Passage of tax bill could bring Force’s teams to Las Vegas

Thursday, April 26, 2001 | 10:13 a.m.

John Force knows a good deal when he sees one.

The 10-time NHRA Winston Funny Car champion and team owner said he would "seriously consider" moving his three-car racing operation to Las Vegas if Nevada passes a bill that would give tax breaks to racing teams.

"I'm based in California but, financially, it's killing us," Force said. "Would I consider going there? Yes, I would. I like Las Vegas -- everybody likes Las Vegas. I like a number of places but I'm going to go where I can save maybe a half a million dollars."

Force said that if Nevada passed a law enacting the tax breaks, he estimated he could save $500,000 a year in taxes by operating his racing team in Nevada.

But Force, who testified last week before the Assembly Taxation Committee in Carson City, said his own bottom line wouldn't be the deciding factor in moving his shop from Yorba Linda, Calif., to Las Vegas.

"When I testified, they asked me 'Why would you move here?' " Force said. "I told them, number one, because I have 41 employees and the new kids can't afford to buy (a house) in California unless you go way out (of Orange or Los Angeles counties).

"They asked me 'Why would we want to give you people tax breaks?' I said because it's not just about giving us money back, it's so we can reinvest in the sport; we can grow our teams, we can hire more employees. More employees means more housing, more food, more revenue to your (state)."

Force joined Joe Heitzler, president and CEO of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), in testifying before the committee, which voted unanimously to send the bill out of committee for a vote.

Before the bill can take effect, it must first clear both houses and be signed by the governor. Voters also must approve the measure in the 2002 general election before it can take effect in 2003.

"They passed it -- and why wouldn't they?" Force said. "NHRA has a ton of members and a lot of people are looking to retire (to Las Vegas) and a lot of these people that are retired are still racing because it's a family sport."

Force said he was asked by Las Vegas Motor Speedway general manager Chris Powell to testify so he could give the committee a team owner's perspective on the proposed legislation.

"When I was asked to go, I got choked up (because) I thought I was getting an award," Force cracked. "Seriously, the reason they brought me in was they wanted a team owner, not a driver, to give his opinion why he would be interested.

"After me, they brought up Joe Heitzler and he was great; I was very impressed. I kind of winged it, but this guy went up there and he had his numbers -- had all his ducks in a row -- and he probably did the most to sell it because he said right there he would come if they did this."

Heitzler told the committee that he would move CART's headquarters to Las Vegas if the bill became law. Heitzler also said he is looking at Florida as a possible site for CART's home base.