The relationship between the first year Exit Realty Modified Touring Series and the American Racer tire company came to a sour and dramatic conclusion as the inaugural season for the division neared its finish in October.
On Oct. 2, Scott Junod, Director of Racing for American Racer, announced that the company was withdrawing support of the Modified Touring Series. The next day, Gary Knight, founder and owner of the Modified Touring Series, announced an agreement with Hoosier Tire for the 2018 season. A week later Bob Carrita, a former Modified Touring Series official, announced he would launch a new Modified tour for 2018 with support from American Racer.
And the drama surrounding that soured relationship has played out further this week on Facebook.
On Wednesday Alichia Knight, wife of Gary Knight, announced on Facebook that the series was cancelling its banquet, which had been scheduled for tonight (Nov. 10) at the Hilton in Hartford.
In a Facebook posting, Alichia Knight blamed the cancellation on Bill Galloway, owner of American Racer New England.
“I’m heartbroken over this decision but I have no choice,” read Alichia Knight’s comment on the Modified Touring Series page on Facebook. “With Bill Galloway refusing to send to the point fund money to me, after repeatedly being asked to do so, and telling the teams he would be mailing out a point fund to them directly there was no reason for anyone to go a banquet.”
On Thursday evening Galloway responded directly to the accusation through a statement posted on Facebook.
Below is the statement:
I have recently seen some comments that have implicated American Racer New England in some alledged wrong doing regarding the payout of the point fund to the MTS competitors. I want to set the record straight.
At the beginning of the season it was agreed that I would hold my portion of the point fund money. I have done that. I have collected all proceeds from tire sales and set aside the proper amount of point fund money from those sales, and paid any remainder to the proper parties accordingly. This is not in dispute. Regarding dispursement of the point fund money, I told the Knights with MTS, that I would write out the checks to the proper racer and give them to the Knights for hand out at the banquet. This was unacceptable to the Knights. They have insisted that the point fund in total, $28,575, be paid directly to MTS. This was unacceptable to me. There was simply no need for the money that was to be paid to the racers, to pass through more hands than necessary. So I dispursed the point fund per the MTS guidelines set up at the beginning of the season. All $28,575 has been paid to the proper teams.
It is not a secret that American Racer New England, American Racer Corporate and the Knights have parted ways due to major differences surrounding the operation of MTS. Regardless, American Racer New England and American Racer have now fulfilled all obligations to MTS for the 2017 season. I want to conclude with my sincerest thanks to the teams, track promoters and sponsors for working with and supporting us this year. We look forward to the opportunity to work with all of you in the future.
Bill Galloway
American Racer New England
Bill is a class act..
Must be the series didn’t do so well on the financial side of things if all they had to offer at the banquet was some of the proceeds from the tire sales.
What a lame excuse on the MTS part. “No one would go to the banquet if they weren’t getting their points check”. Really, are you kidding me. That is pure bull, NASCAR sends their points checks directly to the competitors as there have been some track promoters in the past that hijacked the money. Every NASCAR banquet I have attended (at least 20 over the last 25 years) was well attended. I have yet to hear any racer complain about who was paying
/paid them. I have heard them complain about the amount but never who signed the checks.
IMO it sure sounds like Bill G. from American Racer wants to make sure the racers get paid. It is an honorable gesture on his part. I have heard that from a couple of racers that the racers were not getting paid in a timely fashion. Maybe some racers can confirm or put the non-payment rumor to rest.
Sure sucks for the racers that have supported the MTS this year to not have a banquet, a chance to pick up their hardware and celebrate the teams achievements. Maybe this is the final nail in the coffin for the MTS.
So, is the 2018 MTS schedule ready yet? What tire are they running?
Bad look for MTS. I assume everyone who purchased banquet tickets will be getting full refund?
SQUARE TIRES LOL.
SO WHAT DID THE MTS DO WITH THE REST OF THE POINTS FUND MONEY FROM OTHER SPONSORS ?
From the dareal FAKE ENGINEER file regarding Melissa Fifields Most Popular Driver Award in 2016.
“Go look at the list of Most Popular Drivers… Stefanik, Christopher, Hirschman, Baldwin, Szegedy, Preece, Bonsignore, Flemke, Ruggerio, …
We have become a society of relentless non-performing self-promoters, instead of letting our performance do the talking.”
“our performance”. The mind that produced that last sentence is living in a fantasy world of boundless self aggrandizement by diminishing a womans award.
