Red River Raceway Track is for Sale

[Bobby Brannon]

Mike email me bobbybrannon@cs.com

[John Kelley]

Has Red River been sold ?
Who owns the place now ??
I heard a RUMOR.......that Rusk might be bulldozed because of inheritance taxes...JUST A RUMOR FROM ONE GUY......

[bill dedman]

I was there a couple of years ago and it looked like a really nice facility to me.

I think the money problem is that it's too far from a sizeable population center; it's not that close to Shreveport, and failing that, there is virtually NOTHING for miles in any direction. I could be wrong, but I just think its location is not good, crowd-wise.... too far for people to drive, either to race OR to watch.

Too bad; I hate to see drag strips like this one close.

[John Kelley]

So basically in one area we have three tracks GONE. Hallsville,Rusk & Red River and Monroe is for sale.
Sad statement about drag strips in that area. There is Pine Valley near Lufkin still going for now.

[Dragsinger]

John,

The East Texas drag race community once thrived and was a hot bed of hot rodding. But, today, that is not the case. It troubles me because I was a part of the Golden years. It just gradually, little by little, slipped away.

When Johnny Issac pulled the plug on Cherokee I said to my self, "that is the last stray, something has to be done"

Lately, a committee is at work in East Texas charged with the work of devising a plan for a new East Texas track.

Here is a post from another board:
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the new East Texas track is still in the "Impossible Dream" stage just now.

Here is the bottom line; the market will not produce enough profit to service a large bank note. Rather, private investors are required who are willing to accept delayed repayment. By forming an "S"Corp, investors can take an income tax loss up to the amount of their investment.

Once the racer and fan base is built up, investors begin to earn dividends on their investment.

Of course, another large hurdle is having programs that allow the "Mororsports Park" to be open several days per week. A regular flow of people coming to events is vital.

We are crawling just now, stay tuned.

[340Cuda]

Could someone please tie Adger's post below with this one. Seems to be something missing. Last time I was at Shreveport was the 2003 IHRA Divisional race but at the time it was a great facility. Sure would hate to see it go away.
Bill Lamb

Start of Adger's post:
I guess this is why no one showed up for the closing.


Mansfield man, son accused of running Ponzi scheme

10:28 PM CST on Wednesday, March 4, 2009

By ERIC TORBENSON / The Dallas Morning News
etorbenson@dallasnews

The Securities and Exchange Commission sued a Mansfield man and his son Wednesday, alleging they ran an $11 million Ponzi scheme to fund the son's racing career and to buy real estate.

The civil case alleges that starting in April 2007, Ray White, 50, used his company, CRW Management LP, to persuade 250 people in 22 states to give him money. White allegedly told investors that he achieved high returns – as much as 30 percent – by investing in overnight foreign currency exchanges, the suit said.

But of the $10.9 million given to the elder White, just over $93,900 was invested into foreign exchange investments, the suit said.
Instead, the money went to pay for 22-year-old Christopher White's racing career and to buy replica car dealer Hurricane Motorsports of Arlington, which both Whites co-managed, the suit claims.

Numbers for Hurricane Motorsports had been disconnected Wednesday. Calls to homes for the Whites were not returned.

U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade has assigned Timothy Mack as the receiver for the assets. The judge also combined the SEC's case with a case against White's CRW Management filed Wednesday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

According to the SEC suit, CRW charged some investors 10 percent or even 20 percent of their investment to participate in White's trading program.

He allegedly paid some investors back with money derived from new investors, a structure common in Ponzi schemes.

The elder White had told investors as recently as Jan. 24 that he had stopped investing in overnight currency markets because of "homeland security" issues and promised that investors would get their money back. No investor has received funds from the Whites since he stopped trading, the suit said.

Ray White bought a house, land, cars and Hurricane Motorsports with the money and paid $3.5 million to "third parties," the suit says. It seeks restitution, penalties and an order barring the two from similar actions.

The elder White isn't a registered broker and cannot sell securities, the suit said.
__________________
Adger Smith 4780 SS

[Bob Pagano]

Its not location, "Pinks" filled the place to overflow last year. There was nothing offered by the track to get anyone interested in racing there. Some folks said track champs did not get paid and a dinner was never had either. Sounds like no effort was put in this track to get racers to show up.
























