Hawaiian Super Prix
pp. 16-19 · Read in the full issue
revs up its engines
By Ed Rampell
THE Hawaiian Super Prix, reportedly a $3O million sporting event with the largest total purse-$ 10 million -in the history of auto racing, is scheduled to take place at Barbers Point Naval Air Station in November. The race is supposed to be a sot ofWorid Series of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), pitting 16 top drivers against each other in
900 horsepower turbo charged open wheeled vehicles.
According to HSP Co- Founder Richard Rutherford the winner will reportedly get $5 million; the most won by a driver so far (an Indy 500 champ) is $1225 millicn. The rest of the $5l million prize “will be spread out amongthe 15 other drivers,” said Rutherford However, the promoter, who I said he is fton Ohio and has an! extensive background in auto I racing, claimed the CART race is I “worth $BO million to the state. I It’s bigger than the Pro-Bowl,”I Rutherford asserted referring to I the annual football game played I in Hawaii.
HSP supporters calculated! the purported monetary value of I the event in a number of ways. I Rutherford stated HSP has a!
“large pay-per-view deal with Showtime live to the mainland and live to the world on ESPN International.”
In addition to “worldwide media coverage” via cable TV and more, Hawaii Tourism Authority Sports Coordinator Russ Francis told PBN the “world class event” will “stimulate tourism. 10 to 20,000 tourists will cane to the state [to see the race in person]. That’s a conservative estimate. Hotel rooms are [already] being booked” HSPers hoped that up to 100,000 spectators will attend the race. The
former tight end added that the day after the February announcement of HSR USA Today and ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” ran stories on the CART race. Rutherford, who appears to be in his sixties, said that while the CART race per se will cover three days, other HSP functions will take place fa a week-long period in November. These include “charity balls, a golf tournament, deep sea fishing... and midways, with rides and food booths,” he said.
Sane Hawaii residents are also supposed to work
in jobs related to HSP, which, Rutherford said will need “a full-time staff of 30 to 40.” Other temporary jobs generated by the event will involve “construc tion, concessions, and catering,” he added Francis said the state will also benefit from ‘ ‘s4oo,ooopaid on the tax of the [slo million] purse.” The sports announcer and former pro-footballer added “No state money has gone to HSP, and they have not asked for any.” City Council Chair Mufi Hannemann, who could not be reached by phone for this stay, was quoted in adaily newspaper as saying
the stale does not “have anything to lose” because it’s “na spending any dollars.” (When he was the head of DBEDT, Hannemann advocated advertising for Hawaii by placing a Hawaii logo on a race car in a televised contest) Rutherford indicated that no other maja sporting event occurs in Hawaii without the state providing sane funding. The highly profitable TV game show ‘ ‘Wheel of Fortune’ ’ received $300,000 from the stale government as an incentive to shoot programs on Waikiki Beach, aired on national television in February. Recently, the producers of the syndicated program ‘ ‘Baywatch’ ’ unsuccessfully sought a 30 per cent cut in union salaries from the Teamsters.
Rutherford asserted that the reason he did na ask for money from the state is “because I am na a whore.” He admitted HSP initially met with sane skepticism here. ‘The biggest problem is people who canna comprehend why we did na ask fa money
from the state. Excuse me - you have the most beautiful place on earth. Why should the govern ment pay to bring events here?”
The HSP co-founder said that since 1989, event organizers con sidered other sites fa the CART competition, such as the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Spain.
Yet, after Hawaii was chosen, despite its economic problems, some in the Aloha State had a “show me, state of Missouri atti tude,” he said “If I were a banker, and I came into this state to look over its financial condition, I’d close it down,” declared Rutherford who went on to say that the stale’s taxation policy “is the way to bankruptcy, the path to ruin”
For years, Hawaii residents and taxpayers have been told projects
such as Restaurant Row, Aloha Tower Marketplace, and the Convention Center would turn an ailing econ omy around, but instead, these much ballyhooed venues are troubled Rutherford said previously, “oth ers tried to put on a race event that did not reach fruition.” But, after two years of promoting HSP, Rutherford stated the “reception is warming up...
Skepticism has changed to enthusiasm.”
Maeda Trmson, who chairs the Makakilo- Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board in the Continued on page 19
From page 16 area where CART is scheduled to take place, con firmed this switch. At a March 21 community meet ing, questions were raised about possible adverse effects HSP could have on this area in the west of Oahu. At that meeting, Rutherford did not provide answers for community concerns. But after a follow up meeting on March 30, Timson seemed converted into a believer.
“At first, I was a little bit leery, afraid of traffic...
When Rutherford didn’t say much, we were stunned... But since then... wc’rc relieved and see things that we worried about will be handled,”
Timson told PBN after the second meeting. The Neighborhood Board Chair said “a Hawaiian Super Prix Committee has been created. It involves stake holders - the community, state, city, and promoters.
The head of the HSPteam is John DeSoto,” the City Council member for the Leeward district where the CART event is to take place, whom Timson called “a racing car enthusiast.” (DeSoto could not be reached tor this piece.) Timson, who called herself “enthusias tic now” alter initial hesitance, said 200 buses and the possible use of ferries, to alleviate transportation prob lems, were discussed at the March 30 meeting, as were jobs for people in the region.
Although Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris did not attend the March 30 meeting, Timson said it was stat ed there that the mayor is committed to making sure that “the city will do everything it could to help with traffic”. Another factor that appears to have boosted confidence in the event is that, according to Rutherford, “the $ 10 million purse is in place, secured by a performance completion bond,” reportedly from Frontier Insurance Group of Tennessee. “It’s bonded, a paid for guarantee for us and partners. Everybody gets paid... We are entrepreneurs, if we benefit $ 100 million or $1 million, it helps the state,” said Rutherford. ■