this time that a call came into someone’s cell phone. As it was the only time during the meetings that an incoming call was received (although there were several outgoing calls), it cast a pall over the consortium. As best we can figure, it was from Billy Martino, who had of course been invited but was too busy dealing with the demands of Hooters, or too busy counting the money from the very successful Auburndale Speedway to attend. Billy apparently was calling to express his apologies for not attending and let everyone know that “we should do this more often”. That went over like a lead balloon, as Paul Pitre, owner of Ocala Speedway, expressed his discontent “I run things my way and they work. I have happy fans and happy drivers. What more do I need?” He went on for a while, but most of the tape was unintelligible. But right at end he could be heard muttering over and over again “Auburndale this , Auburndale that”. Due to the Melissa Virus we suffered a major loss of computer data in our computers holding the tapes, but at least we were able to document some of the events at the meeting. We are fairly certain that the owners have agreed to meet again in late June somewhere in Collier County. As one owner was heard to say as the secret meeting was breaking up, “ It’s a beginning”. And we couldn’t agree more on this last April Fools Day of the Century. Be assured when the owners, who we love to complain about meet again, we’ll be there to cover it. -Mary Gunn
[Editors Note:We sincerely thank Mary Gunn and her operatives for their fine work in bringing this story to light for the many sincere fans of Florida Stock Car Racing, in spite of the dangers involved] Comment on this story? Post it on the Message Board! or e-mail to: comments@karnac.com |
