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2001
NEWS ARCHIVE
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| Friday, September 20, 2002 | |
| New Owners Take Over East Bay Raceway | By Jack Smith
"I'm selling East Bay because of greedy people and because of the things they take from you for nothing."
Quite a quote from Stanley Kolan, the man who likes to tout himself as the reincarnation of King Midas.
Free copies of his tome entitled 'The Midas Touch' are still available and it's a wonder you can't buy a copy on E-bay. It basically outlines how the brilliant mind of Stan Kolan outwitted the Internal Revenue Service and extols the virtues of Stan Kolan. It should be required reading for anyone hoping to get rich and famous.
But that show is over, at least for now.
Stan Kolan finally found a buyer, according to the typical long-winded self-aggrandizing Stan Kolan press releases issued under the name of writer Bev Thompson last week.
We confirmed as much yesterday when we had the opportunity to meet with Al Varnadore and his partner Todd Hutto at East Bay Raceway. The pair, along with Fred lay and Dean Varnadore, have purchased the track and will operate it under the corporate identity of 2 VHL Productions Inc.
Hutto is a pretty well known face around Florida stock car racing circles and runs the Florida Minis Stock Challenge Series, one of the most successful and popular racing series in the South. Varnadore has been involved in racing as a racer and a fan for decades as has Hutto.
As Varnadore sees it "the main thing is to get things going in a positive way again".
That may be a little easier said than done, as East Bay Raceway has been a scene of chaos for the last several years under the Kolan reign. Intrigue and soap opera has garnered more attention than the racing, most of which was created by Kolan himself.
Meanwhile the racing at East Bay can be tremendous with the weekly shows of powerful sprints and late models and the largest field of street stocks in the state.
Varnadore and Hutto has met with the majority of the staff and are getting very positive feedback as they settle into the task of guiding East Bay Raceway in a new direction. The track will return to a weekly schedule in two weeks, after a stint of racing every other week.
Though the new ownership group assured us that Stan Kolan is out of the picture and they own the speedway outright, there are concerns of many in the East Bay racing family who are still suspicious.
One longtime fan said "no way will his ego allow him to give up the nationals", another said "we'll have to wait and see if Kolan is really gone".
The Winternationals at East Bay is one of the grand events in the world of dirt racing. Seventeen straight days of the very best in sprint car and late model racing when the top drivers from all over America descend upon the speedway, situated just south of Tampa, Florida. Many fans swear there is no show in Florida that compares to the excitement that comes to East Bay Raceway in February each year.
The negative attitudes are going to die hard at East Bay. In the last two years Kolan has made several major management changes which really weren't what they were cracked up to be, and has developed a reputation as an extremely crafty businessman. The concept of "trust" at East Bay Raceway will have to be rekindled.
If the new ownership can ensure that Kolan stays out the picture and gets through the Winternationls with success, their future could be very bright indeed.
We wish them the very best of luck.
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