What were the names?Originally Posted by KenT
That is awesome. The only thing that would have been better would have been a spanish accent and "no habla englais."Kind of like the times I would call him to talk about the money and he would say, "Jon's not home, this is his brother." Psst. It wasnt his brother....it was him. If it wasn't so frustrating it would be hilarious.
10/10ths
Bill pass on my hello and congrats to the boys there are missed in the south east Jim
Thanks Bill. Those guys are pure professionals.
Now that I have switched over to being a small business owner, I understand the plight of the little guys in business even more. Hope all is well with them.
Ken
Wow
So I have missed a few weeks of the saga.....Ken I had NO IDEA that is what you had suffered....Wren, keep up the information..it is (at least) entertaining.
Really sad that people get screwed in this business. I did....once.... and actually by a guy who is supporting F-1000 right now. But that is history and he will get his one day!
Back to the "pro-series". It really is too bad that the whole thing did not work out....
About leasing a race car; did that once back in the Export A days, would never do it ever again! Kinda like "renting out" your wife; you are never gonna get treated right !!
Anyway, on to the future. You guys have a few good promoters out there...and they are trying hard to move you all forward in a sustainable way.
Best, Tom
Tom Owen
Owner - Browns Lane and Racelaminates.com
It appears that American Spirit Racing and Jon Lewis are now going to run World Challenge, Grand-Am and USF2000 National class.
http://www.f1kseries.citymax.com/f/2...R_USF20001.pdf
A 30' trailer with two canopies on it? That sounds a lot like the Renegade trailer and Holliday canopies that Jon got for the F1000 series, but I don't know exactly how long that one was so it could be a different trailer.
Is anyone really going to be crazy enough to send this guy money?
Wonder what Rettich thinks of his picture being used in that?
Today's Press release.....as found via some investigative searching on the internet...
Cape Coral, FL (September 27, 2012) - American Spirit Racing announced today that it will be awarding the Champion of the 2012 Formula 1000 Championship Series a $25,000 scholarship with the team in the 2013 Cooper Tires USF2000 National Championship powered by Mazda.
“The Series had its share of problems this year,” commented American Spirit Racing’s Team Manager. “But, we wanted to make sure the Champion gets the greatest opportunity for advancement and the USF2000 Championship is without a doubt the strongest junior open-wheel Series in North America. So, American Spirit Racing stepped up to the plate and has provided this additional award to the Champion.”
The 2012 Formula 1000 Championship Series Champion will receive a scholarship award of $25,000, which he will be able to use towards the cost of a full season in the USF2000 National class with American Spirit Racing.
Information regarding American Spirit Racing’s USF2000 program can be viewed at: http://www.f1kseries.citymax.com/f/2013_ASR_USF20001.pdf
The Formula 1000 Championship Series has reduced its entry fees for Daytona, VIR and Road Atlanta. Entry fees will now be just the SCCA Regional entry fee. Each event purse has been restructured. "Our final three events of the season are going to be at SCCA Regionals and are not as high profile as our original schedule," stated F1000's Jon Lewis. "The cost for the Series to run at these events is significantly less, so we wanted to pass on the savings to our teams." An SCCA Regional license is all that will be required for the final 3 events of the season. Annual Series Registration fees have been waived for the final three events of the season, however, you must have your annual registration form in to the Series to be eligible for Series points and prizes.
Formula 1000 Championship Series slashes pricing on Entry Fees for 2012
Richard Dziak
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Former Phoenix F1K-07 F1000 #77 owner/driver
website: http://www.formularacingltd.com
email: sonewmexico@gmail.com
WOW! What a deal! Brandon gets $25K, which he has to give back to Jon along with $100k for a series that should cost $75K!!! What a deal!
Wait..."additional award"...meaning there was an initial award? "Stepped up to the plate"?! I think someone needs to get beaned by the pitcher.
More news.......
The Formula 1000 Championship Series announced today that regional racers in the FB class at the Hooters F1000 Grand Prix of Daytona event, September 29-30thwill be eligible for Goodyear Tire prizes. “Those drivers that will be running in the FB/F1000 class at Daytona who are not part of the Formula 1000 Championship Series will be eligible for our Goodyear Tire payouts,” stated F1000’s Jon Lewis. Drivers not entered in the Series will not be eligible for points towards the Championship. Nearly $6,000 in tires is up for grabs for Regional and National licensed drivers.
