Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
It seemed like something Eddie Gossage would do. And Texas Motor Speedway billed it as a legitimate news story.
On Wednesday morning, a Dallas country radio D.J. accepted Gossage's offer of $100,000 to change his name to TexasMotorSpeedway.com for a year and get a permanent tattoo with the site's name.
But it all turned out to be a hoax, a misguided attempt at an early April Fools' joke (we're not sure when "April Fools" started applying to things on March 30 and 31, but whatever).
Before the speedway confirmed its lame attempt at a joke, major media outlets such as ESPN, Speed, the Dallas Morning News and SceneDaily.com all reported it as fact. So did SB Nation.
After all, the speedway was issuing real press releases on the subject, with no hint of a "wink wink" element. And Gossage has pulled stunts like this before.
The radio station even posted a picture of the actual check made out to the D.J. for $100,000.
So we were fooled, and we apologize for passing this along to you as actual "news."
Apparently, "Everything is bigger in Texas" includes the level of bullshit.
4 comments
Comments
Fast Eddie at it Again....
Yeah, Fast Eddie strikes again. I live in DFW, and have season tiks/infield camping at TMS. Although I saw this as Fast Eddie being Fast Eddie, your Twitter comment “Maybe if Texas used its energy to improve the racing instead of tricking people into coming to the track” hurts, Jeff. That cuts deep. Why did you have to go and ruin the story with the truth? It’s much nicer to think about the hi-jinks of TMS instead of why the winner beat 2nd place by 13 seconds.
DadoHodson
by DadoHodson on Mar 31, 2010 8:24 PM EDT reply actions
WTH was Eddie thinking?
I’m sorry, but April 1st is April Fool’s Day, not the end of March! I know he is a promoter, but this little episode just reeks..:( And you weren’t the only writer fooled. imo, the ones that SAY they weren’t are getting on their high horses, but from the ones I’ve seen, not really surprised. THEY always think their shit doesn’t stink! ;)
by Pamm on Mar 31, 2010 8:43 PM EDT reply actions
Look, Jeff...
I think you’re totally overreacting.
Why am I the only person who can figure out that these folks were planning on actually revealing the hoax on April 1? This was a three-day April Fool, and as far as outlandish promotions go, it was tops. Had you let it run its course, it would have been great. The press conference tomorrow would have been great, when they brought out the papers, and as Dorsey was about to sign, looked up and said… “APRIL FOOLS!”
But nope, you guys had to go way too far with this thing – everybody and his uncle wrote about it, and thus the truth came out early. The fact of the matter is, you guys got punked, and you’re just embarrassed at how badly they got you, so you’re whining about it. Not just you – Terry Blount too, especially.
I hope you guys learned a valuable lesson – actually go and talk to the people involved in these sorts of crazy things, instead of simply relying on speedway letterhead. Maybe Eddie would have let you in on the joke, you could have played along, and had a little fun in the end too. It’s not a bad thing to have a little fun now and again. (Then again, it does say something scary about us as a society when we find this sort of crap to actually be believable in the first place.)
Regardless, I hope you’ll get over it instead of getting personal against the track with your tweets. That was uncalled for. Lighten up!
by Christopher Leone on Apr 1, 2010 2:29 AM EDT reply actions
Confine business jokes to April 1
Eddie does a great job promoting. But this one did take it too far, mostly because it began BEFORE April 1 & contained NO hint of “joke”. Calls to the office & radio station had people answering who insisted it was for real.
I just got caught by another AF “joke” that actually started a WEEK ago. At what point does credibility begin to be seriously eroded and questioned? Will we have to declare an “April Fools” Week? Month? to cover it?
by DRLDeBoer on Apr 1, 2010 10:20 AM EDT reply actions
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