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RIVERSIDE MOTORSPORTS PARK CORRECTS AND RESPONDS TO MERCED SUN-STAR STORIES

RIVERSIDE MOTORSPORTS PARK

Source: RIVERSIDE MOTORSPORTS PARK Media Relations
Date: 02/20/2008

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RIVERSIDE MOTORSPORTS PARK CORRECTS AND RESPONDS TO MERCED SUN-STAR STORIESATWATER, California—Riverside Motorsports Park , LLC, issues the following information to correct and respond to incorrect and/or incomplete statements made about Riverside Motorsports Park and its development project in a Merced Sun-Star news story, bylined by reporter Corinne Reilly on February 15, 2008, and in an opinion column written by Merced Sun-Star sports columnist, Steve Cameron, on February 16, 2008. The news story was also carried in the affiliated newspapers Modesto Bee and Fresno Bee. News Story Corrections

The news story by Ms. Reilly makes a headline splash by stating that Riverside Motorsports Park (RMP) has no money. The story cites statements excerpted from a legal deposition given by RMP CEO John Condren in December 2007, as part of proceedings required by a law suit filed by a creditor. The full text of the deposition was published by the Merced Sun-Star, in advance of the completion of due and appropriate legal process regarding the lawsuit.

Omitted from the story is the content of a written statement, issued by Riverside Motorsports Park and provided to Ms. Reilly, which corrects the reporter’s misunderstanding of the word “income” as used to explain how and where RMP receives its operating capital. Riverside Motorsports Park considers this an omission of critical information. Ms. Reilly surmised that because RMP “had no income” that the start-up and development company had no money. However, the RMP statement clearly identified that the company has sufficient operating capital from “investment capital.” The RMP project has yet to break ground or operate; therefore, the company could not have any “income” or operating revenue. The Sun-Star neither referred to nor published RMP’s written statement, now posted on the RMP website (www.RMPracing.com). RMP’s written statement was reinforced and further discussed during a 20-minute interview conducted by Ms. Reilly with the Company’s Executive Advisory Board, RMP’s corporate attorney and RMP’s investment banking executives. The conference call interview was recorded by the Merced Sun-Star reporter. During the interview, RMP’s Executive Advisory Board clarified RMP’s funding strategy and financial status. In summary, that information is repeated here.

Riverside Motorsports Park is continuing to fund the company’s operation and project development through capital investments from qualified equity investors, who are shareholders in the company. The company also maintains a $1.3 million line-of-credit extended to it. Project construction funding will include a mixture of equity investment capital and debt funding, coordinated by the company’s investment banking partners. This approach is both a legitimate and an appropriate approach for funding of a project this size. To date, Riverside motorsports Park has invested $20 million into the development of the Northern and Central California motorsports facility which was approved by Merced County in December 2006. continued

Riverside Motorsports Park further had issued the following information in a January project update, The Fast Track, which is posted on the Company web site (www.RMPracing.com) and which was distributed to the company mailing list in January, 2008. Ms. Reilly said during the interview that she had read this statement. One challenge that we (RMP) did not anticipate—nor did many on Wall Street or within the world financial markets—was the August (2007) collapse of the equity-based, fixed income credit market, which not only continued throughout the third and fourth quarters, but worsened at year’s end. Judged by many financial market leaders as the most serious financial crisis to hit the United States in the last 100 years, entire credit and investment markets evaporated over the course of one week.

This well documented implosion has resulted in a credit and investment crunch that has severely curtailed the flow of investment funds into real estate-orientated projects by equity investors, including investment entities aligned by Stone & Youngberg for the construction of Riverside Motorsports Park. In short, the market situation has delayed our progress in the closing of project funding.

Regardless, RMP’s $250 million financing program has not fallen apart. Rather, Stone & Youngberg has received offers to fund the entire RMP project through bank-based debt financing; however, as RMP has planned from the beginning and as we have stated openly, in order to provide the maximum benefit to the Company and our investors, RMP’s project funding program is targeted on a mix of $80 million in equity and $170 million in debt investments. On the debt side, one of the five largest banks in the world has agreed to underwrite the debt financing for the RMP project, and this funding remains secure. However, the current financial crisis has caused two potential equitybased investors, ones that Stone & Youngberg had secured for RMP, to postpone or reevaluate their investment plans. At present, RMP management and Stone & Youngberg are busily engaged in securing the last piece of the financial puzzle needed to close on the equity investment that will secure the total financing package. Although his answer was edited out of a recent news story in the Merced Sun-Star newspaper, when asked by a reporter as to the whether the Riverside Motorsports Park project was moving forward, Mr. Neal Sebbard, Executive Director of the Structured Finance Group at Stone & Youngberg responded, “We feel extremely positive about our recent progress toward obtaining the final funding. Interest is extremely high, and market conditions are improving. The funding delay is based on our desire to structure the best investment program that serves Riverside Motorsports Park. It’s the structure of the deal.” During the conference call interview with the Sun-Star, Mr. Sebbard added, “RMP is close to finishing deals for funding RMP's construction. We have five entities we're working with to try to come up with a configuration for the equity side. And we've never been stronger in terms of the quality of the players." Sports Column Corrections

