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Driving school is canceled
by Charles S. Williams
Officials of the Drivetech Racing School announced Tuesday that their plans for a racing school at North Wilkesboro Speedway, which was to have started tomorrow, have been canceled and that the owners of the school "will have no further involvement" with Charles Collins, who now has a three-month lease on the track.
"I wish Mr. Collins well with his extensive, imaginative plans," said Mark Ebert, president of Drivetech Racing School. "However, Drivetech will not be a part of those plans."
Ebert added that Drivetech has not been paid in any way by the speedway, nor has Drivetech accepted any money from any of the women drivers that Collins is recruiting for his reality series.
Ebert visited the track on March 17 and said then that the speedway 'is not in suitable shape for us now, but we have assurances that the work will be done. Certainly the cracks in the asphalt need to be filled and the track needs to be sealed."
He said this morning, Collins "told me that the track was going to be sealcoated, and that he would pay some attention to the walls and that the track would be ready to run. As of yesterday, I had asked for photos showing that all of that preparation had been done. For whatever reason, I never saw those photos and had to move ahead to other plans."
The DriveTech SpeedCamp, said Ebert, will be held at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway beginning tomorrow. The camp was originally scheduled there but was offered, according to Ebert, free use of the speedway here.
Collins had announced plans to host races for female drivers that would be a part of his AWSOME (All Women Stockcar Oval Motorsports Event) racing series. The first race was originally planned for March 14 but later changed to early May.
Drivetech had also been in negotiations to provide race cars for the series. Ebert said "Mr. Collins never provided us with a contract which we could review. To us it was obvious that time was very short. Due to the lack of funding, we were unable to go further with this."
According to Ebert, Collins had agreed to pay $50,000 per car for 25 old-style NASCAR Nextel Cup cars for the competition. Ebert currently owns 12 of the cars and planned to use the rental money from Collins to purchase the additional vehicles.
"We will have no further involvement with the reality show," said Ebert. "At every turn, Mr. Collins was unable to provide proof that the track had been improved and further was unable to provide the funding to prep the cars for his reality show."
Drivetech Racing School is a stockcar driving experience offering everything from eight lap driving packages to advanced driver training.
Ebert continued, "Drivetech welcomes people to join us at any number of the fine racetracks where we currently do business."
According to the AWSOME racing series website, Collins planned to select "25 of the top female drivers in the country to compete against each other." In the next paragraph, the release notes, "Those completing the affiliated driving school, with a passing grade, can qualify for the opportunity to be selected for the reality show, and then, onto the racing series."
According to Ebert, "I became concerned that the potential participants for the racing series would be investing money with no real return. Therefore Drivetech Racing School did not want to be involved in a situation like that.
Ebert also said that he was told that the opening weekend in May would include a concert by Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks. Collins said today, "we've said we were trying to get some big names, but there are no contracts yet."
Collins comments
Collins said this morning that a contract with Ebert had been prepared and sent to Ebert but was never returned.
As for the racing series as well as the concerts, Collins said, "Everything now is open. When we get ready to disclose details, everyone will know."
Ebert has been taking registration for the school here through his company's web site. Collins, though, said this morning that he was taking applications and, "I didn't have enough people come in to sign up."
Collins said that repairs to the track can be made "within a day" and that he had people waiting to repair the pavement. He added that he had made arrangements for other cars to use in the series, "and when they get here, we'll show them to you."
After Collins twice ended telephone conversations this morning by hanging up, the newspaper was contacted by Keith Smith, the president of ICA Marketing, in Radcliff, Ky., which is handling public relations for the track. Smith said, "it was the intention to have a school here, but the time frame of Mr. Ebert was premature. The primary purpose of this renovation project is to have the reality show."
Smith said, "I can't pinpoint a date at this time" for the first race. "When I have a date, we will release it. Our plans are to film it in the spring and release and air it in the summer."
Smith said that he is in negotiations with a production team and that the contract is being edited. |
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