HOW DO YOU PREFER TO SPEND 30 MILLION...A YEAR ON A CUP CAR'S HOOD OR A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE WITH A RACETRACK?

Lot of folks were making jokes at Larry Collins, former owner of Mesa Marin Raceway and current owner of Kern River Raceway, after a newspaper story disclosed that he and the other owners of the new Kern River Raceway were looking for 32 individual investors with one million each…money that would be used to pay off liens and complete the track.

It is guesstimated that it will take 7 months to complete the track and have it ready for racing once the money is secured.

Ahh… the media had a field day…with comments like, “have 30 million laying around collecting dust?”

What I find funny is not that Collins is reaching out for help in a very tough economic climate, but that someone hasn’t already jumped in and scooped up all 32 shares.

What does 30 million get you in NASCAR? A season of having your name on the hood of Jeff Gordon’s car? Why don’t more media types draw attention to that bit of silliness?

Now I am not sure what 32 million will get you exactly at Kern River Raceway, but I would think it would get you a big chunk of something that has as much or more marketing potential than a deal with Jeff Gordon would. And better yet? It would be forever.

What is bigger, sponsoring a single race, a single driver or a world of racing at what is destined to someday become America’s greatest short track?

Maybe one of the foreign companies, such as Budweiser or Molson-Coors will want to promote their American Branded buyouts… and what better way than grass roots racing?

Or maybe one of the fortune 500 companies that are becoming disenchanted with the faltering NASCAR Cup will step up and support a group of hard working individuals, working together as one to build a dream…for all of us.

The way I look at NASCAR is at the top right now and it has slowly been drifting down. Smart investors might think that it is not the right time to buy into that series, one that is facing major lawsuits, racial discrimination suits and the like. The little Kern River Raceway... will likely one day be much bigger than Iowa or any other short track. Yet here it is honestly trying to pay down debt and keep building that dream...

The Collins built from nothing before. They can do it again. I put a whole lot more faith in them than I do anything that smacks of the NASCAR Cup. To use the old cliche..."buy low, sell high"... this future racetrack is at the bottom...the only way it can go is up. Sure it is a risk…but those risky adventures are the ones that often hit paydirt hard and fast.

Someone will come and scoop this up. Maybe a Brazilian beer company named, Bud...or a Canadian beer company named Coors....

It is just too big an opportunity to turn a blind eye to.

See Also .:

News Index | E-mail to a Friend