Moe’s ouster sought

Orville Moe, the legend behind Spokane Raceway Park, should be immediately fired and barred from the facility with a judge’s order, a court-appointed receiver said in court papers filed Friday.

The drag strip and oval track complex in Airway Heights, which has operated since the 1970s, also should be closed and put up for immediate sale to the highest bidder, court receiver Barry Davidson said in the same legal documents.

Operations at Spokane Raceway Park include Friday night “street racing,” popular with young adults with souped-up Hondas and similar cars, who pay $5 a head to race their friends on a drag strip instead of North Division.

The request for the emergency hearing will go before Superior Court Judge Robert Austin, who appointed the court receiver as he processed a 2004 lawsuit brought against Moe by limited partner investors.

Moe, operating under the financial supervision of the court receiver, has announced intentions of re-opening Spokane Raceway Park two weekends from now.

The 69-year-old businessman didn’t return a call seeking comment, but his Web site says “opening day for drag and stock car racing” is April 2 and Friday Night Street Racing will resume April 14.

“I have determined that Orville Moe should be terminated as the general manager of the race park and barred from the facility,” Davidson said in his legal request for an emergency court hearing on the matter.

“Operations of the race park facility should be immediately terminated and (it) should be secured against further use,” the documents said.

The race park has a recent history of “very marginal financial operations,” and it is “inconceivable that the continued operation of the race park will provide a source of funds for any meaningful distributions to the limited partners,” according to the documents.

The court-appointed receiver also asked for legal authority to sell the assets of Washington Motorsports, including the 600-acre facility adjoining Northern Quest Casino, owned by the Kalispel Tribe.

Davidson was appointed as the receiver, charged with overseeing financial operations at the drag strip, last July by Judge Austin, who is handling a lawsuit filed in 2004 by 500 limited partners who allege Moe swindled them out of $2.5 million.

Because of his familiarity with track operations, Moe continued last season as the general manager under supervision of the court receiver.

But the receiver said in the newly filed court documents that Moe has “failed and refused to fully cooperate with my on-going requests for financial information” about the track prior to last July.

“It may well be that Orville Moe has chosen not to provide the requested materials and information in an attempt to avoid liability for transactions that have not yet been disclosed,” Davidson said in his court filings.

Lead plaintiffs in the suit are Spokane businessmen Donald Materne and Ed Torrison, who were among the 250 “limited partners” who bought shares of interest in the track in the 1970s but haven’t seen any return on their investment.

They bought shares in Washington Motorsports Limited, a limited partnership which turned over operations at the drag strip to Moe, who served as the general manager.

The minority shareholders alleged that Moe, doing business as the general partner of Spokane Raceway Park, has committed fraud, criminal profiteering and evaded state and federal taxes.

Their suit sought to dissolve the partnership, appoint the receiver and slap Moe with a civil penalty and a damage award that could be tripled under Washington state law.

“The assets of Washington Motorsports should be sold through a sale process to be approved by the court, with the proceeds distributed to investors after payment of administrative expenses and allowed claims,” the court documents said.