Bubba assaulted at Powell Memorial?

[mf0521]

This whole thing has gotten pretty crazy. Who knows what exactly happened.
I still dont really get what was so bad about changing the format, that was intended
to draw hopefully more competetors and more fans.
I , work nights and took off early that night to go, simply for the fact of having a late
model feature night 1 as well.
The other part that doesnt make sense is if the family was that upset about those changes,
which is certainly their perogative,
why would you wait till 1 am after night number 1 to address it with him ,with all the ways
out there to get it out, if you cant by phone, such as facebook, websites like 4m or flagstand,
or even the newspaper or even mail ,since the schedule has been out for some time, issues could have
been addressed way in advance and not come to a head the night of the event.
Im guessing both sides ,in hindsight, may have handled it differently.
It is kind of funny tho to see how people respond to what happened and their opinion is strictly based on whether
or not they like bubba or his show, particularly on FB.
The whole thing was definately unfortunate for many reasons.

[ALASKA54]

I don't listen to his show and don't intend to but if he's paying 3K or more, there's probably a 90% present chance of me being at the track. I remember the playground because my grandson played on it, I don't remember a sign saying it was there for the children of the tragety. If there was an agreement with the previous owner, that was with the previous owner. I wasn't there and don't who's telling the truth. We may have to call in Judge Judy.

[Rocky]

This guy made it pretty clear what he was gonna do, which was whatever he wants, the day he decided to not only run on top of East Bay but did it with Walmart pricing. IT DOESN'T matter what was intended when you have a memorial race it HAS to be in accordance with the families wishes and it sounds like this dude decided to ask for forgiveness instead of asking for permission. But since he's a popular radio personality he can get a pass. I'm sorry but I have to raise the BS flag. And he can produce all the "credible eye witnesses" he wants and I still don't believe him. Celebrities ALWAYS get a pass in this country which is a thing that really frosts me about my beloved US of A. I'll still die for her but I know she has her faults.

[FutureLegend]

Well Eastbay deserved to be run on top of, for the watered down product they called racing the last three years that they spoon fed all the fans. If you've ever been to Florida that Walmart pricing as you call it used to be the price at East Bay. Every year they have raised the price and done less and less to make the track racey so they got exactly what they deserved this year. As far as the memorial race is concerned, a race track is a business and making the race a two day show with a feature each day is the better decision for a promotor to make money. This gives the family an entire weekend as a memorial instead of the qualifying Friday night and feature Saturday. Most fans do not attened the qualifying night so, unless the family is putting the money up for the race to be that format, I could care less how they think it should be run. You either have it or you don't, it's that simple.

[Highside Hustler25]

...but Rocky, he has a former retired, sworn, honorable, and respected pistol packing Deputy Sheriff on his side. That's gotta be worth something.

[Egoracing]

In 2003 James Powel won the SECOND leg of the Powell Memorial race, This information is easy to find on line. I did not see the family all upset then and it was run as a multi race event. It is only NOW that they are all upset. Kinda makes you wonder why? If Bubba OR the Racetrack own the naming rights they can continue to call it the Powell Memorial and run it every other week if they wanted to and teh family can not do a thing about it.

[dalexander19]

Let's review the "so-called" facts. It's pretty clear the Powells were upset bout the race being a 2 day deal, and from Mrs. Powells posts sounds like James tried to contact Bubba numerous times to no avail. And we know that Bubba decided to have a 2 day show to benefit the racers, race 2 nites and get paid to do so. The first thing that should've happened is there should have been some communication between the 2 to resolve the problem. It could've been resolved any number of ways and still benefitted the track and gave the powells what they wanted. If u want to run 2 nites run the lower classes on Friday and have an open practice for the LM , then come back Saturday and run limiteds and have 1-75 lap 5,000 to win, 750 to start Powell memorial. With that kind of payout he probably would've drawn in a lot more cars and the drivers would of had a choice to come Friday or not. Idk what he paid out but between the 2 purses both nites he probably could've done this very easily. And as far as anybody having any right to the name or the event it would have to solely be James Powell himself, he started it and has been a part of it this whole time, so HELL yea he should've had some input on how it was organized.

[Egoracing]

And as far as anybody having any right to the name or the event it would have to solely be James Powell himself, he started it and has been a part of it this whole time, so HELL yea he should've had some input on how it was organized.

If the track CR'd the name of the event, they own it. There are no legal rights to the event unless it was CR'd by either party.

[dalexander19]

If the track CR'd the name of the event, they own it. There are no legal rights to the event unless it was CR'd by either party.

They changed the name Saturday so I would have to say the track doesn't own the rights to the Powell name for advertisement.

[blncfn57]

Sure seems as though there could have been a better way to handle the situation. Was Bubba MIA the whole night until 1a.m.? Just curious as to why he wasn't approached while everyone was sober. Something seems odd.

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

Sure seems as though there could have been a better way to handle the situation. Was Bubba MIA the whole night until 1a.m.? Just curious as to why he wasn't approached while everyone was sober. Something seems odd.

He was working the track, watching outside 1 and 2, and several other places inaccessible to fans.

[hausman]

Next Step

Recognizing what took place and how high emotions are, maybe a meeting between the two parties to find common ground would not only help find closure, but give both parties a chance to plan a great Memorial race for the following season.

Sometimes mistakes are made, whether unintentional or otherwise, and in many cases communication ends up being the core issue.

It sounds like the Powells wanted to be involved in support of the Memorial Race weekend, and rightfully so. Sounds like Bubba is trying to set up a structure where the racers benefit...

It would be really cool if the two parties worked together to build a GREAT racing weekend in 2013!!