Four vie to operate raceway

Four prospective operators are being considered to open and run Spokane Raceway Park if the Airway Heights complex formally becomes county property on Thursday.

County officials released the four names Tuesday after initially refusing on the grounds that such public dissemination of interested operators might “adversely affect” the selection process.

The four operators that submitted proposals to Spokane County by Friday’s deadline are: Stateline Stadium Speedway Inc., of Post Falls; Larry Bertrand, of Spokane Valley; Pacific Raceways Inc., of Kent, Wash.; and Dennis G. “Bucky” Austin, of Fife, Wash.

The company selected would open and operate the drag strip, oval track and road course as soon as is practical for the remainder of this abbreviated season and all of the 2009 season. Late next year, after the county develops a long-term master plan, a longer-term operator would be selected, according to the current plan.

A five-member selection committee will interview each of the four applicants in private meetings on Thursday and forward the name of the recommended interim operator to Spokane County commissioners for action at next Tuesday’s meeting.

The selection committee is composed of three county employees and two private-sector motor sports enthusiasts.

Its members are: Doug Chase, director of the county parks department, which will oversee the racing complex; Rich Hartzell, director of the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center; John Bottelli, special projects manager for Spokane County Parks; William Simer, a Spokane accountant and sports car racer; and Jim Engel, a motorcycle racer.

Chase has said he wants an interim operator available to step in and immediately begin readying the boarded-up racing complex if Spokane County is awarded formal ownership at a court hearing scheduled for Thursday.

The county estimates it will spend $500,000 getting the facility up to safety and health standards. One prospective operator, Troy Moe, whose International Hot Rod Association consortium did not submit a proposal, has estimated improvements could cost taxpayers $2 million to meet industry and insurance standards.

Another prospective operator, Spokane Motorsports Group, composed of Stan Canter, Don Wilbur, Frank Duval and Terrance Dunne, did not submit a proposal because the group didn’t want to be an interim operator. Spokane Motorsports was willing to make certain capital improvements in exchange for an immediate, longer contract.

A massive cleanup of the track, involving volunteers and auto clubs, is scheduled for June 28, and the county hopes limited racing can begin sometime next month. The resumption of operations at the track will include the popular Friday Night Street Racing, where teens and young people race their street cars.

“My goal is to get it up to minimal acceptable standards so it can open again,” said prospective operator Joe Doellefeld, co-owner of Stateline Speedway, a quarter-mile oval track scheduled to hold 60 races this season.

“The racers are champing at the bit to be able to use the facility,” the Post Falls businessman said of Spokane Raceway Park, expected to be renamed Spokane County Motorsports Park if the county gains ownership.

Bertrand, a 29-year-old race car driver who lives in Spokane Valley, said as an interim operator he would rely on his 10 years of banking experience and a team of professionals who have operated other race tracks.

“I am not working with any parties that have had any involvement with SRP or Orville Moe,” the deposed former operator of the Airway Heights facility, Bertrand said Tuesday.

Pacific Raceways is the only one of the four prospective operators to have experience in operating a drag strip and road course. The Kent operation also has a motocross track and is planning to build an oval track, according to owner Jason Fiorito.

“Our goal is to ensure that top-quality racing returns to the Inland Northwest, and we believe Pacific Raceways is the best one to do that,” said Tobby Hatley, a Spokane consultant and spokesman for the business.

The fourth applicant, race car driver Bucky Austin, did not immediately return a telephone call, and a woman at his office said she couldn’t release information about him.

Names of the applicants were released after The Spokesman-Review filed a Public Records Act request Tuesday after county purchasing agent Bela Kovacs initially refused to identify the individual operators.

“We are withholding the names at this point to minimize undue influence on the selection process and to keep a level playing field,” said Kovacs, who was later ordered to release the information by county attorney Jim Emacio.

“I’m not trying to maintain secrecy,” Kovacs said. “I’m trying to maintain the selection process.”

The county’s legal document for prospective operators said “Spokane County will regard submittals as public records which will be available for public inspection and/or copying.”

The four applicants were given one another’s names when the county sent each a schedule for Thursday’s individual interviews.

Kovacs said he favored giving the public the applicants’ names on June 24, when the county commissioners are expected to select the interim operator.