Sponsor helps track owners continue renovation By
JIMMY TRODGLEN The Leaf-Chronicle
A natural association of two enterprises involved in
dirt track racing turned into a business alliance
Friday when StormPay.com became the primary sponsor of
Clarksville Speedway.
StormPay.com — a payment processing company for online
auctions — and the speedway agreed to a two-year deal,
with an option for an additional two-year sponsorship.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but Steve Girsky,
CEO of StormPay.com, said sponsorship dollars will
allow the renamed Clarksville StormPay.com Speedway to
continue its expansion and renovation, while
increasing the cash awarded to race winners.
Girsky and speedway owners William and Tammy Scogins
began discussions about the business venture two weeks
ago. StormPay.com is the primary sponsor of the Crate
Racin’ USA Series, which has grown from a regional
dirt racing event into a national racing series in
only one year.
StormPay.com’s involvement in the speedway, a
clay-oval dirt track on Needmore Road, is a separate
business deal from its sponsorship of the racing
series.
“Anything and everything we do out here will be
focused around StormPay.com,” William Scogins said.
“It’s a great handshake that we’ve been able to find
somebody in our own town, in our community that’s
going to take interest in racing the way they’ve had.”
StormPay.com’s involvement with the speedway also
includes the Friday night drag racing series and the
go-cart track.
The speedway is undergoing its most extensive
renovation since the Scoginses bought the facility
five years ago. Corporate suites and a new media tower
are under construction.
Jimmy Trodglen is sports editor and can be reached at
jimmytrodglen@theleafchronicle.com or at 245-0261.
Sponsorship adds fuel to speedway’s dreams
With fast rise of Crate series, round of upgrades that
includes suites, owners envision track becoming
entertainment hub By JIMMY TRODGLEN The Leaf-Chronicle
Before StormPay.com became the primary sponsor of the
Crate Racin’ USA Series, CEO Steve Girsky admits he
wasn’t much of a racing fan.
Now, he can’t watch enough racing, and the company he
helped launch four years ago has increased its impact
on the local racing scene.
StormPay.com — a payment processing company for online
auctions — became the primary sponsor of Clarksville
Speedway, the 40-year-old dirt track that launched the
career of Clarksville’s Jeff Purvis, and is the
central track for the launch of the Crate Racin’
Series, which has grown from a regional racing event
into a national series.
The two-year deal, with an option for an additional
two years, became official when Girsky and speedway
owners William and Tammy Scogin made the venture
officially known Friday.
With StormPay.com having its headquarters in
Clarksville, becoming the primary sponsor of the
clay-oval dirt track was an ideal fit.
“Truthfully, the sponsorship of our local track in the
hometown of our corporate headquarters was a natural
extension of our racing endeavors of what we’ve
undertaken in the past year,” Girsky said.
StormPay.com, which was launched in 2002, does
business in 200 countries and is expanding its
services to include e-mail accounts, Web pages, domain
registry and Web-based tools.
With this major sponsorship endeavor, the Clarksville
StormPay.com Speedway is positioned to speed up its
current expansion and renovation, while providing
bigger purses for the Crate Racin’ USA Series.
“We haven’t ear-marked money for any particular
purpose, other than set aside monies from the
sponsorship to these purses to make them bigger,”
Girsky said.
Most dirt tracks pay $400 to their winner, but the
speedway will pay its winner $800.
The new Clarksville StormPay.com Speedway is currently
building corporate suites — a first for a dirt track —
in addition to a new media and scoring tower.
“We’re trying to give the community a place to have
people come in, businesses come in, and have a place
to entertain their clients,” Tammy said. “We’re hoping
that these suites go well this year, and that maybe if
word gets out, that we can add another roll of them
next year.”
Added Girsky: “We’ve been to several (dirt tracks)
here recently and we haven’t come across one yet that
has suites.”
Last season, the speedway was the host site for 200
events — including some that weren’t race related —
and averaged 1,200 in attendance with its stock car
series.
