I am so sick and tired of reading all the “Desoto Haterators” post. If somebody doesn’t want to go race there then FINE ,but quit trying to bash anybody else wanting to go there and race. I often wonder how many of the “negative nellies” are actually racers or just" wannabe" racers or just have nothing else to do but try to sound like they know what they are talking about. I really don’t think John Sapricone is the only one who ever pissed anybody off in the world of racing. Does anybody ever stop to consider that people make mistakes and sometimes, just sometimes learn from those mistakes and try to make things right? It simply amazes me the energy that is put into being negative. Will everybody who loves this sport really be jumping for joy to see another track close? Aside from the obvious personality conflicts that have gone on, I don’t think there are too many out there in the “peanut gallery” who can dispute that Desoto is a great track to race on. Can we get our heads out of the tunnel vision and look at the big picture for a change? Nobody does it perfect ALL the time or FOREVER.
Man i hope you have a sportsman we need you!!
bla bla
i have read John’s post over the past months ,looks like He is trying. ?what do you think his tax bill is ,what do you think his upkeep is,what do you think his payroll is on and on . he owns Desoto Speedway. Charlotte is owned by the airport,wont last forever. need to stop all the whining and bull s—… have a good day ,for they are all good day’s
Awesome post! John is trying to turn things around.
Now thats what we need.We need to save Desoto Speedway from the people that try to nock it down. I have been in as many yelling matches with John as anyone and still call him friend.
If you donr suport the track you could be buying a lot of gas for your haller. I lived in sarasota and raced at Saramana as a kid. when it closed we were screwed. It took 15 years before they built the oval track there and i dint think there will ever be another!
Suport your local track.
Don 62
Desoto
It so good to hear some positive things about Desoto Speedway !, I personally as a racer love the place, love the people from the owners to the broom crew. John is really trying to do the right thing!!! I have watched I raced all last year at Desoto and felt like family there. I watched Hialeah go away and their reunion is coming up! What memories and great people from there that are crying inside not having their home track in south Florida. I spend my teen years up until it closed as a fan, crew member, car owner partner. Now as a racer i see Showtime open again!! Great for racing, but questions with regards to alcohol in the pits and a sign that promotes fighting!! What i is up with that! Im sure their insurance company underwriters would go crazy!
The racing community needs to support Desoto. Every time we lose a short track they are not coming back with all of the construction expense and federal regulations, EPA etc. Just speak to a hialeah speedway reunion member and ask them what the pain feels like to not have their home track!
Lets get behind John support him and lets promote all our remaing race tracks. I know the owners and promoters of all the tracks are working hard to come to agreement on series, rules, classes scheduling etc Bashing is not the answer! Teamwork from the fans, racers, owners, promoters etc will keep our loved sport alive and well!
Desoto is the track that I call my home. But with the money being tight, I can’t have any fun.
I will say this, everytime I go, at LEAST 5 people walk up to my pit and say glad your here. The officials even walk up and shake your hand. If you need anything, just ask they will bend over backward to get it or tell you where to get it. I have never been to a track that has that kind of hospatality.
If you haven’t been, you are missing out of making friends and seeing a beautiful place.
never been there, never wanted to because of what you hear somtimes, but now i want to. how often do they race sportsman? Nice Post!! :sport009:
Now thats what we need.We need to save Desoto Speedway from the people that try to nock it down. I have been in as many yelling matches with John as anyone and still call him friend.
If you donr suport the track you could be buying a lot of gas for your haller. I lived in sarasota and raced at Saramana as a kid. when it closed we were screwed. It took 15 years before they built the oval track there and i dint think there will ever be another!
Suport your local track.
Don62
[SIZE=“3”]Don I really can’t remember any yelling matches ,I think you all ways made money with me and I remember telling you that you were one of my mentors and did a very good job at it,any way thanks John[/SIZE]
Don ,I forgot Robert Hart,Burt Ashelmen from Florida Pro’s that gave me my first shot. O come on down and race at one of the best tracks in the state,thanks John.
GO!
It is one of the coolest tracks I have ever made laps on…Fast fast fast. Dont listen to what you hear…go race and make up your own mind.
Wanna try and save DeSoto?
