Kyle Strickler has shared more details about the fact that he was not paid by Barry Braun and his XR Events team after he won the XR Big Deal race at Ogilvie Raceway at the end of July.
Strickler originally shared he had not been paid the $125,000 purse money that was promised to the winner after it was reported that Barry Braun had been arrested by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office on an nspecified warrant and he was being housed at the Lake County Sheriff’s office.
Strickler wrote on Facebook, ““Since Barry Braun won’t be paying us the $125,000 he owes us for the Big Deal race (or even give us the trophy… guess he’s still waiting for tire samples to come back 
) it would be nice to win a trophy and check from Todd this week!! He always pays.”
Now in another post to Facebook, Strickler revealed that not only did he not get paid, but he never received the trophy from the event either. He wrote, “ust to clear up any confusion, we were never paid anything for winning the XR Big Deal $125,000 race. On top of that, the trophy was held from us pending tire test results (which came back clean), and we still have not received the trophy.”
Additionally, he responded to people questioning why he would participate in the race, “Secondly, in response to the people saying ‘I told you so,’ or asking why we would support a race knowing we wouldn’t get paid: to my knowledge, every Modified racer had been paid for all previous XR events. It was no secret that Barry took a while to pay, but he did eventually get the racers paid, until now.”
“The racing community is extremely close, and it blew my mind how many people in the industry thought that I had already been paid for the win,” he concluded.
As previously reported, Strickler was not the only one who was not paid for the race. Alex Williamson, who finished third in the race, indicated he was not paid either, “When your diggin for your money, please see if you can get mine to.”
Strickler and Williamson are not the only ones who have not been paid. All-Tech Raceway’s Race Control Paul Clayton issued an apology after XR failed to pay drivers for a $100,000 to-win XR Woombah! front-wheel-drive race at Kokomo Speedway earlier this year. He wrote on Facebook, “I just want to say I’m sorry to everyone in the front-wheel-drive community who trusted and supported the $100,000 XR event earlier this year. I was proud to be part of something that was supposed to be a huge step for our side of racing, but as most of you know, four of the top five still haven’t been paid — first, second, third, and fifth.”
“I wasn’t involved in payouts or the money side of it, but I know a lot of folks showed up and believed in it partly because I was involved. That means something to me, and it doesn’t sit right knowing people are sitting there waiting on money they rightfully earned,” he added. “I can’t fix it, but I can own my piece of it and say I’m sorry to the racers who put their time, money, and trust into that weekend. You all deserved better.”
Braun is currently involved in at least two lawsuits on top of the arrest. In Minnesota he’s being sued by Roger Carlson. Carlson claims Braun owes him $3,100 for work at Hibbing Speedway. However, Braun claims that Carlson volunteered his time. In a letter to the court, Braun wrote, “There was no written agreement or contract between the parties, and it was clearly understood that Mr. Carlson was volunteering his time. That understanding changed only after his son was removed from our track crew later in the season. In good faith, and to avoid continued harassment, we offered a $2,000 settlement, which is reflected in text messages provided to the court.”
“Following his son’s dismissal for poor performance and attitude, Mr. Carlson became increasingly defensive, uncooperative, and began exhibiting harassing behavior—frequently showing up unannounced, waiting in his vehicle, and confronting our staff during race events to ‘settle up,’” Braun added. “Mr. Carlson also has a history of entering the facility without paying admission.”
He concluded, “We are willing to send a payment to Mr. Carlson to resolve the dispute and close this matter.”
Additionally, ROC Funding Group LLC has filed a complaint in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Kings County for Breach of Contract and Unjust Enrichment. ROC Funding Group specifically states that Braun owes them “$63,323.30, plus interest, costs, disbursements and attorney’s fees” based on an undisclosed agreement. Additionally, the claim states that Braun owes them “$25,157.92 plus interest, costs, disbursements and attorney’s fees” on a second agreement.
0 Comments