Tony Izzo tells his side of the story regarding the Thaw Brawl/WRG fiasco

[Bubstr]

The race was supposed to be sanctioned by UMP. It was pulled before the race, although I heard the $120 entry fees where never returned.

Josh Richards was not banned. He came with a truck that could have been bought, leased or stolen for that matter. Tony couldn't prove differently. That is why he wanted documentation from Driggers. To cover Tony from a known litigious race team. WRG wanted them not to race, but evidently didn't want the legal blame for it. Instead they punished Tony for not doing a job that shouldn't have been his. WRG banned Best racing. They had the documentation, or didn't as far as we know.. They have never even released a copy of the tire tests. Sam fibbed about being Tony's friend, because you don't treat friends or even pardners that way. Tony did not ban Best from his track, UMP did. It was not Tony's job or responsibility to ban them from his track. Driggers was there and could have done it, but it didn't suit his agenda.

DOD is not going to say anything derogatory about Izzo or WRG. I don't blame them, they need a working relationship. So what, they may have solved the Tire law suit, but did they do it fairly and in full view of the racers promoters and fans? Either your above board or hiding something. DOD may think it's over, but It won't be over until WRG stops abusing their power. Can anyone here prove that Josh Richards and Best racing didn't have any kind of verbal contract loaning leasing or buying the race car and hauler? No more than you could prove the tires where testing bad.

[illiniracing]

How UMP didn't go over there and tell them not to race is beyond me. What if I bought their car and hired Josh Richards left their stickers on could I race? How could the other Best Performance team race at Eldora but not this Best Performance team? How can lasalle get penalized for allowing a best performance team to run but not eldora? it is because WRG has it written in the rules everything is their discretion.

The team at Eldora was sponsored by Best,they aren't owned by them

[blncfn57]

The race was supposed to be sanctioned by UMP. It was pulled before the race, although I heard the $120 entry fees where never returned.

Josh Richards was not banned. He came with a truck that could have been bought, leased or stolen for that matter. Tony couldn't prove differently. That is why he wanted documentation from Driggers. To cover Tony from a known litigious race team. WRG wanted them not to race, but evidently didn't want the legal blame for it. Instead they punished Tony for not doing a job that shouldn't have been his. WRG banned Best racing. They had the documentation, or didn't as far as we know.. They have never even released a copy of the tire tests. Sam fibbed about being Tony's friend, because you don't treat friends or even pardners that way. Tony did not ban Best from his track, UMP did. It was not Tony's job or responsibility to ban them from his track. Driggers was there and could have done it, but it didn't suit his agenda.

DOD is not going to say anything derogatory about Izzo or WRG. I don't blame them, they need a working relationship. So what, they may have solved the Tire law suit, but did they do it fairly and in full view of the racers promoters and fans? Either your above board or hiding something. DOD may think it's over, but It won't be over until WRG stops abusing their power. Can anyone here prove that Josh Richards and Best racing didn't have any kind of verbal contract loaning leasing or buying the race car and hauler? No more than you could prove the tires where testing bad.

Tony had to know they were not allowed to race with WRG (I assume an insurance decision since they didn't complete the paperwork to drop out of the lawsuit like everyone else did). He talked to bloomer about the suspensions during speedweeks, so it's fair to say he was aware of the ordeal. He advertised Richards would be there and nobody said anything so I think he thought it was all good. Perhaps the reason Sam didn't tell Richards he couldn't race was because of the lawsuit? Maybe he's not supposed to be talking with them? Idk, just guessing.

[Bubstr]

Tony had to know they were not allowed to race with WRG (I assume an insurance decision since they didn't complete the paperwork to drop out of the lawsuit like everyone else did). He talked to bloomer about the suspensions during speedweeks, so it's fair to say he was aware of the ordeal. He advertised Richards would be there and nobody said anything so I think he thought it was all good. Perhaps the reason Sam didn't tell Richards he couldn't race was because of the lawsuit? Maybe he's not supposed to be talking with them? Idk, just guessing.