“All these corporate businesses, from mom and pa, to
2,000 people, we can entertain out here,” Tammy said.
“We can give them a little place they can do something
at.”
Other renovations to the track facility include
replacing the fence alongside the road in front of the
track, in addition to building a new entrance and new
signs.
“It is a good venture for both companies. It’s an
asset for us we know, and we hope it’s an asset for
them,” William said. “Tammy and I have tried to
improve the place the longer we go.”
The speedway has invested $30,000 in transponders to
assist in scoring the cars and the laps they’ve run.
StormPay.com will also help drivers find corporate and
business sponsors to cover the costs of their
operation.
“For these guys, it costs a lot of money to race and
expand the base of the sport,” Girsky said. “If we can
get sponsorship for the drivers, we’ve helped another
set of fans.”
StormPay.com’s interest in auto racing was initiated
after it was approached by a Nextel Cup team looking
for sponsorship. Girsky met with Purvis, who spent
nearly 20 years racing on the ARCA, NASCAR Busch and
then-Winston Cup series, to learn what would be
involved in sponsorship.
It was Purvis who tipped StormPay.com, which is the
primary sponsor of Purvis’ Crate Series car, about the
Crate engine, and its future in dirt track racing.
Motors for late model cars can cost $40,000, but the
Crate engines cost between $3,000 and $5,000, and
their speeds and horse***** are similar to those of
the more costly motors.
“This whole series is the wave of the future,” Girsky
said. “You can race a car and buy an engine from
$3,000 to $5,000 dollars, and race against
NASCAR-level competition.”
Jimmy Trodglen is sports editor and can be reached by
e-mail at
jimmytrodglen@theleafchronicle.com or by
phone at 245-0261.
Government Actions Against Steve Girsky:
Government Actions
On August 7, 2003, the Tennessee Securities Division of the Department of Commerce & Insurance issued an "Order to Cease and Desist" (file number 03-020) with TymGlobal, Inc., StormPay, Inc. and John R. McConnell, Jr.
The order states that TymGlobal and StormPay are under common ownership and/or control. TymGlobal operates an internet website which is registered to StormPay. On the internet website, respondents are operating a pyramid and/or Ponzi scheme promising large returns on investments for participating in the scheme. The order further states that TymGlobal has not registered any securities offerings with the Division pursuant to Tennessee Securities Act of 1980. Nor has the company registered with the Division as a broker-dealer, agent of a broker-dealer or investment adviser. Also, the respondent StormPay has not registered any securities offerings with the Division nor has the company registered with the Division as a broker-dealer, agent of a broker-dealer, or investment adviser. John R. McConnell, Jr. has not registered with the Division as a broker-dealer, an agent of a broker-dealer or as an investment adviser.
Potential investors were given the opportunity to invest in both partnership shares as TymGlobal as well as to participate in various Ponzi schemes. Respondents promised a high return. The offering of participation in the schemes sold by the respondents is an investment contract and thus, a security under the act.
The Division ordered the respondents TymGlobal, StormPay and John R. McConnell, Jr to cease and desist the conduct of a broker-dealer in the state of Tennessee until such time as it effectively registers with the Division. The order did not intend to prohibit lawful conduct of the respondents.
For additional information concerning this order, please contact Daphne Smith, Assistant Commissioner for Securities, State of Tennessee, Department of Commerce and Insurance, Suite 680, 500 James Robertson Pky, Nashville, TN 37243.
Report as of February 2, 2006
Copyright© 2006 Better Business Bureau®, Inc.
Since talking to the governor’s office in Tennessee Stormpay has many complaints in the past about issues frozen accounts. i spoke with Becky Bradley and she has asked that you email any and all information to her about Stormpay wrong doing her email address is
becky.bradley@state.tn.us apparently she wants to help get this resolve in a timely manner.
Edited to add: Stormpay is now verified/certified by completely different company that 2 days ago: Geotrust.com.
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