As of Friday August 27th our web site www.speed-demons.com
will no longer have St. Tammany Speedway
information on it. We were threatened with a law suit, and told
they would cut our class if I didn’t
remove it. Allegedly 5 people saw a notice about a proposed race
that contained someone’s name and phone
number. Upon investigation, 3 of those 5 witnesses did not actually
see it themselves. Our Web Server in
Texas reviewed and sent us the log file for my site. There were
no updates to those pages since July.
We took the log file to the track with us, along with a letter from
our server stating the above facts, but, they
were not reviewed.
Accusations were made about the picture(s) on my site being stolen,
when in fact the photographer had
told us that we could use any of her pictures as long as we gave her
credit for them (and actually I forward her
credits to her email address to further promote her business).
The photographer said the pictures could stay on
the site as they are her property and not the track’s. Many drivers,
spectators, as well as the photographer
have given me pictures to place on the site, not to mention the ones
we’ve purchased.
The Pure Stock/Street Stock meetings were organized by members
of those classes. They initiated
the meetings to discuss the current problems with the two class, and
make suggestions for next year, as they had
asked the track to put out a suggestion box, but they refused.
We were called to attend as we have allot of cars
that run in those two classes, and they asked me to take notes for
them.
Read the
story about Earnhart that occurred this past weekend, very similar
to some of mine (NASCAR’s
freedom of speech). One suggestion was made to get the permission
from all the drivers whose names appear in the
stories? But, for right now, due to the above allegations, the
St. Tammany speedway information will no longer
appear on www.speed-demons.com. All other tracks will still have
their information there, only St. Tammany
Speedway has been deleted.
I have spent much time and money to promote and improve the track
no matter who the owner(s) are.
This track is close to home, and I feel that thanks to Mr. Ivy, the
track itself is excellent! Prior to my surgery, I
called the radio station weekly (at that time, the only St. Tammany
area person) to further expose the track to the
public. I have printed many flyers (at my own expense) passed
out at the track, my shop, and area businesses.
I drug my race car to Harahan on a Saturday afternoon prior to going
to the track for the WTIX radio Crawfish
Boil, and again passed out more flyers, and left some there for distribution.
I went through the entire box of
records from last year to determine track records, as it was not done
by anyone else. I have never been
compensated for my efforts, and I always paid to get into the track
as well. My web site, chat room, and email
have been a central communications center for all 5 tracks (mainly
St. Tammany) for drivers, spectators, family
members, etc. At my shop, the drivers who race at other tracks
were called Wrong Track (just ask Noah), and
many of them have since come to St. Tammany to race. If I have offended
anyone in any way on my web site I
sincerely apologize. I have received many emails and phone calls before
during and after my surgery in my support.
I thank all the drivers, family members, and spectators for their appreciation,
and support in my efforts. If you
would like to be added (or continue) to be on my email and/or fax list,
please feel free to contact me at any time
(504) 649-5195 or email dougmach@bellsouth.net.
All comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.