Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

"piece of land that he paid about $5 million for that lost money on a regular basis"

The way you choose to write it Grady, it looks as if he paid 5 million for it, doesn't it?... You made it look like he was loosing money on property that had nothing to do with the running of Manzanita, and was bought after he purchased Manzy. Once again, you're the one who use's the $ #'s to try and make excuses for the inexcusable, not me.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

The point is wether he paid $100,000 or $5 million doesn't matter, he was offered a price for the land that was far above what it is worth and he took it. You (Bigfish) or anyone else on this board would have done the same thing if in his shoes. There wasn't anyone in the racing family that was going to give him anything close to that price so it dosen't really matter if he did this behind closed doors or not. You guys are condeming this guy for doing something that everyone of you would have done if in his shoes.

www.ibracn.com
#PaulsToTheWall
GO SAMMY!

I understand what point your are trying to make. My home isn't a historical racing landmark. But, I see what you are trying to say. You and others on this particular post need to understand that it is NOT the selling of the track so much as HOW it was sold. It was like Mr. Martin KNEW he was making a deal with the devil so he kept it in the dark until it was a done deal. Granted, there probably wasn't a single fan in the stands that had 10-20 million (pick a figure) available to purchase the track, but if someone like Billy Boat, JJ Yelley, Ronny Shuman, or Jim Massey or the likes wanted to buy the place? They have connections, they maybe could have orchestrated a deal with some race track buying conglomerate, see? We (or I) just don't like the way the deal went down.

Sean,

Tucson

!!SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TRACKS!!
!!Get Well Shane!! 

You are dead wrong buddy, I never would have handled it that way, and neither would have a whole lot of other people...It may seem like it at time's, but the whole world is not run by greed... If it was, Sprint car racing would have died a long time ago!... It was done in a way that seemed to have been to cause as much pain and financial problems to the racing community as possible. You got one part right though... $100,000 or $5 million doesn't matter.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

No excuses Kenny just trying to state facts not emotions

"piece of land that he paid about $5 million for that lost money on a regular basis" not from me

if you are trying to say he did not lose money on the operation of the track you are wrong.

Grady

. 

I'm old and wise enough now to realise that some people are just born with pieces of their heart and soul missing, and no amount of growing up, education, or money is going to fix them. Saying it would have closed within five years anyway, is like saying we all might die in our sleep tonight, so why bother getting up at all.

tk, you were a little piss ant when we were trying to save Manzy, and I never understood why..You would come in on thread that was trying to get the word out and support for the efforts to save it, and you say nothing but negative crap about those efforts.

Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. 

Complacency and lack of interest killed Manzanita...nothing more, nothing less. The place has struggled for 25 years, at least. It was time to go. In a way, Manzanita was a symbol of the days when Phoenix was a sleepy desert town, not the metropolis it is now. Manzanita died a slow, painful, neglected death. Bury it and move on.

"It's just bad business to own and operate a race track anymore. People are just pissed off for their own selfish reasons! " tkaphoto.

Wow, I don't know what to think..

Sean,

Tucson

!!SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TRACKS!!
!!Get Well Shane!! 

I think the Hall of Fame can do what they want, its their decision, but also think the owner could do what he wanted with his own property. I don't have a dog in this fight, and even though I love dirt track racing to death, and I don't like what he did, but won't condemn him for doing it cuz I'd probably have done the same thing. $11 mill, a lot of money made from $5 mill. Like the lottery.

Lawlessness + liberalism = HELL -  NYC, Detroit, Chicago, 
Seattle, LA  Who the H runs those cities. 

First off, those pictures make me sick, sick to see that the track is basically still there.. It feels like someone is just twisting the knife a little more. Mel lost money cuz he spent money on buying the land outside turns 3 and 4, and making "improvements" to the facility. Also a good way to show a loss and probably get that money back at the end of the year in taxes. Like everyone has said, he is a business man, and a sucessful one, he knows how to make money and he did just that. He had no intention of keeping Manzy more then a couple years. He was gonna tell Kimbro whatever he wanted to hear to get the land at a discounted price! Knowing he would cash in by either selling to a person such as Southwest Crane, or a big corporation of some sort. I have learned many things being involved in racing all my life, and one is to believe VERY little of what a promotor or track owner says when it comes to money..

Just a opinion

shu

Let's face it, Manzanita's days were numbered because housing was rapidly encroaching on it. It was going to be only a matter of time until these residents complained about the noise and dust despite the fact that the race track had been in existence long before the houses and the residents obviously knew about the race track when they bought their homes.

Given the price of urban land (even in this economy), it just wasn't practical to keep the land dedicated to a race track. Even in today's economy, if one had the alleged $5M (more or less) the Martins paid for the Manzanita and associated property, they could have been netting at least $250,000 per year by just clipping coupons on municipal bonds!

As for the USA Raceway Park Tucson dirt track, it is located in an industrial area with a large landfill as a neighbor. Despite those "attractions," there are houses mushrooming in the area and I'm sure that before long these residential intruders will start bitching about the noise and dust in an attempt to close the racetrack down.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy the races and be thankful that the track is relatively close to home, easy to get to, and that the promoters are really stepping up their programs as witnessed by the USAC midget/sprint/Silver Crown two-day show next month.

Tucson Osty

Ever been to Perris? You could throw a hotdog off of the back of the stands from the top row and it would land in someones back yard. The MILLION dollar homes are that close!! The tracks safety net is, it's on state park property, and they run mufflers. I worry about the homes getting close at Tucson as well. We've got no protection from idiots that move next door to a race track, then complain about the noise! And, you are correct Osty, the promoters are doing their best to fill the void left by Manzy.

Sean,

Tucson

!!SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL TRACKS!!
!!Get Well Shane!! 

Great job by Wendy, I wish we could have him in OKC January 30th to support our cause.

LOL Kenny hit the nail rite on the head with tka Just because you've been around racing for a while doesn't keep ya from being "What he Said" LMFAO

Take it to the Top & let it Rock

Maybe Keith hall didn't need to put manzy up to take money from the people that ended up winning the law suit and having him escorted out. That started all this I was told manzy was grandfathered in there as long as Keith had it because the homes kept getting built off the back shoot after he screwed it up and gave it away it mite have been closed my now due to the new homes out back they where up to the canal 10'years ago. Keith was alway playing loose and fast with things and it kicked him in the ass.that was the end of manzy the day he lost ownership.all the rest of the people did the greed thing some of the people got kicked out of the Arizona motor sports hall of fame. Said day if Denny stayed to run it even? It may still be there we will never know.

The Watkins guy has all right that's the deal is that Keith Watkins by chance.