Chase Austin says he’s not going to Kansas; future of Trail Motorsport in doubt
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Chase Austin has announced that the Trail Motorsport team he drives for has withdrawn its entry for this weekend’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway, and he remains without a contract with the organization.
The team members were told at a meeting Tuesday that funding issues were the reason for the withdrawl, Austin said in a news release.
“I don’t have a clue what Trail plans to do moving forward; I don’t have a contract at this point,” said Austin, who has not competed in the last two Truck races. “I’ll just keep praying, keep digging and make the most out of any seat time I can get until the right opportunity comes. And I definitely still believe it will come.
“They say that every cloud has a silver lining, and I really believe that, There are a lot of other talented young drivers out there, and some of them will give up on their dream when times get really tough. With my faith in God, and with the faith that others continue to have in me, the only way I can fail is if I quit. And I can promise you that’s not going to happen.”
Austin, who is from Kansas, was told last week that the team would attempt to race this weekend, and he went to a Kansas City Royals game to help promote the race for NASCAR. The news release says that his future with Trail is “tenuous at best.”
“We had set a deadline of Monday for the truck to be ready to shake down at Rockingham, and that didn’t happen, so I knew what we were going to hear in the meeting [Tuesday],” Austin said. “I’m really more disappointed for the team [members] than for myself.”
Trail Motorsport competed in the first two Truck events as it hired MRD Motorsports to field an entry for Austin, who finished 13th at Daytona and 23rd at Auto Club Speedway in California. According to a lawsuit filed March 23 in North Carolina Superior Court in Cabarrus County, N.C., Trail Motorsport paid $66,000 to MRD for the Daytona race, but MRD alleges that Trail has not paid the $66,000 it owes to MRD for the race in California. That suit is pending.
A message left through a team representative and e-mail request for comment from owner Patrick Shelton were not immediately returned Wednesday.
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5 responses to "Chase Austin says he’s not going to Kansas; future of Trail Motorsport in doubt". Post a Comment.
Scam Forward said:
Apr 22, 2009 at 2:10 PMBig surprise? I think not. Rising star, Chase Austin, will just be another casualty in the wake of the incompetence and lies of Arthur Shelton and his arrogant know-nothing son Patrick.
Report as AbuseThe other sufferers are the 30 or so employees that have been promised paychecks for two months and have yet to see a dime. And the vendors who are owed thousands of dollars; and the truck team of Dave Malcomson who has a date with the Shelton's in court next month to collect the 60k he is owed.
Patrick Shelton, who is the founder of the Motorsports Professional Group on the popular LinkedIn business network, has a track record of failure. Now, he can add Trail Motorsport to his impressive resume, with a special notation of how many checks he bounced to NASCAR.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTerry said:
Apr 22, 2009 at 2:19 PMSounds like you have an axe to grind with this organization. Tell us how you really feel.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportGene Hollis said:
Apr 22, 2009 at 7:15 PMI hate it for Chase...he is a talented driver, but keeps hitting road blocks...hopefully he will get there some day. My biggest hope is somehow Rick Hendrick will find a way to put together a development driver program and make him the centerpiece of that...had it not been for the Martinsville plane crash, I think Chase would be a rising star today.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportNASCAR Insider said:
Apr 23, 2009 at 4:50 PMYeah it sucks for Chase but I am sure he'll get a shot. You gotta love these internet "heroes" here. I don't pretend to know what happened with this team but I'll bet there is more to this story. This dude obviously doesn't have the b@lls to tell the team what he thinks if he does have an issue.
Report as AbuseI saw this Patrick guy's resume and it looked pretty good to me. Funny thing is you don't hear anything about Armando Fitz in this and we all know about his reputation.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportATS said:
Apr 28, 2009 at 11:11 AMYea, your right - a lot more. Another story of some goober biting off more than he can chew and it costs the poor folks who work for the team (most out of good faith that it will work out)get the bad end of this. I believe Mr. Fitz should be called out on this as well.
Report as AbuseMy last thought...What happened to the five year plan Mr. Shelton??
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