Please make the MTS go away! What a joke of a series, low car counts, unstable management,late purse payments, teams running other car #s for points, abandoned by American Racer. Somehow MTS thinks they still have a series, no tracks worth a dam are going to put up with them again.
No schedule yet, but they announced a tire deal with Hoosier
Shawn, speaking of banquets and awards, what happened to the Most Popular Driver Award for the NWMT this season? I haven’t seen anything about it.
Doug,have you ever considered medication?I thought this thread was about that standup couple Gary and Alicia Knight.
Dareal, where have you been under a rock? Hoosier tires, announced that some time ago!
Kudos to Bill Galloway for insuring his portion of the points fund went to the racers!
I’m just a fan, but I don’t understand why Mr. Galloway’s payment decision would prevent a banquet to celebrate the competitors’ achievements in a race series. I would also think MTS principals would want to be particularly appreciative of any corporate sponsors and race teams who committed to their new race series. If the t-shirts were correct, the series was also sponsored by Exit Realty and there was the “Sunoco Quest for the Cup”. To me that would imply possible additional points monies and awards, not to mention thank-you’s. In my mind, not a good way for the MTS to entice more teams to run with them or sponsors to come on board…
Dareal, read paragraph 2 man! As usual open mount insert foot!
So what now happens to the money all the teams paid for their banquet tickets? I would assume the Hilton would have required a sizable deposit to book the event which my guess that would be forfeited due to the late cancellation. Something sure smells fishy about this whole deal to this old salt.
Have the banquet, but have Galloway hand out the points fund monies himself directly to the racers. Mr & Mrs. Knight should not have a problem with that.
But probably a good move by Mr. Galloway.
Hoosier, take note.
According to an article/press release online before the 2017 season started published by Lou Modestino the MTS points fund was advertised as being $40k for 2017. So even if American Racer paid $28.6k directly to the racers there was still over $11k to be handed out at the banquet. Maybe this is the real reason the MTS cancelled the banquet is that they could not live up to their promises and this was the best excuse they could come up with? Smelling more fishy all the time.
Text of the article mentioned above is below if anyone is interested:
The Modified Touring Series organized by principal Gary Knight of Charlestown, NH announced three races in 2017 at the Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, NH. The MTS held one race this year at that same track during the summer which paid $15,000 to the winner.
The Modified Touring Series is proud to announce, after months of talks, the signing of our first three dates of the 2017 racing season: Monadnock Speedway (April 29, July 1 and September 16). Larry and Deneen Cirillo along with Fred Pafume of Monadnock Speedway have been supporters of MTS from the beginning. Hosting our first race, The Winchester 200 in May of this year.
Teams will be racing the 2017 season for a $40,000.00 point fund and a per race event of $3000.00 to win. We will also be introducing an exciting points chase that will ensure that each race will keep competitors and fans on the edge of their seats every time the drivers hit the track.
We are currently in talks with other tracks for more dates for the upcoming season.
Per Race Purse:
1st $3000
2nd $1600
3rd $1300
4th $1075
5th $975
6th $925
7th $875
8th $850
9th $825
10th $800
11th $775
12th $750
13th $725
14th $700
15th $675
16th $660
17th $660
18th $660
19th 660
20th $660
21st $660
22nd $660
23rd $660
24th $660
Source: Gary Knight/Modified Touring Series
I would be ok with a late payment but what does one consider “late” weeks ??months ??.. if the checks cleared they paid. if the checks were slow in getting out that could possibly explain low numbers (car counts). agree with fast eddie. if you knew and it was decided by American racer to send checks direct ..this could have been done at banquet by a selected rep from American racer.. could have ended the relationship on a positive note !!.. anyone who has planned a wedding or similar event knows monies need to be paid in advance .. perhaps attendance/ticket sales were low ??. either way agree the series just lost credibility by not following thru…if the remaining money wasn’t there and you inflated the point fund figure early on shame on you ..me thinks that’s what happened ..inflated the figure to entice teams to attend during the season .. not nice…. and people wont forget ..should have planned better .. probably had their hearts in the right place and intended to do the right thing and it didn’t work out. with the money .well then you have to pick up the slack like any good reputable promoter..I believe the American racer statement.. until the series issues a more specific response they will be suspect….tired of all the touring series.. waters down the racing. NASCAR has an opportunity to take advantage of all the quasi promoters and increase the purse structure to attract ALL the mods it can ..make the racing more affordable tire limitations/increase purse.
