After not raising enough money for the track's $81,000 point fund, Wiscasset Raceway owner restructured his purse this week./Photo courtesy of Peter Taylor
Wiscasset Raceway teams find creative purse distribution
By TRAVIS BARRETT
GWC Staff
11.10.08
WATERVILLE, Maine – Randy Turner figured he waited this long, what’s another couple of weeks.
Wiscasset Raceway owner Doug White confirmed that the roughly $81,000 point fund he advertised at the beginning of the season has been altered. Race teams in all six of Wiscasset’s weekly divisions received purse checks in amounts less than expected at the facility’s awards banquet on Sunday afternoon.
Purse payouts were prorated by White, after he said he raised only $60,000 in point fund monies during the season. Teams finishing in the top-10 in their respective divisions received 75 percent of their advertised purses, accompanied by a "gift certificate" in the value of the remaining 25 percent. They can be used toward 2009 gasoline, tire or pit pass purchases at Wiscasset Raceway. They can also be redeemed for cash value, as early as two weeks from now. Turner, of Unity, was supposed to earn $10,000 for his Super Late Model championship while driving for owner Tim Norris. Instead, he was given $7,500 on Sunday with a certificate for the remaining $2,500. "What’s the big deal, really?" Turner said. "We waited a month to get the money, anyway, so what’s another two weeks? We’re still getting it." For example, Strictly Street champion Maurice Young of Windsor received a check for $1,875 with a certificate for $625 that brought the total to the advertised. He said he didn’t mind the means White chose, considering the check itself was for more than six times what he’d won for any of his previous six championships combined. White attributed the drastic difference to the nine rain-outs suffered this season, allowing that he could not catch up once the track got so far behind on pit and grandstand admissions for lost shows. "I just don’t know. It is what it is," White said. "We just didn’t get the races, so we didn’t get the people (paying admission). The points fund is based on people coming in, and there’s a percentage of the gate every week that goes for the points fund. "I should have prorated (the points fund) from the beginning, but I didn’t. That’s my fault. If someone comes to us in April and says they want it in cash (and not goods or services), then we’ll cut them a check for the difference." White informed teams of his decision at a drivers-only meeting at Sunday’s banquet prior to the distribution of awards. He also said that next year’s purse – whatever it is – will be advertised as based on a race schedule with a certain number of dates. Posted at 8:45 a.m. by TBarrett 
