Possible future problem with WoO/DMI?
Found this over on the South Jersey Dirt Racing message board. Anyone out there in TF land that subscribes to NSSN and can verify this?
Interesting reading.........
Author: John Mc Date: 2/23/2005 2:09:22 PM
This is from the latest issue of NSSN:
The Struggle Continues; Kinser Says It's Too Late To Start A Rival Sprint Car Series This Year
February 23, 2005
By NSSN Staff
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The future of the DIRT MotorSports (Boundless Motor Sports) operated World of Outlaw Sprint Series, not to mention the other dirt-racing series operated by the company, continues to be murky.
But despite the buzzards circling around the organization, competitors in the WoO Sprint Series, which was formed in 1978, have decided, at least for now, not to go forward with a plan to break away from the sanctioning body, which is led by Paul Kruger, and was purchased from Ted Johnson late in 2003.
Nineteen-time series champion Steve Kinser openly discussed the situation, acknowledging the competitors have "a back-up plan" in place should DIRT MotorSports go out of business.
"We have 15 to 20 guys that are standing together on this thing," Kinser said. "We have guys ready -- they are racing people -- to invest in this thing and take it over if these guys do get in trouble. It would be easier for us if they do go broke, or if they are not able to do want they need to do. But if we do that, and take 15 or 20 guys and say we're not going to run with you, then we will hang out a bunch of promoters and we don't want to do that.
"We've talked about going off and starting over again, but we can't leave the promoters hung out. We might have to struggle through what we've got, then wait until the end of the season. Either that or they are going to run broke before that, and if they do that, we have enough good solid people to take this thing over and pay the point fund and start this thing over.
"Ted Johnson had us in a bad situation and this put it in a worse situation when he sold it to these people."
Kinser said a breakaway sprint-car series came very close to happening this season.
"We were thinking about taking off and saying the heck with them, but I got to calling some of the promoters and they all signed contracts, and it would put them in a heck of a situation," he explained. "I said that I think we need to go ahead and try to make this thing work, and the best thing they could do is try to run off or go broke, and then we'll go ahead and take it over, and if not, by the end of the year we are still not happy, we will go ahead and start next year competing against them.
"The promoters and the drivers are all going to stick together. If they (DIRT) can get the job done, and do it right, we'll stick with them. If they can't, we are going to oust them, and that is basically all I can say.
"Nothing is going to happen now. If we tried to do that, with the contracts that the promoters have signed, there would be no way they could have another race."
While some of the major track promoters including Tony Stewart at Eldora Speedway did not sign the contracts they were issued by DIRT, Kinser estimated that about 80 percent of the promoters on the WoO schedule have signed binding contracts for this season.
He also acknowledged that none of the WoO Mean 15 drivers have signed the contracts that were mailed to them by DIRT officials.
"None of us drivers have signed any of the contracts, and we are not going to," he said. "These things are like life-binding contracts. We can't sign that. They haven't proved anything to us. I have always signed a year-to-year contract, and I never really have signed a contract with an organization, and if I were to do something like that, it is going to be a year-to-year thing. I can't sign anything long term."
Kinser, who recently posted his 514th WoO victory, said that while the teams are worried about the state of affairs within the DIRT organization, all money has been paid.
"They've paid all our point money and all our appearance money. That part of it has always been good," he said. "But we are not used to having 15-20 page contracts stuffed down our throat."
Kinser pointed out there is no problem with product or the World of Outlaws brand.
"The main thing is that we went to Volusia and we had the grandstands full on Friday night and we had the grandstands full on Sunday night," he said. "They had the All Star races and they didn't have any crowds. When I start worrying about the World of Outlaws is when I look up in the grandstands and there's nobody sitting up there."
Kinser believes that whether or not promoters have signed contracts with DIRT, scheduled WoO events will be held.
"These promoters are going to have a race even without a contract because they make money," he said. "They still fill the grandstands up, and they still make money. The problem is they don't like a whole lot of different stuff in the contracts."