Regional racers to run for prizes at Daytona
To be eligible for Series prizes, drivers must compete on the spec Goodyear tires of the Series. Finishing positions will include all cars entered in the class running on the Series’ Goodyear spec tire. For example, if a regional driver should come in first and a Series driver comes in second, the winner will receive a certificate for four tires. The second place driver will receive a certificate for two tires and first place Championship points. The Series Champagne Trophies will be awarded to the top three eligible drivers in the class. Hard Charger awards will only be paid out to Series entrants. Drivers not competing on the spec Goodyear tires will not be eligible for Series awards or points.
“We are doing this so that as many F1000 drivers possible can participate in our event without the additional expense of the Championship Registration fee.” In addition, all eligible drivers will also receive ten wings free at Hooters on Saturday night located across from the Speedway.
Two rounds up next at Daytona for the Formula 1000 Championship Series
Rounds 5 & 6 of the Formula 1000 Championship Series will take place on September 29-30 at the Daytona International Speedway. Initially scheduled to be three rounds, the Division has added an enduro and scaled back the number of races during the weekend. The Series’ event entry fees have been lowered to $950 which includes regional event fees. The Series annual registration fees have also been lowered and single event registration is now free.
Over $7,500 in cash and prizes are up for grabs at Daytona including over $3,500 in cash, $4,000 in tires and a host of other contingency awards.
“We’ve successfully restructured the Championship to a sustainable level,” stated Series Director Jon Lewis. “All we need is six entrants to break even. If a driver was to win both races, they could take home over $3,000 in cash and awards. Not a bad pay day for a junior league Series.”
Cash awards will now be paid out to the drivers at the track, at the conclusion of the weekend. Lewis continued, “We feel it is important that our teams get their due awards right away, so they can use them towards their operating expenses.”
The remainder of the 2012 Formula 1000 Championship Series season will take place after the SCCA National Runoffs to enable those F1000 drivers the opportunity to focus on that Championship. “We have a lot of drivers who ran in our first two events working on the SCCA National Championship and we didn’t want participating in our Series to hinder their chances at winning the gold.”
“The Series is now structured to be sustainable, while we work to take care of our commitments from the first two events. Only through the continuing support of our teams and sponsors will we be successful in accomplishing that go
The Formula 1000 Championship Series will continue after Daytona with events at Virginia International Raceway and Road A
Two rounds up next at Daytona for the Formula 1000 Championship SeriesRounds 5 & 6 of the Formula 1000 Championship Series will take place on September 29-30 at the Daytona International Speedway. Initially scheduled to be three rounds, the Division has added an enduro and scaled back the number of races during the weekend. The Daytona event entry fees will be only the regional event fees and are paid directly to the Region upon entering for the event. The Series annual registration fees have also been lowered and Series registration for a single event is now free.
Over $6,000 in tires and a host of other contingency awards are up for grabs at Daytona.
The remainder of the 2012 Formula 1000 Championship Series season will take place after the SCCA National Runoffs to enable those F1000 drivers the opportunity to focus on that Championship. “We have a lot of drivers who ran in our first two events working on the SCCA National Championship and we didn’t want participating in our Series to hinder their chances at winning the gold.”
“The Series is now structured to be sustainable, while we work to take care of our commitments from the first two events. Only through the continuing support of our teams and sponsors will we be successful in accomplishing that goal.”
The Formula 1000 Championship Series will continue after Daytona with events at Virginia International Raceway and Road Atlanta.
Richard Dziak
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Former Phoenix F1K-07 F1000 #77 owner/driver
website: http://www.formularacingltd.com
email: sonewmexico@gmail.com
Hmmm,
From what I heard Mr. Lewis may not even make it thru the gate at any of these events. His statements are more fiction. Don't take them for serious.
In the spirit of giving, I am offering something for the runner up in the championship. I am offering a ceritificate worth 5000 dollars that can be used towards the purchase of my marketing services which cost 5250 dollars. As a part of these marketing services I will heap praise upon you on various websites, forums, and social media sites including, but no limited, to twitter and facebook.
Ken
This offer is not transferrable and all rights are reserved. If you develop a headache or an erection that lasts longer than 4 hours, please discontinue reading the "praise" and send a registered letter to stop said "praise". Praiser will net be held responsible by praisee for content of praise. All rights reserved.
Ken
If Slahor continues to enter the events, then he will be the series champion. I don't believe that anyone else is going to enter one of Jon's events so Jason will be the pole winner and first place. If he does that at a couple more events, then he should win the points championship. Maybe he really, really wants that watch?
I can't imagine why the Slahor's are continuing to have anything to do with this dirtbag. I would love to hear an explanation either here or in PM.
Just damn. It takes a lot to leave me speechless, but this is insane.
I never get tired of reading his press releases where he interviews himself. Maybe he uses one of his other personalities to do it?
