Orville Moe, motorsports entrepreneur, dies at age 78

Orville Moe, the man who built Spokane Raceway Park and supported regional motorsports for more than three decades, died Thursday. He was 78.

Moe raised $2.5 million to build the 640-acre complex, which opened for its first races in 1974. Before that, he ran the old Deer Park Drag Strip with his father. Under Moe’s guidance, Spokane Raceway Park attracted thousands of racing enthusiasts to Airway Heights every weekend during the summer months. The American Hot Rod Association selected Moe’s track to hold its annual championships every August from 1975 to 2005.

Investors in the track later claimed mismanagement, and Moe was fired as general manager of the track in 2006. Moe filed for bankruptcy, and Spokane attorney Barry Davidson was appointed by the courts to disburse money from a sale of the track to Spokane County in 2008.

Davidson called Moe “a visionary,” saying he was “tenacious” and “a fighter.”

Pat Kenney, a real estate agent and longtime friend of Moe’s, handled the sale of the Airway Heights property to Moe and his father. He said the family built the business on hard work.

“They worked seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Never took a vacation, lived in a $135,000 home,” Kenney said.

Terry Graham, one of Moe’s two daughters, blamed stress over the legal wrangling surrounding the racetrack as a contributor to her father’s death.

“He had congestive heart failure, from all of this,” she said.

She said Moe was born and raised in north Spokane and attended North Central High School. He and her mother married at 15, she said. He went on to earn his GED, but never attended college.

“He taught us hard work – that’s why the racetrack was there,” Graham said, adding, “We all worked long and hard for nothing.”

Kenney also said Moe’s health was affected by his legal issues. The real estate agent said Moe felt the legal system treated him unfairly, especially when the racetrack was sold to Spokane County for $4 million. The property alone was worth much more, Kenney said.

The county rebranded the track as Spokane County Raceway and temporarily closed the oval track in May 2014, citing mounting costs. The park’s road course and drag strip remain open.

“I was hoping he wouldn’t die before he got some justice,” Kenney said.

Moe, in an interview several months ago, said he considered himself a self-made success story, a man with the right mix of moxie and caution.

But he also claimed he and his wife were broke, victims of a scheme to seize the racetrack.

Davidson, the attorney appointed to disburse proceeds of the racetrack sale, said payments to investors will continue.

He extended his condolences to Moe’s family on behalf of Washington Motorsports Ltd., saying, “You could not help but see he had a real passion for motorsports.”

Moe is survived by his wife, two daughters, two grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.