'

[John Kelley]

I can't see a "PINKS" race as a good indicator of location.
People will travel hundreds of miles to get into a "PINKS" event,they will BEG for entry credentials !
Anything to get in the BIG SHOW and possibly be on TV in the hottest show on SPEED TV.
They could have it in the middle of Death Valley aND HAVE A MASSIVE CROWD....just to see the bald headed "flagman"..............

[Dragsinger]

John, I agree. Besides, The Pinks deal is once a year, and in my opinion, will soon run it's course.

The fact is, Red River is in a poor location. It has been under five managers, two of them very strong and experienced, but none were able to make it work.

To me, any new track built must be located as near at possible to a population area. Very near the track must be stores, stations, restaurants, etc. In addition, very near an Interstate or major highway.

Red River is 25 miles from any of this.

No question, the face of drag racing is changing. We are at a critical time when new ideas and new programs must be developed.

[Adger Smith]

To give you some background about what I'm going to say: I have successfully owned & operated 3 tracks in my lifetime. 2 in the the Tyler Tx area & built & operated the track in Prescott AR. What I know & comment about track operation I've earned by investing my own time & my money. I am not in the race track business because I had an opprotunity to sell out and make a good profit. I went back to my original Engine Building/Speed Shop business. Some of what I'm going to post may offend, but it is the way I see things.
I guess I should have told a little more background on my post about Red River & it's sale.
When the Wilhites(owners of the track) and Ken & Molly Hall (the last track managers/lease owners) disolved their relationship, were dismissed, tossed or their contract not renuied (or what ever story that you hear), it was announced Red River was For Sale. It is my opinion the last operators wanted the track to fail for some reason.. maybe to get it at fire sale price..The Wilhites have a very successful electrical contracting business in Shreveport. They don't need or want a track. The track was the dream/ Baby of their now deceased father. One nice guy, in my opinion. There has been a steady stream of problems since the track has started operation. Some caused by inexperienced management other problems by managers that made decisions that were not in best interest of the track. I won't go into detail, but it is my opinion the way the track has been run/managed is part of the problem with killing the spectator and racer base. You cannot do some of the things that were done with that track & build for the future. Early in the life of the track I saw some of the mistakes that were going to create problems. Because I wanted to see the track a success, in casual conversation, I offered some of the advice I had leaned about track oprtation & promotion. Greg Wilhite dissmissed me with the comment " Your out of the race track business I don't need to listen to you." So until now I've kept my mouth shut.
The post I made from the Dallas Morning News was about the guy that was first in line to buy the track. He didn't show up for the closing & now we can understand why.
As I've been told by a 3rd party the Wilhites went to the second guy wanting the track & he opted out because of how his finances have been hit in this economy.
Now that leaves the track wide open for someone to buy. It is not a bad deal for anyone wanting to be in the business. If my health was better & I was a little younger I would be a player. Then I would be able to show Mr. Wilhite what "A has been" in the racing industry could do with such a nice track.
As for Bill Deadmans comments, you need to look at a map & research the population of the area before making your comments. It's been a while since I looked at it, but if you draw a circle with a 75 mile radius around the track there is over 1,000,000 in population. Thats a 1 hour drive to the trackfor that population base. It is about 20 miles north of Shreveport & 45 miles south of Texarkana.
Larry, as far as your assessment of the strong experienced managers, look where they were from. One had No experience with local economy or the way things happen in our area. He was a fish out of water here. Things done in Darlington don't work here, its a different place. And just check the track record of how may places the husband and wife team have blown into & out of. I know a lot more about them than I'm willing to post. Remember they bought me out at my I-20 track!
No one ever built a special identity for the track. One of the worst mistakes I saw happening was to advertise a show & not have a show. That happened over & over in the tracks early days. That kills spectator support. Another was the time of year that they tried to have big shows. There were too may other community things they were going up against. The last thing you need is some guy, in an office up north, telling you to have a race while the Lousiana State Fair is in town. The track has alot of good things going for it. It just needs the right owner/manager to operate it. Someone that understands the area & the economics of the residents who is willing to work & promote the track more than on race day.
I didn't post this to get into a pissing contest about the track or be little it or anyone. I can back up my opinions with facts if need be. The track is one fine facility and should be put to use.