JL disdainfully continues...
to fart in our general direction.
[Tx to Monte Python]
Jon did close the forum on his website. That's kind of a shame. At least we have his crazy ramblings catalogued here for all to read in the future.
I received a personal phone call today from a potential driver for the World Challenge event that ASR is promoting. The person that called me, (name not to be released), told me, Jon Lewis offered him a spot to drive one of ASR's car that they are building. Lewis told him that he was building 2 cars at a cost of $70,000 each for the upcoming Challenge. At first Lewis asked for $35,000 for the season of 2013, then he dropped it to $25000. He sent a flimsy contract to this person, who thought is was quite the joke. Then he dropped the season fee down to $5000 and recently contacted the person and said if the potential driver would send $2000 via Western Union by this Saturday, he would secure a spot in the SCCA Pro World Challenge event for 2013 that ASR is promoting. I told this person that Lewis had posted messages on this forum that he had no money. So it appears that the ------ is on and he is looking to secure some kind of funds.
Certainly the powers to be of these racing organizations need to put a stop to this promoter as he is creating monetary problems for many, and is really discrediting the racing community whether it is F1000, F2000, etc.
I agree with Wren in his remarks, how could any driver support this promoter especially after what has taken place. The idea of a $25,000 scholarship to the 2012 F1000 Championship Series is a real joke, especially when he can't even award a small prize such as tow funds.
It appears that he is continuing to damage himself badly with these crazy press releases. But he can convince others of his promoting talents A good case in point was the press release that SpeedcasTV ran on their website the day of the F1000 SCCA Runoff race. I have posted that press release here. I would bet that Jon Lewis never even showed up at the SCCA F1000 Nationals at RA in Elkhart Lake. So it looks like SpeedcasTV got scammed from him also.
Last edited by Richard Dziak; 09.27.12 at 9:10 PM.
Richard Dziak
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Former Phoenix F1K-07 F1000 #77 owner/driver
website: http://www.formularacingltd.com
email: sonewmexico@gmail.com
yes but he doesnt have to pay a penny for the scholarship. To use it you have to give him $100k to claim your $25k ' championship bonus'. Its not like he is offering the champ 25k to take to a team of his choice. Its all marketing hype and not a dime out of pocket. and I notice there is no longer any talk of paying what he already owes.
What I dont get is why SCCA doesnt suspend his membership until his debts are paid. SCCA has always frowned on people who dont pay debts and have refused entries and suspended members in the past if it can be proven the member is in default to other members. Sure isnt hard to prove here.
Kevin Firlein Autosport,Inc.
Runoffs 1 Gold 3 Silver 3 bronze, 8 Divisional , 6 Regional Champs , 3x Drivers of the year awards
“Those drivers that will be running in the FB/F1000 class at Daytona who are not part of the Formula 1000 Championship Series will be eligible for our Goodyear Tire payouts,” stated F1000’s Jon Lewis.
"To be eligible for Series prizes, drivers must compete on the spec Goodyear tires of the Series. Finishing positions will include all cars entered in the class running on the Series’ Goodyear spec tire. For example, if a regional driver should come in first and a Series driver comes in second, the winner will receive a certificate for four tires. The second place driver will receive a certificate for two tires"
Pretty cool that Goodyear would do that but why does Goodyear need this series anyway? if they are willing to give away tires for people that win on their tires they can do that without this bogus series. They can offer this program for every national race or Mike B's series or whatever. I think that would help them take a good share of the market if people knew they have a chance of getting tires for free (who wouldn't?)
The good news is that we are getting the information out there. Having this thread here at least managed to stop Jon Lewis from stealing that guy's money.
Certainly the powers to be of these racing organizations need to put a stop to this promoter as he is creating monetary problems for many, and is really discrediting the racing community whether it is F1000, F2000, etc.I don't understand why the SCCA is not stopping him either. He owes them money also. I guess it is time for an email to the BOD.
I think this is Goodyear finding a graceful way to distance themselves from Jon. Goodyear made a commitment to people who want to run this series and they have found a way to open things up to other drivers who want to run but not have anything to do with Lewis.
To be clear, Goodyear made good on every promise that they made. They gave out tire certificates as soon as the race was over and let racers use their certificates on tires that they had already purchased and were on the racers tab for the weekend. They were great to deal with and had nothing but class.
Foresight from NC Region?
Schedule & Supps + Online Registration are up for VIR.
http://www.ncrscca.com/events/2012/10/goblins-go
The following statement actually has been in our Supps for some time.....How apt.
"The NC Region maintains the right to refuse checks from individuals or companies who have a history of bad checks. "
Our team will be there regardless. VIR is one of the most beautiful places to race, especially in the fall. It's our home track and one of our team goals is a SARRC Championship.