If your dealing with a team that has sued a track before, would you rest on assumed facts. Tony asked for documentation. Driggers did not supply it or tell Richards by word of mouth or writing, they couldn't race. Instead he left Tony with the choice of getting sued or loosing ump track status. If you send out a order like this, It better be in writing. Everyone was aware of this deal, they are also aware that it was controversial. There is no excuse for what Driggers did.

[Bubstr]

The team at Eldora was sponsored by Best,they aren't owned by them

Prove it and prove the car Josh Richards was driving wasn't just sponsored by Best also.

[blncfn57]

If your dealing with a team that has sued a track before, would you rest on assumed facts. Tony asked for documentation. Driggers did not supply it or tell Richards by word of mouth or writing, they couldn't race. Instead he left Tony with the choice of getting sued or loosing ump track status. If you send out a order like this, It better be in writing. Everyone was aware of this deal, they are also aware that it was controversial. There is no excuse for what Driggers did.

I'm far from taking a side here, BUT you have to consider all that has been admitted since the incident.
Tony was in florida and Bloomquist told him he was planning to attend, Tony questioned him about the lawsuit. Fast forward to Tony advertising that Richards was going to be there. Did he not question the legality of it then? Why not ask for some kind of documentation one way or another then? All this talk about how Sam made a demand 2 hours before the race which is when Tony made a demand for a written document. I, as a fan, was happy to see Richards there from a competition standpoint, but you can bet your a$$ that the other guys who signed off on any further legal action were not pleased that he was allowed to race.
Your first sentence says all that needs said really. There is no insurance company in the world that would allow the other party in ongoing litigation to participate in events they cover. It's the world we live in these days.

Now, could UMP have handled it better? Absolutely. They should be forwarding every track a list of suspended drivers every week, That would keep everyone on the same page and take the liability off the promoters also.
From the start of this deal I had a hunch that it was a pi$$ing match between the two and there was a loophole trying to be played. After a disagreement with someone who helps out at the track the other day, I was told by them that Mr Deery sent a message (not sure how the message was delivered) which said "how do you like being played". That leads me to believe that whatever the truth is behind all this, someone feels that there were games being played.
The whole deal stinks for everyone involved and we will prolly never know the whole truth of what happened, but I think there is enough blame to be spread across all involved parties.

[huskerdirt]

I'm far from taking a side here, BUT you have to consider all that has been admitted since the incident.
Tony was in florida and Bloomquist told him he was planning to attend, Tony questioned him about the lawsuit. Fast forward to Tony advertising that Richards was going to be there. Did he not question the legality of it then? Why not ask for some kind of documentation one way or another then? All this talk about how Sam made a demand 2 hours before the race which is when Tony made a demand for a written document. I, as a fan, was happy to see Richards there from a competition standpoint, but you can bet your a$$ that the other guys who signed off on any further legal action were not pleased that he was allowed to race.
Your first sentence says all that needs said really. There is no insurance company in the world that would allow the other party in ongoing litigation to participate in events they cover. It's the world we live in these days.

Now, could UMP have handled it better? Absolutely. They should be forwarding every track a list of suspended drivers every week, That would keep everyone on the same page and take the liability off the promoters also.
From the start of this deal I had a hunch that it was a pi$$ing match between the two and there was a loophole trying to be played. After a disagreement with someone who helps out at the track the other day, I was told by them that Mr Deery sent a message (not sure how the message was delivered) which said "how do you like being played". That leads me to believe that whatever the truth is behind all this, someone feels that there were games being played.
The whole deal stinks for everyone involved and we will prolly never know the whole truth of what happened, but I think there is enough blame to be spread across all involved parties.

Good post!!!

To me it seems everybody involved was being difficult, unfortunately that is becoming more prevalent on our society today. Both articles that I've read have the... "Yeah but he said" tone to them. That tells me neither is accepting blame for what happened. When Tony asked for documentation and UMP said all he needed to know was he was suspended(or something like that). At that point Tony needed to decide what was more important for race track. If the ramifications were worth allowing Richards to race anyway. Then he obviously wasn't thinking long term. Even after Tony announced on LM live that Richards was gonna be there. Some posts popped up on here questioning what was going or assuming the suspension had been lifted. To me, no race is bigger than one driver. Given that Richards was gonna be at his track anyway 6 weeks later. It certainly wasn't worth the gamble.

