In 1970 the International Motorsports Hall of Fame was dreamed up by Bill France Sr, the founder of NASCAR. A board of 18 directors was chosen in 1975, including former state senator Gerald Dial as chairman when the museum opened in 1983. How ashamed Big Bill would be to lean that an internal audit at the International Motorsports Hall of Fame discovered the widespread and blatant fraud that’s become part of the corporate culture at the museum.
It’s so bad that last week Alabama Governor Kay Ivey dismissed the entire board of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Several historic vehicles were missing, others were sold to board members for pennies on the dollar, not to mention the $263,000 of museum monies misspent.
One of the rotten apples was executive director Mike Raita, who sold museum vehicles to himself and his wife. In 2023 the Hall of Fame bought a 1968 Chevy Camaro convertible Indy 500 Pace Car, and spent $27,900 on its restoration. Raita later sold the vehicle on behalf of the museum, running a newspaper ad that only mentioned the car was a 1968 Chevrolet with no other details. The BS advert was designed to create the impression of a legitimate sale, but Ratia’s wife was the buyer at only $15,000 which is obvious fraud.
Cars in the Hall of Fame collection cannot be sold without permission from the State of Alabama, a rule which was simply ignored. Four historic Pontiac sports cars (1980, 1982 and 1983 Trans Am and a 1986 Grand Prix Aerocoupe) used as NASCAR pace cars were auctioned for the combined total of $46,000. Two vehicles donated to the Hall of Fame, a 2001 Pontiac Firebird Firehawk and a 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, simply went missing.
The biggest shyster was accounts manager Karen Lakey who overpaid her own salary by $26,000. She also had the Hall of Fame pay her $5,400 electrical utility bill, spent $12,700 at retail stores, and withdrew $22,500 in cash from donations. The auditors are demanding that Lakey pay back $236,600 in misspent funds.
What about the chairman of the bord, that respectable state senator Gerald Dial who’s been the boss of the Hall of Fame since 1983? Dial issued a denial to the Alabama Daily News in his southern drawl,
“Me and that board has never done anything wrong.”
– Gerald Dial, Chairman of the Board
The truly disturbing part is that all these transgressions and violation occurred during the 5 year period the audit covered. The Hall of Fame has been open for 40+ years, and it’s unknown how long this corrupt behavior has been going on for.
Holy Mother of God!! What a bunch of crooks. But no sweat, I am sure Trump will pardon them all.
Thieves steal; that’s their job. But these people were entrusted with running a museum, and used the opportunity to enrich themselves. That’s dis-honourable.
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The nerve of the guy to put a rare car for sale in the newspaper but make it seem like a grocery-getter. That’s just plain misrepresentation and fraud.
But I doubt anyone will ever be held accountable, just like you said.
What about that Camaro picture??? I think she is Shelby Courtney, from Smokey Mountain Traders
Oh my god Rubens how did you figure that out? I thought you would point out the pic was a ’68 not a ’67 Camaro, but to know who the ‘hot girl’ is … that’s amazing.
Wow. That is amazing. The bald-faced, shameless greed of it.
I hope they get all the cars back.
I guess the cars could get repossessed by the state. But to get ‘Karen’ the accounts manager to cough up a quarter million? Good luck!
Yeah, that money’s gone. Maybe she’ll get some jail time?
What a thought… jail! That actually sounds like a solid deterrent.
I dunno. If she was sent to the right prison, it would be … damned uncomfortable.
They definitely needed more oversight and audits.
100% correct, sir. The audit they did only went back 5 years. Which makes me think it’s been 10 years since the previous audit. Who knows… maybe they’ve never performed an internal audit.