AutoWeak Says RA Sent Money...

[racer2c]

Chief posted this over on 7G. RA claims they sent the money on Friday.

Link (http://www.autoweek.com/cat_content.mv?port_code=autoweek&cat_code=motorsportsnews&loc_code=index&content_code=08305615)

[RaceGrrl]

Yeah, like we've never heard "the check is in the mail" before. RA screwed up. Big.

[nrc]

Road America claims to be negotiating in good faith. I find that hard to accept when it appears that they've simply chosen to ignore their existing contract.

[pchall]

I wonder what their e-mail and phone logs look like today?

[Napoleon]

Originally posted by racer2c
RA claims they sent the money on Friday.


BS - and the story that their attorneys agreed to a payment sounds like a big fat lie also.

[FortyOneFord]

So they waited until the day the check was supposed to be in CART's "hands" to put it in the mail? They couldn't put it in the mail any time during the past month or two since the law suit was filed?

They are either really dumb, or lying. I happen to think they know exactly what they are doing, and it involves screwing CART at the behest of the toilet bowl league.

[Gurneyflap]

No comment!

[nrc]

Probably a case where CART and RA agreed that some amount was due for this year's race and RA sent payment with the stipulation that accepting it would close the issue, leaving CART to eat the amount they claim is owed from last season.

According to Forrest Bond the issue in question over the escrow amount from last season is whether the event made money. That would imply that the event was already under a co-promotional agreement. That is, RA would pay their full sanction fee only if the event made money.

None of the other promoters who had similar agreements have had this problem. CART's statement goes so far as to say that they once again offered a reduced and revised agreement as settlement to the lawsuit.

The real give away here is in Road America's statement of today:

While the track management and board members remain staunch CART supporters and have every hope for an amicable resolution of this unfortunate turn of events, the issue in our disagreement with CART is the value of the series to race fans and sponsors.
The bottom line is that Road America is claiming that CART is not worth what CART is asking, even though they're almost certainly being offered the same deal as all the other co-promotions - a deal that substantially reduces their sanction fee if the event fails to make money.

[racer2c]

Originally posted by nrc
Probably a case where CART and RA agreed that some amount was due for this year's race and RA sent payment with the stipulation that accepting it would close the issue, leaving CART to eat the amount they claim is owed from last season.

According to Forrest Bond the issue in question over the escrow amount from last season is whether the event made money. That would imply that the event was already under a co-promotional agreement. That is, RA would pay their full sanction fee only if the event made money.

None of the other promoters who had similar agreements have had this problem. CART's statement goes so far as to say that they once again offered a reduced and revised agreement as settlement to the lawsuit.

The real give away here is in Road America's statement of today:

The bottom line is that Road America is claiming that CART is not worth what CART is asking, even though they're almost certainly being offered the same deal as all the other co-promotions - a deal that substantially reduces their sanction fee if the event fails to make money.

nrc, I'm glad you brought this up as I just read this piece and was going to comment on my interpretation. It smacks of all of the good-bye CART letters of the past doesn't it? Especially Nazareth. RA will talk up the 'value' aspect and "providing quality racing" etc while the whole time they've already have the hand-shake with Tony and are poised in the near future to bring the IRL to RA. There was no surprise by RA that CART made the announcement today. I believe that they withheld the money to force CART's hand and then play the victim, then 'fill' the date with Tony and benefit from his wallet and that of T&H.

We all know the end of this story, and it's sad indeed. nrc, you should start a thread on RA's official statement so we can continue.

[Napoleon]

Originally posted by nrc
Probably a case where CART and RA agreed that some amount was due for this year's race and RA sent payment with the stipulation that accepting it would close the issue, leaving CART to eat the amount they claim is owed from last season.

According to Forrest Bond the issue in question over the escrow amount from last season is whether the event made money. That would imply that the event was already under a co-promotional agreement. That is, RA would pay their full sanction fee only if the event made money.

None of the other promoters who had similar agreements have had this problem. CART's statement goes so far as to say that they once again offered a reduced and revised agreement as settlement to the lawsuit.

The real give away here is in Road America's statement of today:

The bottom line is that Road America is claiming that CART is not worth what CART is asking, even though they're almost certainly being offered the same deal as all the other co-promotions - a deal that substantially reduces their sanction fee if the event fails to make money.

You have it exactly right.

How many of us could renegotiate one of our obligations, then still default because we are still unhappy with TWO promises we made to anouther party. They are dead beats, and none of the other promoters can be accused of that.

[Lizzerd]

This may sound weird and I'll probably get slammed for saying it, but I think RA could get away with charging more for a three day ticket/paddock pass. If I recall, it was "only" around $100 or so last year. I'm not suggesting that they do so, but isn't that a pretty good price? Sure, there are no reserved seats, which is okay at that track, but you can't beat the price, can you? I sure as heck know that if the price was upped by $20 or so, I would still attend. $20 X 50,000 = $1 Million.

The fans that go to RA are dedicated CART fans and very into our series, and I'm not suggesting that all would pay the extra bucks, because bringing a family of 5 would mean an extra $100. But considering the demographics of the typical RA CART race attendee, does raising the price seem logical or not? Most could probably afford it and would attend anyway. Would $10 - $20 per ticket make you stay home? Somebody is gonna throw the argument at me that if you raise the price, fewer will come to the race, and I will accept and consider if if you do, because I also know that if you reduce the price of a ticket, more people might buy one. I'm just throwing this thought out there for discussion.

Am I off base here? Would you stil go if it meant a more expensive ticket? Would you decide to go if it were chaper?

Just rambling thoughts...

[mnkywrch]

Wasn't the crowd down at RA in the last few years compared to prior years?

[rocket]

I think it was $110 last year, if they raised it to 120 or 130, it wouldn't make any difference to me, I'd be there, it's a phukin shame this is happening.

[rocket]

Originally posted by mnkywrch
Wasn't the crowd down at RA in the last few years compared to prior years?

I believe so, but if the crapwagons race there imagine what it would look like. I think the fact is that most of the lemmings could give a crap about road racing it's all a freakin parade as far as they are conerned, so how many of them would go up to Elkhart lake to see a race? Not many I bet, and you would probably only get about 20-25% of the fans there already to see the crapwagons. My guess is if they race there, at best you would see 50% of the attendance that CART gets.


I know your probably not implying anything, so don't take my response as being critical of you:)

[mnkywrch]

Originally posted by rocket
I believe so, but if the crapwagons race there imagine what it would look like. I think the fact is that most of the lemmings could give a crap about road racing it's all a freakin parade as far as they are conerned, so how many of them would go up to Elkhart lake to see a race? Not many I bet, and you would probably only get about 20-25% of the fans there already to see the crapwagons. My guess is if they race there, at best you would see 50% of the attendance that CART gets.


I know your probably not implying anything, so don't take my response as being critical of you:)

50%? You're kind. If they got 50% I'd be stunned.

Leaving the IRL out of it - if the crowd has truly been going down at RA, I can (at least) see what RA means when they imply CART isn't worth what they want in terms of sanctioning fee.

But until I see the numbers (like the co-promotion deal that RA turned down), I don't want to take sides.

It's just a bad deal all around. CART belongs at RA.

[Napoleon]

Originally posted by mnkywrch
It's just a bad deal all around. CART belongs at RA.

No doubt.