Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Venegas said that plans include a new, speedway-specific facility with a state-of-the-art crashwall. The race program will include traditional speedway but will also invest heavily in an all-new junior speedway pro- (Above Left) International Speedway promoter Brad Oxley. (Above Right) International Speedway has been promoting weekly speedway races at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa for over 30 years. eliminating it. If that were the case, we wouldn't have even given Charlie Venegas a proposal. When we did give it to him, he told us that he was not interested. Only after that did we start looking at other options." And what of the AMS Stadium? Inman confirmed that it is being razed. Venegas said that he believes NOS intended to move speedway to within the confines of the fairgrounds stadium, which holds weekly auto races on a paved oval, all along. That stadium is currently undergoing renovation. A proposed new speedway track will be located inside the paved oval. Ironically, that is how Venegas and AMS first got their foot in the door at NOS three' years ago - by running a special one-time speedway race inside the oval. "We tried that, and there is no way that anyone could ever make it work on a weekly basis," Venegas said. "It's 159 feet from the track to the closest seat." But apparently, NOS has plans to try it again. And here's the rub: NOS is reportedly dealing with another group that has a 35-year history of successful speedway promotion at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, Brad Oxley and International Speedway Inc. While Inman would not confirm that NOS was dealing with International Speedway, he did say that NOS was looking at only one proposal from an outside promoter. Oxley has been less coy, stating in an official International Speedway press release, dated March 12, that he has submitted a proposal to NOS to run 12 to 14 events inside the car stadium. One thing that Oxley made clear was that International Speedway made no contact with NOS until after Venegas and AMS had pulled up stakes. "The first time that I heard anything about it was because I had learned through Gene Romero Promotions that they had been contacted [by NOS], and that they had passed," Oxley told Cycle News. "At that point, Orange Show was looking for other people to promote speedway, so we submitted a one-year, firstright-of-refusal proposal." Inman confirmed that NOS did begin speaking with other promoters, but only after he had seen Venegas' February 15 release stating that NOS and AMS had parted company. Fast forwarding back to the International Speedway release, which is entitled "Setting the record straight," Oxley claims that he received a flyer from AMS (he faxed that flyer to Cycle News), dated March 7, stating that Arrowhead Motor Speedway would be running speedway races at a new and improved venue on Saturday nights - a night on which Costa Mesa has been running speedway since switching from Friday nights after the 1995 season. Oxley said that International Speedway's proposal with NOS is to run in San Bernardino every Friday, a night that Venegas said he had wanted to switch to after leaving NOS. Oxley said that Costa Mesa will continue to run on Saturday nights. Knowing that he would be in direct competition with another venue in the same city on the same night, Venegas announced a move to Saturday night, making the point that his AMAsanctioned speedway is different from the non-AMA-sanctioned International Speedway events. "We are AMA speedway, and we have nothing to do with International Speedway or anyone else in Southern California," Venegas said. Venegas said that one of the conditions of his running at NOS was that his events be AMA-sanctioned, and now it appears to him as though NOS is willing to forego the AMA sanction to keep speedway on the fairgrounds. "We believe that one of their seIling points with some of their new sponsors was Arrowhead Motor Speedway and the AMA National Championship Series," Venegas said. Inman denies that an AMA sanction was ever a requirement. "I don't know anything about that," Inman said. "I'm familiar with the contract, and I know that was not in there. We're aware [that International Speedway is not AMA-sanctionedJ, and we're fine with that." Oxley says that any anger directed by Venegas and AMS at International Speedway is misdirected. "He is totally convinced that we're out to screw him, and I'm not even sure that he's totally convinced of that," Oxley said. "He claims that I at least owed him a phone call. Well, I do owe him a phone call if he is still negotiating with the Orange Show, but we were told that he was done. So why is he so mad at us? It appears as though he's making us his second scapegoat. I will say this: The only part of Charlie's story that I would buy is that he is doing what he is doing for the love of speedway. I really would. But his decision to move onto Saturday night in direct competition with Costa Mesa makes me lose faith in that." Oxley said that he feels Venegas' move was reactionary. Venegas does not deny it but also said that he feels that similar tactics have been used by Oxley and International Speedway in the past. "It doesn't help when promoters don't work together," Venegas said. "I know I'm not the first promoter who hasn't been able to work with International Speedway." However badly he felt he was treated by NOS or International Speedway, Venegas said that he has moved on and claims that the future of AMS looks very bright indeed. "The biggest thing that I want people to know is that we, Arrowhead Motor Speedway, are not done with speedway," Venegas said. "We are being backed by the City of San Bernardino, and we now have four acres to promote speedway. The city actually contacted us. They want to keep the tradition of speedway alive in San Bernardino. We have been working with the city's main economic developer." cue I e gram. "This will be a bigger, better, safer, and just a nicer facility," Venegas said. "All the preparations are in place. We are waiting on a phone call any day to start with the tractors. In the long run, this is absolutely the best for the sport of speedway. This is not just about what's best for Charlie Venegas and Arrowhead Motor Speedway. People are looking for a change, and they want a change, not the same old thing. There are other promoters who haven't taken speedway where they said they were going to take it. They have only gone backward. We are going forward. We are going to rebuild AMS, and we are going to keep our AMA National date of July 26." As of this writing, there currently is no deal to run speedway at NOS Events Center in 2003. Any and all proposals are still being considered, according to Inman, although he did say that there may be more information released soon. Oxley said that his primary focus is the 20-race 35th anniversary season of Costa Mesa Speedway, which will kick off with the traditional Spring Classic on April 12 and then begin its regular weekly Saturday night schedule, starting on May 3. But his interest in NOS is more than just fleeting. "I'm not going in there just to add another 30 hours to my work week," Oxley said, "and I'm not going in there just to pull in 700 fans a night. I'm going in there to pull 2500-3000 fans a night. I think that Orange Show is a great place for speedway, and I think that San Bernardino could have one of the best demographics for speedway." Like NOS, AMS does not have any firm weekly dates yet, although Venegas claims that he has the necessary rider support to run on Saturday night. He is also confident that he will have fan support as well. "People know who built up speedway at the Orange Show. It was AMS," Venegas said. "Let them try what they will. The public will decide what they want. This is a challenge for me, and I have never backed down from a challenge. All we are going to do is what we've been doing in San Bernardino for the past three years." And so, if NOS does accept International Speedway's offer, it appears as though the tapes will go up on an entirely different kind of speedway race in San Berdoo, with the ultimate winner decided not by who crosses the line first, but by who draws the most fans and the best riders. As they say, time will tell. eN n e _ S • APRIL 2,2003 23

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