Bad Breakup: Accusations Simmer Between Race Of Champions And Lancaster Speedway After Split

The 2019-2020 offseason has been one wrought with much confusion, wonder and unanswered questions for many around the Connecticut short track racing scene. 

The exact future of racing is unclear at two of the three long running Connecticut short tracks, with plenty of rumors swirling about both entities. 

But Connecticut isn’t the only place where a facility steeped in Modified racing tradition is facing turmoil and questions. 

In Western, N.Y., New York International Raceway Park, home of the historic Lancaster National Speedway, is awash in controversy spilling over from the 2019 season into the 2020 calendar. 

In the spring of 2019 new ownership took over the facility in preparation for the 60^thanniversary season at the five-eighths mile oval. 

Before the start of the 2019 season new track owners Vito Antonicelli and Mike Swinarski partnered with Race of Champions Tour operator Joe Skotnicki. The partnership put Skotnicki’s sanctioning group in charge of overseeing a six-event oval track schedule for the 2019 season at Lancaster. 

Skotnicki’s sanctioning group successfully managed the scheduled events for the season at the facility. The season ended at the track with the running of the US Open weekend Sept. 14-15. 

It was after that weekend that things went bad between the track owners and the sanctioning group overseeing their events. 

Skotnicki says track ownership shorted his company $12,388 from what was owed for the final weekend of racing at the track in 2019. Antonicelli says Skotnicki was paid in full. 

“We aren’t the bad people here,” Skotnicki said. “We did everything we were supposed to, and then some. It shouldn’t be going this way. I’m not saying to put me on a pedestal, we’ve made mistakes, but we did nothing wrong here. Ninety percent of the money that’s missing goes to the drivers, and I’ve already paid them. And I’ve paid my staff too. So I’m out all of that. There’s nobody that’s not paid with this on my side.” 

Said Antonicelli: “His side of the story is not true at all. It’s in our lawyer’s hands right now. He’s very dishonest. … There’s major problems. He’s causing these problems because we dropped the ROC from our race track and he’s stirring up this mess.” 

In addition to partnering with Lancaster Speedway in 2019, Skotnicki’s Race of Champions sanctioning body oversaw a 12-event Race of Champions Modified Tour schedule, which in addition to racing at Lancaster – hosted events at Chemung (N.Y.) Speedrome  Spencer Speedway in Williamson, N.Y., Lake Erie Speedway in North East, Pa., and Jukasa Motor Speedway in Ontario, Canada. 

The sanctioning body also oversaw a nine-race schedule for the ROC Sportsman Series, a nine-race schedule for the ROC Super Stock Series, a four-race schedule for the ROC Late Model Series, a six-race schedule for the ROC Four Cylinder Dash Series, a six-race schedule for the ROC Dirt Sportsman Series and a four-event schedule for the ROC TQ Midgets Series.  

Skotnicki’s company also leases and operates Spencer Speedway, where there were six events scheduled for 2019. The ROC and has already agreed to terms for operating Spencer Speedway again in 2020.

Skotnicki said before the disagreement over finances with Lancaster Speedway he was of the understanding that the track intended to have his company return to oversee racing at the facility in 2020. 

The agreement between the track owners and the ROC was that the track would pay the ROC a sanctioning fee of $2,300 for two of the three ROC sanctioned Race of Champions Tour Modified events to be run at the facility in 2019. Skotnicki’s management group would also be paid a $500 sanctioning fee to run the three other events at the track which did not include Race of Champions Tour Modified events. The agreed upon sanctioning fee for the final US Open weekend was increased to $2,800 because it was a two-day event. The sanctioning fee portion is what Skotnicki uses to pay his staff to oversee and officiate events and cover insurance costs. 

It was also agreed that declared purse amounts would be covered by the track and track management would give the purse money to Skotnicki to distribute to competitors for all divisions in events at the track. 

On Aug. 17 a wreck early in the scheduled Race of Champions Tour Modified event caused damage to the track fencing that couldn’t be immediately repaired and the remainder of the event of was postponed to Sept. 13. 

The postponed Race of Champions Tour event was made up on Sept. 13, the Friday of the US Open weekend, which also included a Race of Champions Tour feature on Sunday Sept. 15. 

After the US Open weekend Skotnicki billed the track for the previously agreed upon weekend sanctioning fee and purse for the seven divisions run, which was a total of $61,063. He also billed the track for the originally scheduled Aug. 17 event, which had been run on Sept. 13, which totaled $21,325 with the sanctioning fee and purse. 

The track was billed $82,388, a number which adds up when combining the $5,100 in sanctioning fees along with the publicly announced agreed upon purses for the two Race of Champions Tour Modified events and the other six support divisions that were run. All of the purse numbers involved with the US Open weekend at Lancaster  – as with any ROC event – can be found published on the ROC website.

Skotnicki said he was paid $50,000 just after the U.S. Open weekend. He said he met with Antonicelli in October and was paid another $20,000. He said at that point Antonicelli indicated that the track would be partnering with Skotnicki again for the 2020 season. Skotnicki said he asked then about the remaining $12,388 owed to him.

“They said they just didn’t make enough money,” Skotnicki said. “There was various excuses about why they just didn’t have it. I just said ‘Let’s figure out.’ and I figured we’d be working on the schedule [for 2020] and we’ll figure it out.” 

On Nov. 1 Skotnicki emailed track management inquiring about the balance owed and planning for a 2020 schedule. He also sent an invoice for the final $12,388 owed. He got no response from track management. 

Just before Christmas Skotnicki said he met with Antonicelli again. Atonicelli told Skotnicki that the track wouldn’t be partnering with him for the 2020 season. 

“I was told at that point I would still be paid, however I realized it was time to make alternative plans,” Skotnicki said. 

Antonicelli said the $70,000 paid to Skotnicki covered what the track owed him. 

“He got paid in full,” Antonicelli said. “The problem with Joe is that he’s robbing from Peter to pay Paul. He still hasn’t paid people from Lake Erie [Speedway] yet. He’s his own worst enemy and it will catch up to him surely.”

The Race of Champions Tour ran two events in 2019 at Lake Erie Speedway.

Lake Erie Speedway general manager A.J. Moore said Skotnicki doesn’t owe anything involving the two Race of Champions Tour events at the track in 2019.

“Joe Skotnicki and the Race of Champions and Lake Erie Speedway have always had a good relationship,” Moore said. “Joe has been on time in his payments to us and he doesn’t owe us any money. … No matter who it is, in the motorsports industry, everybody has to pay, whether it be to the sanctioning body or to the drivers, everybody needs to do that. We can’t have things like this happen. It will start ruining motorsports.”