What a Joke. Anyone who races in that series, sponsors that series, attends races in this series or posts on this chain is a loser. I’m kicking my own ass now.
When i heard that this series was allowing cars to run different numbers to keep people in the points chase I was told here that i didn’t know what i was talking about and criticized. It turned out to be true.
Now they run a scam with the money? This series is a complete joke. It looks like they were running a scam the whole time. I agree with Jimbo, anyone who supports this series in any way should really have their head examined.
Go back to the original threads announcing this series. I said it then and then was blocked from commenting on this site when I said it again. This was a scam from the start and a scam now. This is the kind of guy who punches out windshields on chicks cars then doesn’t show up for court for it because he has more important things to do. That’s the kind of guy we are dealing with here. They show up in racing once in a while. Tommy kaloramis, bobby mcarthur sungy, patriot pro stock tour etc. he wont be the last.
The funniest thing in these comments: “probably had their hearts in the right place” Sure. If you knew the history of those involved then you would find the humor here. Do some Google searching, although I’m not sure if state and federal “legal” records are viewable on the internet. I’d like to hear from affected participents in the series. Has everyone received purses and other monies up to this point?
If it was a scam it backfired on MTS which makes it kind of funny. As the saying goes, you can’t fix stupid. I, like the rest of ya’ll do wonder what happened to the remaining 11k in advertised point fund money. That needs to be answered.
The reasoning at least from the FB post is that since the money has already been mailed to the teams, nobody wants to go to the banquet. You’d have to ask the teams if that’s true or not. Makes it sound like the only reason anyone goes to banquets is to pick up their check.
Guy couldn’t get a date at his hometown track that he raced at for a decade or so. Says a lot right there don’t you think?
If nobody wants to go to the banquet, what does that tell you?
Rich, American Racer was willing to hand out checks at the banquet so that’s not the real reason. He had all the checks written and ready to go. MTS wanted the money upfrontbfor themselves.
American Racer stood by the agreement. Integrity goes a long with me and I applaud Mr. Galloway and Co. for seeing to it the money got to the racers.
Let’s see the car counts on the MTS in 2018. That will tell what happened this year.
Great point NH Mark, where is the rest of the $$$$$? Do you think we will ever find out?
Quick question fo DaReal, you don’t really think any tracks will sign up for the MTS considering all the non-payment allegations and lack of support by their competitors for the banquet (if that is the real story behind the banquet issue)? Maybe MadDog will sign the MTS some races as they were a pivotal supporter last year but IMO I doubt other tracks will be lining up in numbers willing to take the risk until the dust settles and the complete truth is out regarding “BanquetGate”.
Apropos of nothing, banquets can be an expensive pain in the neck for some folks. The worst is when you gotta BUY tickets to a banquet just to get the $100 point fund check and plaque for finishing in Umpteenth place in the Rust Stock division of your local track..
SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!! SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!
Paul,
I agree banquets can be expensive but trophies and meals at nice locations are not cheap nowadays and someone has to pay for them. The attendees choose to pay to attend or they don’t and they stay home its up to them. Maybe someone that is in the know can fill us in if the MTS banquet attendance was mandatory to get their points fund checks? If so then that sure seems like extortion to force people to attend the banquet. This entire story needs to be brought to light before teams and racetracks sign the series to events in 2018.
Shawn C. any chance for an investigative article on “BanquetGate”?
Stafford has announced 7 “touring series ” events with their season ticket package. The schedule isn’t out yet so it doesn’t say which tours but my guess is MTS will be on there if there are seven. Maybe none of this matters to them.
Worse yet, people are going to want to know what the deal is between Hoosier and MTS regarding point fund monies. Probably a headache Hoosier doesn’t need.
WMT,MRS,Pro truck series,ISMA are definites. Could be many possibilities maybe PASS North or NEMA, GSPSS or the new sk light touring series. Doesn’t necessarily have to be MTS.
For all the crap people say about NASCAR, they are the best at safety and they pay their purses, points and racers, the checks don’t bounce. The owners and teams I work with all say that. They don’t see the risks with these other “tours” as being worth it. Why run a low dollar series when they have a rep or are at risk for not paying the purse/points? That can get expensive. Get stiffed or hear about owners getting stiffed will keep people away.
That AR/Galloway insisted on paying the points funds directly to the racers and that MTS cancelled the banquet when they were kept away from the AR points fund monies says all I need to know.
Just Wondering, I’m asking the same… anybody think MTS will exist in 2018?
