RacePark owners ready to put 2004 in past

The owners of the Auto Tire and Parts NAPA RacePark are ready to put 2004 behind them and look to the future.

The ownership group achieved some closure to a tumultuous year for the dirt racetrack in Benton, Mo., by winning a civil lawsuit against Dirt Track Promotions, which leased the facility this year but failed to complete the season. Scott County Associate Circuit Judge David C. Mann ruled on Aug. 30 in favor the plaintiff from a trial that took place one week prior. The track owners learned in recent days that the judgment was for $27,330.

The track owners had claimed Dirt Track Promotions, operated by Stan and Ruth Myers, entered a three-year lease agreement that called for $50,000 in payments for 2004. The agreement called for eight monthly payments of $6,250 from March through October.

The Myerses made a payment in March but did not make any other payment, including a reduced April payment of $2,300 that was part of an agreement between the two parties to credit work done by Dirt Track Promotions on the facility.

The RacePark owners sought roughly $30,000, including $27,330 in rent payments for April through the date of the trial.

The judge ruled the RacePark owners should receive what would have been the amount of those rent payments.

"Now we can move on and talk with other parties interested in trying to bring it back next year," Doug Friese, the president of the RacePark ownership group, said Tuesday. "It's nice to get it settled. It's unfortunate that it happened. It's tough to put the track in a position to be out of operation for three-quarters of the season."

Dirt Track Promotions, which ran its first race late March, ceased races at the track in May, not long after a Stacker2 Xtreme Dirt Car Series race that offered a $42,800 purse. Less than $5,000 of that purse was paid by the promotor.

Stacker2 Xtreme Dirt Car Series president Doug Bland said Wednesday that his group still intends to pursue legal action.

"We'll definitely be proceeding," Bland said. "We're trying to finish our season first."

The Stacker2 season ends in mid-October. He said the circuit has retained an attorney in Missouri.

Friese said this year's experience may change the way the ownership group proceeds toward next year.

"We'll be more picky in who we want to lease to," Friese said. "There's no doubt we want to be successful, not only for our investment but also for the reason we bought the track in the first place -- for kids and families to have somewhere to go to enjoy racing. It's still very popular, not only with NASCAR but with the dirt tracks as well, and the track gives people a chance to see racing close to home."

The Myerses contended during testimony that some of the track equipment was not operable to maintain the facility. Stan Myers called it "a broke-down mess."

Friese said the track needs only some tweaking to get ready for 2004.

"We just have to go back in and get everything up and ready to go. Nothing major, just general cleanup," he said. "The facility is still in good shape.

"Really, what the track needs is someone to be consistent and make a long-term commitment," he added. "You have to commit to certain classes of racing for a long period of time because people put a lot of time and money into their cars, and they don't want to change them every year."