Moe fired as raceway manager

Orville Moe, the legendary force behind Spokane Raceway Park for three decades, was fired Thursday as general manager of the racing complex by a judge who concluded the drag-racing czar disobeyed a court-appointed receiver overseeing financial operations.

Judge Robert Austin also ruled that receiver Barry Davidson, appointed one year ago to take over track operations, can begin the process of finding a real estate firm to appraise the square-mile racing complex in Airway Heights and market it for potential sale.

The oval course and drag strip – home of Friday Night Street Racing popular with young drivers with hopped-up Hondas and other small cars – will remain open under a new general manager named by the judge.

Moe appeared stunned and had no comment immediately after the ruling. Earlier, his wife, Deonne, ran from the courtroom after an outburst in which she shouted at the judge: “Your honor, in your heart, how can you do this?”

Moe “hasn’t taken a dime from this operation in 40 years,” said his attorney, Carl Oreskovich, and was simply dedicated to the survival of the racetrack in the face of unfounded, vicious accusations of theft and wrongdoing.

As receiver, Davidson sought a contempt of court citation for Moe, which Judge Austin denied. A citation could have resulted in a sizable fine or even a jail term for Moe, who secretly set up a new bank account and was privately leasing the track for races after the judge appointed the receiver.

Davidson was appointed by the court in June 2005 to inventory and protect the assets of 500 limited partners who say they have seen no return on their $2 million in Washington Motorsports stock they bought in the 1970s. Orville Moe was the president of Spokane Raceway Park Inc., the general partner in the business venture.

The judge cited Moe’s “vision and foresight” in forming the partnership in the 1970s and recognized his “entrepreneurial abilities and long-standing commitment to the racing community.”

But the judge said Moe refused to recognize or cooperate with the powers vested in the receiver who is in charge of all financial operations at Spokane Raceway Park.

In taking the unusual step of appointing the receiver, the judge allowed Moe to remain general manager. But the court directed that all gate receipts and financial matters be handled by the receiver while the legal fight between Moe and a group of investors was settled.

“This is far worse that I imagined,” the judge said after three days of testimony, which included details of a secret bank account Moe established to handle track receipts after the receiver was appointed.

Moe acknowledged on the witness stand that he opened the bank account because he was getting all the bills and had no money to pay them.

“He’s going to do it his way without the advice or consent of the receiver, and I can’t have that,” Austin said from the bench, just feet away from Moe.

The judge ordered Moe to immediately turn over an $8,300 check he received for rental of the track in March and the titles and keys to all vehicles owned by Spokane Raceway Park, including two ambulances, a firetruck and a late-model pickup that Moe uses as his personal vehicle.

The judge said he didn’t want to use the infamous “you’re fired” line from millionaire Donald Trump’s television show but said he was immediately removing Moe as general manager.

“Mr. Moe is not to go on the premises from this day forward,” Austin said.

All records held at the facility are to be seized and turned over to the receiver.

Austin appointed businessman Jim Tice, 56, of Spokane, a longtime drag racing enthusiast and businessman, to become the new general manager who will work with the receiver.

“Congratulations,” the crusty 69-year-old Moe said in a curt tone to a small gathering of the limited partners in the hallway after the judge’s ruling. Their effort was united by Moe’s nephew, Troy Moe, who is heading up a group of investors interested in buying the track.

“I feel the appropriate steps have been taken in the courts to clear the way to ensure there is financial justice to the true owners of Washington Motorsports Limited,” Troy Moe said.

The courtroom spectators also included investors Ed Torrison and Donald Materne, the two plaintiffs in a 2003 lawsuit that set in motion the legal battle, eventually leading to the appointment of the receiver and Thursday’s ruling.

“I believe it’s long overdue,” said Torrison, a Spokane dentist. “In a way, I feel badly for Orville. But I can’t see how it could have been resolved differently for the benefit of the stockholders.”

Materne also said he welcomed the ruling after several days of court hearings sprinkled over the past three years.

“The problems have been prolonged in part by Orville Moe himself,” Materne said. “It’s been 30 years – and no money received by the shareholders.”

Materne said he hopes the receiver now will be in a position to liquidate assets of Washington Motorsports, including sale of the racing complex, to give the 500 limited partners a return on their investments.

Attorney John Giesa, who represented the limited partners, declined comment outside the courtroom.

But Davidson, the court-appointed receiver, said the ruling was significant.

“We’ve had to make some very difficult decisions that are in the best interests of the investors,” said Davidson. “With the court’s action today, we believe we can move this case more readily to a just conclusion.”

Davidson can now find a real estate marketing firm, but any sale of the track or other assets would have to be court-approved. The SRP receivership likely won’t be closed until there is a sale of the assets.

The judge’s ruling doesn’t affect three companion lawsuits, one of them against the accounting firm LeMaster & Daniels, accused in a suit filed in February of “negligence and carelessness” in preparing public financial statements about the operations of Spokane Raceway Park.