Jon Vannini - Speaks

[dreamracer]

from another racing website:

Recent written quotes attributed to Jon Vannini-

Paul Tracy appears to be in a class of his own right now, no doubt spurred by a desire to rub Christopher Pook's nose in the dirt for his hapless meddling in issues beyond his scope of understanding and authority (further delusions of Ecclestone I wonder?).

As one of the rumored buyers of CART, let the sportsman in us all hope that he (Paul Gentillozzi) can run CART as well as he has his own team...I would say better than the current Captain of CART's ship but that would a bar set so shockingly low that Mini-Me would have little trouble clearing it with both legs tied together."

"Then, CART may find the young American sensation they are so desperately in need of. Throw in a couple of genuinely quick young Yanks that are already out there (Fogarty, Moran, Allmendinger, Gidley, etc) and CART may have something the American audience can identify with. If America can be convinced to get behind Lance Armstrong and the Tour de France ( I'm a BIG fan of this guy, by the way), young American road racers should be an easy sell. Sadly, apparently no one in the CART front office grasps this very simple concept...or if they do, they are doing an effective job of keeping it a secret. But given all the apparently baseless rumors emanating from that particular geography over the last 18 months, one has to conclude that discretion is not a trait that exist in any abundance with that crew. "

Now, wasn't Chris Pook his man? Somebody tell me I'm misinformed.

That's what I remember. I guess that was before Pook convinced the board to agree to spend Vannini's "easy mark" on racing.

[SPM]

"...apparently baseless rumors..."

The Ecclestone connection?

Would Vannini, as a large shareholder of MPH, have inside knowledge of the "Bear Stearns/MPH" dealings?

[don7031]

Re: Jon Vannini - Speaks

Originally posted by dreamracer
Now, wasn't Chris Pook his man? Somebody tell me I'm misinformed.

That's what I remember. I guess that was before Pook convinced the board to agree to spend Vannini's "easy mark" on racing.

IIRC, Vannini was high on Jargon Joe Heitzler. In any event, you won't find many investors who will sing the praises of CEO's who devalue their investments to the tune of a dime on the dollar with the potential to be worthless in a few months.

[220mph]

sorry, I just find it very hard to take seriously a supposed "uber investor" whose only recent comment comes in a syrupey letter to editor on a fan website . . .

[dreamracer]

Originally posted by 220mph
sorry, I just find it very hard to take seriously a supposed "uber investor" whose only recent comment comes in a syrupey letter to editor on a fan website . . .

In just about every case, I wouldn't disagree with that.

Except Vannini, for whatever reason has some sort of rapport with them.

Not exactly a classy thing to do, but he's been squawking pretty loudly lately about whatever he can. He actually cheapens his case in my opinion, with the low-grade, internet quality insults.

I suppose some nut could've hi-jacked Vannini's email address, but I doubt that even more.

Squeaky wheels gets the grease I guess.

Or the money.

[indycool]

Vannini's just publicly playing some of his cards in the deal, taking a short lead like all of 'em who play Mark C. like a fiddle. Behind the scenes, you can be sure his lawyers are nailing it down. Vannini has the cards to at least play the hand out, whatever result comes about. His cards are strong enough to shut down the whole scenario for an indefinite period, if he so chooses. And he's pretty close to choosing if he's playing in public.

[debdrake]

Say what you want about the man and his motives - but if the quotes above ARE from Vannini, he may just be the smartest man in CART....

Can someone direct me to the rest of his statement, if there is a 'rest'?

[CARTer]

Not exactly a classy thing to do, but he's been squawking pretty loudly lately about whatever he can. He actually cheapens his case in my opinion, with the low-grade, internet quality insults.

I don't know about that, the "Mini Me" line was pretty good.

[dreamracer]

Originally posted by CARTer
I don't know about that, the "Mini Me" line was pretty good.

I didn't say it wasn't funny......

[dreamracer]

Originally posted by 220mph
sorry, I just find it very hard to take seriously a supposed "uber investor" whose only recent comment comes in a syrupey letter to editor on a fan website . . .

I jut realized I read your post wrong earlier. You can take him pretty seriously. He is the second largest shareholder in CART behind Forsythe. Groesfeld sold out.

He's squawked loud whenever he wants something.

Example:

October 26, 2001 CART - MAJOR SHAREHOLDER TO WAGE WAR WITH CART MANAGEMENT

Jon Vannini has not been shy about his desire to turn the fortunes of Championship Auto Racing teams around, nor has he been shy about pointing the fingers toward where the businessman, and erstwhile Barber Dodge Pro Series racer, feels are the root of the problems. Friday he served official notice that he intends to lob a few grenades into the corporate structure of CART, filing a document with the Securities Exchange Commission in which he claims that a change in senior management is necessary for the good of the stock, which recently fell to a new 52-week low. Vannini filed a Schedule 13D with the SEC, which is a statement of ownership in where Vannini laid out why he has purchased 1,189,700 shares of CART stock, giving him 7.838 percent of the outstanding shares. The statement also references ideas that could call for the removal of not only CART CEO Joseph Heitzler, but a portion of the Board of Directors that controls the direction that the open-wheel series is headed. A portion of the statement can be found below. ‘The Reporting Person (Vannini) is considering a number of actions which, in the Reporting Person's judgment, would improve the management, product offerings and business prospects of CART. Among the actions which the Reporting Person believes would achieve these goals are a change in senior management, including, but not limited to, the appointment of a chief executive officer and president with greater experience in the motorsports industry. The Reporting Person further believes that certain members of CART's Board of Directors might have actual and potential conflicts of interest with CART and its stockholders. If such conflict exists, the Reporting Person advocates the resignation and/or removal and replacement of some or all of these persons as directors.’ Vannini has been an active antagonist of the Heitzler regime for the last few months, ever since making substantial buys of CART stock through his personal investment account with Smith Barney. He called Heitzler out on a conference in September asking why CART’s sanctioning fees were so low compared to those in Formula 1, when attendance at some of the newer Mexican venues are projected to be the same as what the F1 series can command. Vannini stopped short of spelling out an actual plan of attack but said that he may continue to buy up company stock, which rebounded to $13 per share Thursday after falling to $12.47 to day before. He also said that he may solicit proposals and proxies for other like-minded major shareholders in an attempt to influence the changes that he wishes to make, but reiterated that he would not lay out any plans to do so at the present time.

racelink - oct 26th 2001


It's funny to read his complaints from 2 years ago, when his stock was worth ten times what it is now.

[Truth Detector]

Rats.

I was hoping for something along the lines of "Truth Detector and Defender told me not to invest in MPH and I should have listened to them."