At the end of the day, all 3 parties knew exactly what they were doing. They all could've handled it better.

[chupp n bloomer fan]

To think we b!tch about millennials and all that, and here we have middle aged adults acting like kindergarteners not getting their way. Both sides were at fault. Tony shoulda known messing with the bull will get you the horns. And WRG/UMP, should learn how to be professional and have way better communication, and documentation for this kinda stuff. The World we live in, YOU better have actual paperwork, to back up stopping someone from doing something. Because if it's a miscommunication, they can come back on you. And you're at fault because all your ducks weren't in a row.

[Bubstr]

The owner of Best racing was not there. He was the only one that was penalized by WRG. Loaning ,borrowing, leasing or short term sales are common. At the date of this, no one could prove anything. Kevin Gundaker borrowed a car for one lap last week just to get his provisional starting spot. WRG said he couldn't race in their events, but I doubt if they said anything about loaning or leasing a car. Richards was and should still be clean with WRG. He did not lie on a entry form for a WRG sanctioned event. The sanctioning was pulled before anyone raced. This was a witch hunt and Tony was the witch. WRG had a agenda to start with. No one runs a business like this, especially one that involves a partnership, like this, with out a agenda. You will see the end result of this agenda, if LaSalle ever becomes a UMP track again.

[blncfn57]

The owner of Best racing was not there. He was the only one that was penalized by WRG. Loaning ,borrowing, leasing or short term sales are common. At the date of this, no one could prove anything. Kevin Gundaker borrowed a car for one lap last week just to get his provisional starting spot. WRG said he couldn't race in their events, but I doubt if they said anything about loaning or leasing a car. Richards was and should still be clean with WRG. He did not lie on a entry form for a WRG sanctioned event. The sanctioning was pulled before anyone raced. This was a witch hunt and Tony was the witch. WRG had a agenda to start with. No one runs a business like this, especially one that involves a partnership, like this, with out a agenda. You will see the end result of this agenda, if LaSalle ever becomes a UMP track again.

Yea, cuz Izzo has always been a stand up guy!! lmao come on! Take your theories somewhere else. EVERYONE knew BEST was not allowed to race, EVERYONE knows who owns that car. BOTH sides were wrong at some point during this deal. End of conversation

[Black I]

Yea, cuz Izzo has always been a stand up guy!! lmao come on! Take your theories somewhere else. EVERYONE knew BEST was not allowed to race, EVERYONE knows who owns that car. BOTH sides were wrong at some point during this deal. End of conversation

Good post but, Izzo was right all along by not bowing down to a scum bag org. and their spinless sissy director.

[Bubstr]

Yea, cuz Izzo has always been a stand up guy!! lmao come on! Take your theories somewhere else. EVERYONE knew BEST was not allowed to race, EVERYONE knows who owns that car. BOTH sides were wrong at some point during this deal. End of conversation

The owner of Best, was not there and didn't pass a gate. One of his cars ran at Eldora, without a problem. Driggers had a agenda and still does. This isn't going anywhere

[huskerdirt]

The owner of Best, was not there and didn't pass a gate. One of his cars ran at Eldora, without a problem. Driggers had a agenda and still does. This isn't going anywhere

Why does it matter whether Brock was physically there or not. You think Clint Bowyer is at every race for Lanigan or ONeal? As somebody mentioned before that car(Bab(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)) isn't owned by Best (at least in the paperwork). Even if it is, that's not the car that committed the infractions.

[Black I]

The owner of Best, was not there and didn't pass a gate. One of his cars ran at Eldora, without a problem. Driggers had a agenda and still does. This isn't going anywhere

Please... Find a girlfriend, Sam or something! SMH

[Bubstr]

Why does it matter whether Brock was physically there or not. You think Clint Bowyer is at every race for Lanigan or ONeal? As somebody mentioned before that car(Bab(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)(not a nice word)) isn't owned by Best (at least in the paperwork). Even if it is, that's not the car that committed the infractions.

Did WRG ban Brock or his cars? We shouldn't care whether Clint Bowyer is there or not. He is not banned. Josh Richards was not banned. He wasn't even part of the team when the infraction happened. Babcork was.