Remember when??? (7 Viewers)

[none]

I truly belive that Darryl started with good intentions. When he claimed "Fully funded for ten years." I believed it. That's when I signed on.

The math didn't work long term, everyone knew that. But, if you had ten years to make it profitable that looked doable. At least it did to me. And many other industry veterans. I didn't have access to the books, but I saw what was being spent and I believed that there was real money there. And there was.

He wanted to own the tracks, and he bought them. Often times at more than street value, but he bought them.

Then, and this is just my observation, people started seeing him as Santa Claus. And he couldn't say no. He wanted to be the hero and wanted everyone to know it was him. Look at the PRI presencc he had. I had a glimpse of that a year earlier when he wanted to announce all the track purchases before they were actually done. We were going to the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame dinner in Gainesville and he wanted to make the announcement, but the deals weren't done yet. And that blew up in his face.

Then he went wild.

Boat Racing? Buy It!!!!
Tractor Pulling? Buy It!!!!
Stock Cars? Buy It!!!
Australia? Buy It!!!
New Planes? Boats? Motorcycles? Buy It All!!!
And the money kept flowing. And as long as it did, he took care of everyone.
Then it stopped flowing. Game Over.

It is my sincere belief that he wanted to push the sport forward, but he listened to the wrong people and ended up way over his head.

Alan

 

[Funnycarfanatic]

I truly belive that Darryl started with good intentions. When he claimed "Fully funded for ten years." I believed it. That's when I signed on.

The math didn't work long term, everyone knew that. But, if you had ten years to make it profitable that looked doable. At least it did to me. And many other industry veterans. I didn't have access to the books, but I saw what was being spent and I believed that there was real money there. And there was.

He wanted to own the tracks, and he bought them. Often times at more than street value, but he bought them.

Then, and this is just my observation, people started seeing him as Santa Claus. And he couldn't say no. He wanted to be the hero and wanted everyone to know it was him. Look at the PRI presencc he had. I had a glimpse of that a year earlier when he wanted to announce all the track purchases before they were actually done. We were going to the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame dinner in Gainesville and he wanted to make the announcement, but the deals weren't done yet. And that blew up in his face.

Then he went wild.

Boat Racing? Buy It!!!!
Tractor Pulling? Buy It!!!!
Stock Cars? Buy It!!!
Australia? Buy It!!!
New Planes? Boats? Motorcycles? Buy It All!!!
And the money kept flowing. And as long as it did, he took care of everyone.
Then it stopped flowing. Game Over.

It is my sincere belief that he wanted to push the sport forward, but he listened to the wrong people and ended up way over his head.

Alan

As the owner of a business if your trying to be Santa then you'll be out of busienss he has made their pro series a mess who in their right mind would ever invest

 

[none]

Matt,
Completely agree that it ended in disaster. And I understand that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I just wish we could have kept it on the rails. Pretty much anytime someone told Darryl to slow down, they were fired.

Alan