In a sports column published by the Merced Sun Star on February 16, 2008 , Mr. Steve Cameron attributes a quotation to RMP CEO John Condren about why Merced County was chosen as the preferred location for the RMP project. Mr. Condren responds, “I never said the things attributed to me, and I would never say such things. In my opinion, Mr. Cameron’s application of quotation marks, inferring that I made such comments, is nothing short of slander. He presents nothing but third-party hearsay. Mr. Cameron also makes detrimental statements and negative implications about Merced County Supervisors and other government officials who recommended or approved the RMP project. Let me assure all concerned that neither the Company, nor I, agrees with nor condones his statements. I am disgusted by Mr. Cameron’s deceitful tactics which he offers under the guise of journalism.”

What are the correct reasons why Riverside Motorsports Park chose Merced County? RMP has consistently stated that the Company selected the 1,200-acre project site in Merced County for the following reasons:

• Demographics: within 60 miles of the site reside 3.3 million persons, and within 100 miles of the site reside 9.1 million persons, making it the second highest demographic reach for any motorsports facility in the U.S.

• Location: central to the State and adjacent to Merced County’s Castle Airport—the third longest runway in California

• Business: the pre-existence on the project site of an approved Foreign Trade Zone, supporting the development of motorsports-related business center

• Support: a long and strong history of motorsports, across a variety of racing classes and events, throughout the Central Valley and the Western U.S.

• Need: job creation and economic stimulus. An economic impact report developed for Merced County by the Fluor Corporation identified the creation of 1,200 jobs on-site and a potential $300 million annually in park-related business revenue

The Riverside Motorsports Park project was approved by Merced County in full compliance with California CEQA law and meeting the requirements of the Merced County Planning Commission. The process included the preparation and publication of a 10,800-page Environmental Impact Report that was released in draft and final form for extended public review. Copies of this were made available to the public free of charge by the County, and documents were posted on the County Web site. Final deliberation by the Planning Commission and County Supervisors, the certification of the EIR and the approval of the project were accomplished in a series of public hearings in both November and December 2006, that totaled more than 40 hours of public comment and County presentation and discussion. Any implication that Merced County staff or County Supervisors were irresponsible in reviewing, recommending or voting on the project is untrue and unfounded Riverside Motorsports Park is presently fully engaged with and is completing project requirements leading to ground-breaking and construction of Riverside Motorsports Park in Merced County. The Company further reiterates that the project is privately funded. No requests have been made, or will be made, for funding by any Merced County city or by Merced County or by any governmental entity. Currently, RMP is completing a reimbursement agreement with Merced County for time spent on the project by County staff during the next phase of the development. In addition, Riverside Motorsports Park, LLC, is a privately held company and reserves the right to protect its proprietary information and shareholder information, when considered in the best interests of the company. The company further reserves the right to respond as appropriate to misinformation proffered by anyone about the character or activities of the Company or any of its management.

ABOUT RIVERSIDE MOTORSPORTS PARK

Riverside Motorsports Park, LLC is a California company dedicated to the development of a world-class motorsports center in Northern California. Approved for development in Merced County in December 2006, plans for the Riverside Motorsports Park support every form of automobile, truck, motorcycle and kart racing, and club-based and professional motorsports sanctioning organizations across the United States. The 1,200-acre park will feature eight different venues, supporting 15 tracks in one landscaped, park setting, including:

• 3.2-mile, multi-configuration road course for sports cars, endurance and open-wheel racing

• 5,000-foot drag strip

• Integrated 1/4- and 1/2-mile, banked paved oval tracks for stock cars and sprint cars

• 3/8- and 1/8-mile integrated dirt oval tracks for motorcycle, stock car, sprint, midget and quarter-midget racing

• 3/4-mile, multi-configuration kart course for sprint and shifter karts

• 1/2-mile motocross and BMX course

• 1-mile off-road circuit

• Northern California’s first world-class oval speedway (7/8-mile) for major stock car and openwheel racing series

Groundbreaking for facility is planned for 2008. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.RMPracing .com.####

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    Article posted by RacingWest.com staff on 02/20/2008. http://www.racingwest.com

     

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