Remember when??? (3 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

 

[Joe]

Firstly He is not out of business, IHRA is running all their local events, only the "pro" series is halted.
Secondly everything purchased he purchased in CASH except Maple Grove and Atlanta so all the money he spent he had.
He was waiting on draw payments from Elon which is 100% normal for a construction business. Elon screwed him and it all rolled downhill from there. That one payment would have easily funded many years of IHRA.
Time will tell who is blowing smoke although I honestly feel they will both walk away as no one will win in court except the lawyers.
A man comes forward, spends tens of millions of his own money only to be kicked by the community he is trying to help.
If I was in his shoes I would sell off every track I owned to highest bidder, warehouse, data center, developer and walk away.
He was never looking for a return he was funding IHRA from his successful construction business as drag racing ventures are not viable based on income. NHRA is non profit and if not for series sponsors donating millions of dollars a year it would not work either. He was his own sponsor.
Well put Ken

And if you are following it at all people have been posting that they have been paid, it took a while but they have been paid. And to make a personal attack like that on a man I am sure you do not know says a lot.