What are the odds Gillis will pull this off?

Just curious to see other peoples opinion on the Race Track situation. Is he going to pull this season off or we going to have to run somewhere else?

he is already makin noises about shuttin it down unlesss this weekend goes well.

quite simply he doesnt have the money to make the track run . 3 weekends in a row and no revenue . he is at the end of his leash .
i really hope he can make it work but i have zero faith

all of the racers i know are boycotting the track . i thought the deer was a good choice?

Goddammit!!! Looks like I'll be going tomorrow night weather I like it or not now. I WILL have a fucking time slip!!! Sounds like you guys are pretty certain this will be the last weekend, FML!

Why is anyone boycotting it? Instead of complaining why isn't everyone who wants the track open and good trying to help it stay alive? I don't know Gillis and it sounds like there have been a lot of mishaps but he's new to this and he is the only one who was willing to take this chance. I think that's better than no track at all, so why not get as much support out there as possible, get as many fans out there and give him a reason to keep the track open, not to mention those who know how to do things to make the track better offer get out and help out instead of all this complaining. If it fails I would bet that it will be a long time until anyone even considers trying to open it up, especially if the race community turns it back to the few willing to lay the money and their neck on the line. Sorry for the rant but it seems like everyone is hoping he'll fail not realizing a sucky track can get better, a closed track can't. So if you want it to stick around I really think everyone should help out and make it better and stay open. If you boycott it don't complain when there is no track for the next few years. Seems like a lot of you think the next group will swoop in this season and fix everything, not to mention something like this has a learning curve, the track sucked when it first opened too, maybe not to this extent but there has only been a few chances to get the bugs worked out, seems to me everyone is not very supportive so why risk anymore time or money.

I think the main reason alot of people are boycotting is because they cant buy a beer and watch the races. Which yes that sucks but big effin deal some people could prolly use some sober time.

I would agree that more people need to go out and give him a chance. They just posted an update on their site stating they are getting the track prepped with some fresh vht for the weekend. So we'll have to see how that goes.

I know when i was out there the few runs i saw and the couple i raced they seemed pretty clueless when it came to staging and operating the machinery. I would've thought they could've taken the time to learn how to do all that in the month or two of fair weather they had before any events took place.

the main resson the racers are boycottin it is becasue of the unsafe conditions from last weekend
and a few gusy r just plain dumb. theyd rather stand on there pride instead of takin a chance and tryn to help the track keep goin
and gillis hasnt helped himself he made alot of enemies with his mouth mostly , he ran off every major sponsor the track had .

on the unsafe part this is gillis last chance to prove he provide a safe track . if he doesnt do that and get people out the there who know how to operate equipment , well we know what happens next then

ghost wrote:

the main resson the racers are boycottin it is becasue of the unsafe conditions from last weekend
and a few gusy r just plain dumb. theyd rather stand on there pride instead of takin a chance and tryn to help the track keep goin
and gillis hasnt helped himself he made alot of enemies with his mouth mostly , he ran off every major sponsor the track had .

on the unsafe part this is gillis last chance to prove he provide a safe track . if he doesnt do that and get people out the there who know how to operate equipment , well we know what happens next then

The peope and their pride we can't fix... but the unsafe conditions we can. So if it was unsafe, what was the problem? Who can contact gillis and get some better ideas out there. I am with Jason on this.... if it sucks "we" as the race community better do our part to chip in or it will be gone!

I know nothing about track prepping and rarely drag race, but as a car enthusiast I hate to see it fail. Maybe the MAEC community can be the ones who make the difference and offer to get out there and work equipement or help prep the track. Just an idea, but I do hate to see the nay sayers when we do have a chance to fix it before it's too late.

In my opinion the track should just shut down. I was told by a friend of mine that when Gillis fails there is a group of racers of the BDRA that are going to take over an run the track. I am in agreement that this is really a bad deal, but what did he really expect? From what I have heard not many people liked this guy to begin with and being at the track this last weekend I can see why. I actually had a face to face with him about my parking arrangements and that really pissed me off.

