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Iron Rock Progress and Updates

Editor's Note;  Iron Rock Raceway is a project that has been in the works for over a year now and has the potential to become one of the top facilities in America.  Everyday a handful of people are working very hard to bring this World Class facility together.  Rich Phillips is the force behind transforming the dreams of many and everyday comes one step closer to making this a reality. 

It's been a long journey.   A few years back there was an effort to create a Karter's Country Club in the Austin area that fell short of fruition.   This project is all new; the people, the location and the layout of the track.  It's what every karter would love to have as their home track.  Rich felt it was worth clearing up some of the questions that people had over the nature of the club and the progress to date.

For those in the Austin Region whom are interested in having this awesome facility in your backyard, we are hopeful that you will show your support.  That's what it will take to be successful.  Those who are not local to the area may want to watch the developments, and we hope that everyone can appreciate the effort and dedication that it takes to put a facility of this magnitude together.
 

Seems there are more rumors out there today than facts and I appreciate both of you helping me with the rumor control whenever you get a chance.  For the record here’s where we are as of Monday 9/27/2004:

  1. Regarding the rumor that MRP has funded a major portion of the IRR startup:  MPR has not been asked to fund any portion of Iron Rock Raceway.  MRP has not given any money at all to IRR for startup or for any other purpose.  MRP has, however, expressed an interest in developing a retail sales office at the Iron Rock facility.  The details of this are still being worked out.  MPR is evaluating this possibility along with several other opportunities that they have for 2005.  It is the desire of the management of Iron Rock to have a MRP type presence at Iron Rock and if we are unable to work the deal with MRP we will work a deal with some other brand.

 

  1. Iron Rock Raceway has been approved by the Austin City Council.  This is a near miracle in itself.  Several different people in the Austin area have tried to make this happen in recent years with “zero” success.

 

  1. We have the final version of the lease agreement with Austin Bergstrom International Airport being presented to us by ABIA this week.  This document should incorporate all discussion points and be ready to sign once rec’d.

 

  1. We have developed a re-construction contract w/ our contractor and he is ready to mobilize his work force the minute we give him the go ahead. 

 

  1. We have defined our requirements and written purchase orders for nearly every piece of equipment, fixtures and furnishing we will need for the track. 

 

  1. We have only been soliciting memberships for 10 days now and only from our “A” list of 100 prospects.  Of those 100 prospects we have checks in hand from 12 people and have 28 people who have committed to us that we will have their check by the deadline for a charter membership which is 9/30/2004.

 

  1. Beyond this we still have 33 people on the original “A” list that have not given a firm decision one way or the other.  27 people have said either “no” or “later”. 

 

  1. We are hosting an open house at the airport for those 33 this Saturday 10/2/2004 and hope to sign a few more.  Our experience is that once a prospect sees the facility, even though it is “still in the rough” they get excited and can see the reality of all this effort.

 

  1. We will be starting next week with a mail out to our “B” and “C” lists which together have about 400 prospects.  We will then host another open house at the airport on 10/16/2004.

 

  1. The Iron Rock startup team has already invested over $150k out of our personal funds to get this project to the stage that it is today.  

 

At this stage the Iron Rock startup team needs to test the real interest level of the karting enthusiasts in this area.  We are prepared to invest another $500k in the development of this facility and at this stage are needing to double check the true interest level of the karting community.

The motivation of the Iron Rock management team is not to create a new business, more work or even to generate an “for profit” business.  Our interest, simply, is to provide a first class karting facility in Central Texas that will pay for itself.  We are willing and able to seed the startup of this venture but we must have some reasonable assurance that our efforts can be repaid and that we do not end up simply subsidizing the hobbies of the karting enthusiasts in our area.

Yes, we need a show of support.  We need as many people as might truly be interested to make their commitment sooner than later.  People for years have talked big talk about wanting and needing a permanent first class karting facility in this area.  We have taken that input literally, have worked very hard and have taken some risk to get this project where it is today. 

If people need to complain about the cost of getting in I’m sorry for that but I want everyone to understand that the initiation fees and the monthly dues are what they are because that’s what it cost to make this project cash flow.  I said CASH FLOW !  Again, we’re not in this for the money and don’t expect to make any money but on the other hand we don’t want to have to subsidize this facility out of our own pockets each month. 

It is disappointing to me after the money we have spent, the things we have put in place and the hard work of a few dedicated enthusiast that when the realistic possibility of this facility comes this far we now have people that want to criticize and express skepticism instead of signing up and offering the support they have TALKED about for so many years.

Please feel free to share this information with any and all if you think it serves any purpose.

Rich Phillips


Map to Iron Rock