If we don't see anyone there, we'll see you at the ARRC.
Looks like Tom must have won at Daytona. I wonder if he participated with Jason at the autograph signing and meet and greet at Hooters?
Ken
Ken,
Where did you find the results?
http://www.f1000champ.com/news_releases.html
".....we simply cannot afford to continue the Championship, so the decision was made to end the season at Daytona.” ~ Series Manager Jon Lewis
Ok- who is interviewing Jon Lewis already? I get this image of him standing with a mike asking a question, then spinning around and answering the question in a different tone of voice.
Congratulations to Tom Beattie. Back in May, he was within a couple of tenths of the track record. Only a matter of time.
Now let's see if Gary gets to go to England and test with which Formula Renault team?
It has been very difficult, but I did not actively participate in the public flogging of Jon Lewis. The main reason was because I pre-paid for the entire season (at a reduced rate)and wanted to get the most out of my money at VIR and Road A. It has been widely chronicled that Area 81 Racing would be at the remaining two events. I find it interesting that Jon said that there were no entries at VIR and Road A two weeks after the deadline. He has conveniently failed to communicate an entry deadline to the competitors. As a matter of fact, registration for the VIR F1000 championship race was placed on Motorsportsreg.com with a deadline of October 16th by the NC Region.
I think Jon knew that the only competitors that would be registering for the VIR and Road A events would be the ones who pre-paid for the entire season, thus no money for prize fund. Additionally, Jon told several people that the entry would also cover the SARRC races. Therefore the money to pay for the SARRC fees would have to come from his pocket.
I won't name specific competitors, but I know of atleast two others who paid for the entire season (10 races).
I propose we start a new thread to chronicle the facts of our dealings with this con man. I recommend that the posts in this thread be limited to F1000 Championship competitors, crew, staff, and other debtors of the series. We should discourage commentary from those that did not have financial interest in the series and limit the posts to factual data. A good portion of the data is in previous posts, but it is buried in commentary and speculation. If the administrators agree, I'll be happy to go first!
Once we have a complete financial picture outlining this fraud, WE SHOULD TAKE IT TO SCCA. We should petition SCCA to suspend his membership and bar him and his enterprises from competing in SCCA sanctioned events. I think that's the least they can do to protect their members from this crook.
I'm sure Jon realized that he had bilked the F1000 community for all the money that he could possibly squeeze out of them. Now it is time for him to move on to another venue where he can steal money from a different customer base.
Maybe it is his Jim Freeman alternate personality? Also known as ZWacky on here.
All of his press releases follow the exact same template. They only vary in which words are misspelled.
I suspect that you are right. There was going to be no more money coming in and continuing the series would have required Jon outlay some money and meet his obligations. We all know that Jon Lewis is not the kind of person who lives up to his word, so it was never going to happen.
Tim, how much was that reduced, full season entry fee, if you don't mind saying?
Everyone really should write the BOD about this entire mess. I know that they are aware of it, but they really need to understand what a mess this entire thing is. I will try to get something to them this week.
Overall, this whole thing is pretty crazy.
Reading back through old threads really shows the tailspin of this entire thing.
It started with an announcement out of the blue that there was going to be a new F1000 pro series that would pay $50k to the champion:
http://apexspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45234
Then the prize structure was revamped to award the winner of the series $25k and to pay out more on a per race basis
http://apexspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46895
It is interesting that in that press release you can see that there is still mention of the Sunoco pole award. Most references to that have disappeared from the F1000 series web page.
Things got progressively worse and worse until Jon Lewis stole everyone's money, paid no one and the only prizes that the series winner got was a watch and the opportunity to have Jon Lewis and American Spirit Racing steal another $100k of your money.
Has anyone noticed this winner of an idea on the F1000 series web page?
http://www.f1000champ.com/driver_management.html
Who in their right mind is going to let this lunatic thief have anything to do with their kid's career?
Beattie is the only person to benefit from this series and he never even enter one race!!not funny but I can't help but laugh
I'm still curious if Lewis actually went to the track or did he just pull the pin on the series from at home on his computer?
My money is that he let Goodyear take care of there business and he is interacting with Slahors electronically.
Maybe he orchestrated from the Hooters across the street?
Ken
Wanker Grand Prix
Well, knowing that a lot of my racing friends got screwed in this whole deal, I feel bad and a little guilty that I was able to show up for my local Regional and walk away with a couple sets of tires and a bottle of champagne without having to pay anything toward the series.