Friday nights. When the place first opened thirty-plus years ago (jeezus…has it been that long already?!..LOL), it was a Friday-night place. Guys would tow from St. Pete, Tampa, Winter Haven, Auburndale, and from points south as well to run. With St. Pete reopened, you should be able to draw cars again from that area.
Four classes with an “extra” (TBARA, Southern Sportsman, PASS Late Models, etc.) thrown in every now and then.
Run a Friday-night Super Late Model “prelim” on Governor’s Cup weekend if it (the 200) won’t go back to a Sunday-afternoon show. Make it a 100- or 125-lapper.
Good food at reasonable prices at the concession stands.
Work with other tracks on the same rules, so guys can race everywhere and not have to change much but a gear.
Just my thoughts. Would hate to see the place gone.
I would like to personally thank John. I had one hell of a time racing my Sportsman car there all year in 2011. Everyone there makes you feel very welcome and they do whatever they can to help the racer. When I towed down one day (all the way from Port Richey) and was upset because the race was cancelled when I got there and the rain had stopped, John let me have the whole racetrack to myself to practice (it rained again later so they made the right call). When I had a lifter come apart in practice in the last race of the year, the track officials sought out a car for me to run in the feature to hold onto 3rd in points in the final rundown (and got a sweet 4ft tall trophy for the effort). When the Sportsman Challenge Series was looking for tracks that would support us, John offered us four dates (the best anyone else would offer was 2, some didn’t want us at all). We are all human and make mistakes at some point in our life. I don’t know what John ever did to have so many “haters”, but if he ever did anything to piss anyone off that is between him and them. Don’t make decisions on where you race from what you have heard (especially from anonymous people on a message board). Race and decide for yourself. I have seen too many tracks close in my lifetime. I’d hate to see Desoto close because it is one of the best racetracks to race on in the state in my opinion.
Nice post Scott! Now that is what I call hospatality!
It was my car that Scott drove that night. My car owner said it was ok without a hesitation. We all try to help each other if we can. I used to race at Hialeah, and now it is a Lowes parking lot. I would hate to see Desoto close like some others have. John and Johnny are doing there best to make the racers feel welcome. We need more racers to show some support. This is the last asphault track in the area with an outside groove. Let’s get some cars out there and use it.
This is NOT pointed at Desoto, but I’m seeing something here that just doesn’t make much sense to me.
In most businesses, if it were being run poorly, it is up to that business owner to make it into a better business that customers would want to support. In the racetrack business, it is blamed on the CUSTOMERS if it fails.
That’s like saying “Yeah, the food at the Choke & Puke is lousy and over priced, but if they go out of business, it’s YOUR fault”.
Racers are still CUSTOMERS first, and if they feel better about going to ABC, rather than XYZ, that’s what they will do.
Treat the racers as if they were helping to SAVE the place with their support, instead of blaming them for the failures.
Frasson, no one said a word about blaming the racers for the down fall of a track. You are correct that the Racer is the customer and in turn the fan in the seats is a customer too. Thats also correct that the racers should and do make their choice where they “take their business” to go race. My point in the original post was directed towards persons who get on this message board to complain and bash one particular track.case in point Desoto. I am curious if those that seem to only complain ever give hope that a bad deal will turn around and are they “helping” that to happen or just continue to spew the same “hater” comments. Interesting that all the previous post were positive in nature and YOURS was the negative one. Have a nice day.
Thanks again Icewater (Darrin) for letting me use your car that night. To Darrin and his car owners credit, they didn’t want the purse money when I offered it to them. I had to just about force them to take it from me! I just appreciated the ride. That’s how racing at Desoto is. Everyone is willing to help out the next guy in their time of need. You’ve got to try it if you haven’t yet. That is one badass racetrack to drive on!
It was neither positive or negative… It was an observation.
For example, Bronson Speedway is having trouble with both car count and fan count. Is that the racers fault, or the tracks fault? People have TRIED to support it, only to wind up pissed and frustrated… and no longer supporting it. I hope John DOES get things turned around and puts Desoto back into a prominent place in Florida short track racing. But it starts at the TOP of the ladder and works downward from there. It’s not up to the racers to put aside past bad feelings, it’s up to John to convince racers that things have indeed changed, and to not give up on his track.
I do believe he IS trying… but old wounds don’t heal overnight, and scars NEVER go away. You can’t un-burn a bridge, but you can build a NEW bridge.