Found this over on the South Jersey Dirt Racing message board. Anyone out there in TF land that subscribes to NSSN and can verify this?
Interesting reading.........
Author: John Mc Date: 2/23/2005 2:09:22 PM
This is from the latest issue of NSSN:
The Struggle Continues; Kinser Says It's Too Late To Start A Rival Sprint Car Series This Year
February 23, 2005
By NSSN Staff
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The future of the DIRT MotorSports (Boundless Motor Sports) operated World of Outlaw Sprint Series, not to mention the other dirt-racing series operated by the company, continues to be murky.
But despite the buzzards circling around the organization, competitors in the WoO Sprint Series, which was formed in 1978, have decided, at least for now, not to go forward with a plan to break away from the sanctioning body, which is led by Paul Kruger, and was purchased from Ted Johnson late in 2003.
Nineteen-time series champion Steve Kinser openly discussed the situation, acknowledging the competitors have "a back-up plan" in place should DIRT MotorSports go out of business.
"We have 15 to 20 guys that are standing together on this thing," Kinser said. "We have guys ready -- they are racing people -- to invest in this thing and take it over if these guys do get in trouble. It would be easier for us if they do go broke, or if they are not able to do want they need to do. But if we do that, and take 15 or 20 guys and say we're not going to run with you, then we will hang out a bunch of promoters and we don't want to do that.
"We've talked about going off and starting over again, but we can't leave the promoters hung out. We might have to struggle through what we've got, then wait until the end of the season. Either that or they are going to run broke before that, and if they do that, we have enough good solid people to take this thing over and pay the point fund and start this thing over.
"Ted Johnson had us in a bad situation and this put it in a worse situation when he sold it to these people."
Kinser said a breakaway sprint-car series came very close to happening this season.
"We were thinking about taking off and saying the heck with them, but I got to calling some of the promoters and they all signed contracts, and it would put them in a heck of a situation," he explained. "I said that I think we need to go ahead and try to make this thing work, and the best thing they could do is try to run off or go broke, and then we'll go ahead and take it over, and if not, by the end of the year we are still not happy, we will go ahead and start next year competing against them.
"The promoters and the drivers are all going to stick together. If they (DIRT) can get the job done, and do it right, we'll stick with them. If they can't, we are going to oust them, and that is basically all I can say.
"Nothing is going to happen now. If we tried to do that, with the contracts that the promoters have signed, there would be no way they could have another race."
While some of the major track promoters including Tony Stewart at Eldora Speedway did not sign the contracts they were issued by DIRT, Kinser estimated that about 80 percent of the promoters on the WoO schedule have signed binding contracts for this season.
He also acknowledged that none of the WoO Mean 15 drivers have signed the contracts that were mailed to them by DIRT officials.
"None of us drivers have signed any of the contracts, and we are not going to," he said. "These things are like life-binding contracts. We can't sign that. They haven't proved anything to us. I have always signed a year-to-year contract, and I never really have signed a contract with an organization, and if I were to do something like that, it is going to be a year-to-year thing. I can't sign anything long term."
Kinser, who recently posted his 514th WoO victory, said that while the teams are worried about the state of affairs within the DIRT organization, all money has been paid.
"They've paid all our point money and all our appearance money. That part of it has always been good," he said. "But we are not used to having 15-20 page contracts stuffed down our throat."
Kinser pointed out there is no problem with product or the World of Outlaws brand.
"The main thing is that we went to Volusia and we had the grandstands full on Friday night and we had the grandstands full on Sunday night," he said. "They had the All Star races and they didn't have any crowds. When I start worrying about the World of Outlaws is when I look up in the grandstands and there's nobody sitting up there."
Kinser believes that whether or not promoters have signed contracts with DIRT, scheduled WoO events will be held.
"These promoters are going to have a race even without a contract because they make money," he said. "They still fill the grandstands up, and they still make money. The problem is they don't like a whole lot of different stuff in the contracts."