I really didn’t expect Jon to show up let alone give out the awards. Given that, I have to say that he made it to the track yesterday in time for the races, congratulated me for the wins and handed me the tire certificates. I was surprised about the champagne bottle. He apologized for not having a podium celebration. A two place podium would be awkward to say the least; however, it would have satisfied an old fantasy of mine to hose down a few Hooters girls.Oh Well! I thanked Jon for the awards.
I really want to thank Goodyear for their continued support of the series knowing that it was going down the tubes. Those guys are great. I have always been a loyal Goodyear guy since building a relationship with them and the guys ay Comptire South from back in my FM days. I talked to them before this weekend just to see if they knew what was going down. They did, and pretty much said that they would honor the agreement that Jon had made for the tire awards this weekend whether he showed up or not. Now that is integrity!
Even though there were only two F1000’s this weekend and most of the competition was in trying to get a clean lap in with the Vee’s and all, it was fun with plenty of good weather, good friends and good drink. It was nice meeting the Slahors (nice guys). The best part of the weekend was being able to finally break Coop’s (Glenn) track record from 2009 that he did with his Novak-Van Diemen. I did it with the help of some nice aero bits made by Coop (Ben).
I’ll try to post a video of a couple of laps showing the record lap and why I hate mixed class racing if I can figure out how to edit it.
Tom
Last edited by tombeattie; 10.02.12 at 5:12 AM.
I really didn’t expect Jon to show up let alone give out the rewards. Given that, I have to say that he made it to the track yesterday in time for the races, congratulated me for the wins and handed me the tire certificates. I was surprised about the champagne bottle. He apologized for not having a podium celebration. A two place podium would be awkward to say the least; however, it would have satisfied an old fantasy of mine to hose down a few Hooters girls.
Did Jon have anything to say about the mess he has caused? Did he say where all of the money went? Did he have anything to say about eventually paying people back?
I am hoping to have my letter to the BOD by the end of the week. They have got to ban this guy from having anything to do with SCCA club or pro racing.
Doug, has he been back in touch with you? I would be in favor of letting him have his say on here if he could answer a question as simple as: where is the money from Sunoco and why did he remove all references from the web page?
Yes, No, and No.
We didn't talk much at all. During the only conversation we had where he talked about the mess, he just repeated the story he told in his "What really happened...." manifesto he had posted on his website.
Tom
Last edited by tombeattie; 10.02.12 at 5:10 AM. Reason: wrong quote
I see the website has changed. The contradiction continues though. ASR states 100% commitment from the team for support of the USF2000 FE car. But he is also looking for a World Challenge driver as well. That must be the other 100%.
I think he mis-stated the word Support, with the word Fleeced.
In the last couple of days I have been in touch with someone who gave Jon Lewis $35,000 for a ride in the F1000 championship series. They never got a ride and Jon Lewis still has all of their money.
I'm not sure where things take the jump from civil to criminal, but it has to somewhere.
I have been trying to get the information about Jon Lewis and American Spirit Racing in front of anyone who will listen. It is encouraging to know that the information in this thread has kept people from giving Jon Lewis their money to steal.
Did you say the BOD is the best place for a letter to ban him from SCCA?
I have to stand up for Tom on this one. He shows up for a regional that he normally shows up for anyways, He refuses to get involved in Jon Lewis's dog and pony show, and gets a couple of sets of goodyears that nobody really wanted.
Tom nixed Coop's track record, with a very generic car with a manual shifter by his own design- not a paddle, etc.
Fraud can definitely be proven here- I think. Anyone involved should go that direction. Unleash the lawyers- do your homework.
Just remember when the dust settles, I follow the path and respect the determination of guys like Brandon, Mike B, Dan, Juan,. JRO..... did I miss anyone? Yeah- Tom, and a bunch of others.
It is sad for Tom to have to be linked to this thead at all. I don't think anybody has any hard feelings toward him for running this event. Breaking a track record is worthy of a set of tires from Goodyear in my book. Congrats Tom!
I don't blame Tom. He can't help it that Jon Lewis tried to co-opt the Daytona Regional that Tom was attending. Goodyear was trying to do the classy thing as well by distancing themselves from Jon Lewis as well.
I understand that the Slahors were just trying to recover some of the money they paid up front for the season entry fees. We know of at least 4 people who paid for their full season entry fees up front. If you will remember, the original entry fees were ~$1200/weekend.
Has anyone confirmed with Lewis that he will not be paying people's entry fees for VIR and the ARRC?
Yes
I agree, this information will be online forever. He would need to change his name to get anywhere in racing now. I think he should change it to Jon Douche-bag. any other suggestions?
Quit insulting the douche bags!
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