I am 100% for Gillis taking a hike!

the problem bein is gillis will not take advice .. he knows it all . that is the main reason he is disliked so

he is one of them guys who has done it all . if u get a chance bring up a few random subjects with him . he knows and has done it. i know i done it last year.
he claimed he has run a track b4 . and knew how to do it better than anyone . but he never has . and its shows

i wish the community woudl have supported him better . but the bulk of the main racers are already callin it quits .
i hope this weekend goes off without a hitch . i really want to race this year . maybe if he pulls this weekend off he will atract back sum of the guys he ran off

heres to hopin


but im not holdin my breath

imo gillis needs to go .

from what i hear they are jest starving him out so the Menholt's can take over the track. its a nice track and if gillis is not running it someone else will.

May have my foot in my mouth here, but I've asked my dad about the Menholts rumored interest in the dragstrip and he said he never heard anything of the sort, and he works with Denny Menholt everyday. However he doesn't really follow the racing scene very closely and it could've just not come up in conversation.

I would think they would've bought it when it was up for sale if that were the case. These things aren't ever simple tho..

There are obviously many rumors out there about what is going to happen to the track when Gillis fails, my guess it is will be taken over by a group of guys from the Billings Drag Racing Association. To my understanding this plan is already in effect and hopefully there will not be alot of downtime during the switch. I was also told the BEER GARDEN will be returning.

alright, here is what i heard from some people in the BDRA..as soon as Gillis fails(not if, when) there are people out of town BUYING it. not sure if it WILL happen, but that is just what i heard.

I honestly couldn't care less about alcohol being served. However that is obviously a good way to generate income and it isn't happening.

Gillis seems to be a bit of a bullshitter. As ghost pointed out in the other thread he made it sound as if there would be vht put down on the track and it would be prep'd last weekend. That was obviously a bunch of nonsense.

Regarding all these potential buyers where were they when the track was up for sale before Gillis came into the picture? I guess I won't believe anything until it happens.

I don't want it to happen but the more times it changes hands the more likely I see it not opening for a while. Its easy to talk but if everyone was that interested they should have picked it up before Gillis. If they were holding out for a lower cost that isn't the type of people I think the track is going to need, since they are going to need to inject a lot of money. And now there will be even more eyes on every aspect to see if the next person does any better. I'd love to see it bought, we talked about it in our company but it just doesn't seem like a great business idea. Even if everyone in the company loves cars and racing you still need to expect revenue and have it be worth the risk. I'd love to see Gillis pull it off, not cause I know him but I think the more it fails the tougher it will be for anyone to see working, and risking the kind of money it will take to get it running. If it was that easy and a good business model there are plenty of people in Billings that could buy it, I'd bet if Gillis fails we won't see racing for at least the next few years. I hope I'm wrong but that's what I would expect from a business that is failing to recoup money year after year.

For last weekend there was no excuse. Completely unacceptable. Ditto on the week before.

That said it's not like the weather has really cooperated this year. Opening weekend was cancelled because of it. And tonight rain looks possible between 6-9PM which is right when everyone will be out there. And Saturday is looking like a bust in that department as well.

http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/code.cgi?sta=KBIL&model=avn&state=MT&

It is really a bum deal that they pulled the 5 year lease from the previous guy. If the owner was not so greedy we would have a normal season on our hands. Im sure we will know what is going to happen by the end of the month, possibly the weekend.

After the turnout today I'm going to guess that closing the place is going to happen real soon. There were probably about 7-10 cars racing today and about that many people in the stands at most. Can't see him making any money so it's just a matter of time. And @ this point with my suspension screwed up I'm not going to be back out there any time soon either.

i really wish he would keep it open. Ill see how much money i have by the end of the week and if i can get a helmet i will gladly go up there and make runs. im a kid so i dont really look at the whole traction thing yet i just floor it when it goes green and see what happens. im down to support the track my cash flow is just slow right now.