I’d like to wake up tomorrow with just WMT,MRS,ROC, and Tri Track….
“For all the crap people say about NASCAR, they are the best at safety and they pay their purses, points and racers, the checks don’t bounce. The owners and teams I work with all say that.”
Well that’s new isn’t it? Dareal works with owners and teams. Surely I can’t be the only one curious about this revelation. Who exactly are the teams you work with and in what capacity?
NH Mark. That’s news on Stafford. 3 WMT events means one less touring event in total. Who. VMRS for sure with 2 based on tradition and consistency. Who else? MTS, ISMA, or the new guys?
Its actually 7 tour type events. I assume 3 WMT like this year. We should find out for sure in the next few days.
Where are all the racers who sat on the MTS board?The Ed Flemke’s and Art Barry’s and the Pateryak’s?Why aren’t they saying anything……looks like Jack will be coming out of this smelling like a rose…This is a real embarrassment and I cannot believe some of these drivers that supported this thief.
Looks like this banquet was burgers and dogs on the hibachi.
Seekonk hosting WMT June 2nd. That was the MTS date there this year. Interesting.
Having not seen any type of follow up or formal release of info by the MTS management in reply to Bill Galloway’s statement I think it is getting pretty obvious the MTS is in hiding as the truth has come out. I along with many others still don’t buy the reason the banquet was cancelled being no one was going to come since the points fund checks had already been mailed out. So I am still wondering if the rest of the points fund money has been paid out or if the MTS is not living up to its promise of a $40k points fund for 2017. Having not heard any of the MTS raceteams chime in or standing up defending the MTS I would bet they have not been paid and they are not saying anything for fear of retaliation from the MTS management. Hopefully this will mean one less Modified Series watering down the modified product in 2018.
Has anybody involved called the Hilton to see if they can shed some light on the banquet situation?
Fatboy, I doubt the Hilton would offer up much more info as it would not be in their best interest to sling mud in public. That being said, IMO it is very possible that the Hilton cancelled the event due to payment not being made as stated in the event contract with the hotel. Think about it, why would the MTS be so demanding that the American Racer points fund money be given to the MTS directly and not to the racers? My guess is the MTS is/was having a cash flow issue and was looking find a way to get the event in.
The racers seems to be very silent about the whole deal at least for now. I am sure at some point the word will leak out.
Sounds like 10 races for them again in 2018. Quite the love fest for them on their FB page.
According to the MTS FB page, the banquet is postponed. I did not see anything about the banquet being cancelled. I did not do a complete forensic analysis. MTS is merrily working on 2018 already. They better be nice to Hoosier.
DaReal, given any follow up info by the MTS in their own defense or plans of a new date I think they just used the postponed verbiage as it sounds better than cancelled. Given all the negative replies they have been getting one would think they would be moving full forward on some type of damage control plan
With the release of the Stafford schedule today another CT track votes NO on the MTS for 2018. That only leaves the Speedbowl as an opportunity for the MTS to race in CT. Has anyone heard anything but crickets regarding the 2018 MTS schedule?
The Speedbowl and MTS… LOL!!!!!
The Speedbowl is looking like the Land of Misfits.
Crickets?When everyones favorite standup couple is involved there is nothing but a silent spring.No one should go near them with a ten foot pole.Postponed my foot, they don’t have the money.You would think that they have a bank account.Why not make a withdrawal of funds to cover the cost and try to save face.The main problem is they have no shame or scruples for that matter.Stay tuned for another episode in the weird world of the MTS.Hoosier better watch their step, they might wind up in a place they don’t want to be.
Does anyone or Shawn C. have any further info regarding the cancelled banquet or if there is even going to be a MTS in 2018. I keep looking for info but can’t seem to find anything. The MTS facebook page shows basically no action and the MTS website ( modtouringseries.com ) seems to be down.
Just Wondering,
The banquet was cancelled. Not sure what else there would be to further report on that. As far as 2018, I think they’re still examining their options.
Shawn C. I know you wrote that the MTS banquet was cancelled but the MTS facebook page still says it was postponed. I was just figuring that something would be announced by now by the MTS instead of dead silence. I guess this time the old cliche’ may not apply that “no news is good news”. I guess it all depends which side of the fence you are on. As for myself I’m tired of paying premium prices for these touring series that offer less than quality entertainment. This old timer just can’t afford $30+ dollars every time a tour is on the schedule when all I really want to see if my local favorites and the SK division.