John Carbonell lives up to his BAD reputation!
 

The one thing I have always loved about our sport is how everyone is always willing to help if there is a problem. This weekend was no different except one person. Comments made by this person blew me away as I believe that directly and indirectly he has to thank for all of us for his lively hood and how he went out of his way to be a complete jerk.

This was a big weekend for us, we had a few of Mercedes Benz big shots come down to Key West. After reading all the mags I've been sending them for a year they wanted to come down and see for themselves what the Poker runs are like and if they should concentrate more on advertising in this area. They have been asking my advise as to where I feel the best area for them to become more visible. I of coarse feel Poker runs get the most exposure between all the Magazines and Powerboating in Paradise tv show. Some of them think putting $$ into Racing is the way to go.

The plan was to take these guys for a ride in the Mercedes boat and then introduce them to everyone. We had a problem with the boat on the way down. Nothing serious but we did need some help. The guys from Aquamania offered us the use of their pit area along with their crew and equipment. Mike from Sterling was in the next pit and was also going to help. We were told the Doug Wright cat was unable to attend the Duval street parade and they were short one boat and we could take his spot for $500. We thought would be great exposure for Mercedes and help SBI out since they were short a boat. With these 2 things in mind we headed to the pits to talk to John Carbonell and take care of our issue.
When bringing the boat to Aquamanias pit we were stopped by an SBI pit attendant and he said "John Carbonell said to get that boat out of here now"! We told him we were going to go over and talk to John right now. The attendant was very persistent that we stopped in our tracks to go and talk with him, which we did. Of coarse I had every intention of paying SBI what ever they needed.

I walked over to Carbonell with Larry Goldman who is a current SBI racer with Aquamania. As we walked up to John, Larry immediately put out his hand and said "Great turn out" and shook Johns hand. Johns reply was "get that boat out of here now!" Larry tried explaining what we were planning on doing. Larry, which is the fastest talker know was able to spit out "What we" and immediately he was cut off with, "get it out of here now". Larry tried again to explain "we want to pay...." again, "get it out!!" He then said "I will have nothing to do with Stu Jones, Poker run guys or boats, get it out of the pits now"!
Larry said, "How about the parade", pulling money out of his pocket to pay the $500. John then said "I'm not Stu Jones, I don't take payoffs"." I'm not letting that boat in the parade, forget it"


This is where I voiced my opinion of John, walked away and left the pits. I want to again reiterate, I was more than happy to pay what every I needed to pay to handle this. I also thought Carbonell would be somewhat happy we were there as we were told he had a problem being short one boat for the parade! His attitude was completley unexpected!


The Aquamania guys were really pissed as they pay for their entire pit area and are allowed to park what they want within their assigned area and wanted to argue with John but I didn't want it to get to that.

What a miserable guy! I don't know what his problem is with Poker run boats or Stu but obviously we are not welcome around SBI. I feel if it wasn't for the poker runners, Key West would not be nealy what it is. I completely understand there are rules and John had a lot going on but he was so rude and nasty. He was an absolute nasty jerk and completly disrespectful to Larry Goldman for no reason at all. I have heard so many people talk bad about John, I guess thats why he has the attendance he has at his races. It's really too bad. I only wish he knew the opportunity that was right under his nose, had he been a decent guy, he may have ended up with Mercedes as one of his Key sponsors for next year.

We didn't get to take the guys for a ride in the Mercedes boat but I got them to have dinner at Racheals Monday night, they are very happy and will continue their support. Just need to come up with some new ideas for them, SBI will not be a consideration!!

sad.

Sounds like he really knows how to market himself.

Gino,
Bring The Boat Over To Oss And Stu Jones. We Could Both Benefit From This Opportunity
Mike

OPA biggest organization in the country, I bet they would love the support of your company.

I have talked to John several times he is very straight forward. I am sure if you had talked to John before you were inside the gate he would have no problem.

If you were not there to race and you were not signed up with SBI, then you really did not need to be there.

Just my 2 cents.

pat W

Amazing. It sounds like it is all about the Benjamins to John and his crew.

I would talk to the guys from OPA as they are the guys that IMO are doing it right. Keep it fun and get the large turn out. I mean how many boats did they have at the "worlds" anyhow.

Maybe John needs to take a Dale Carnagie course. "How to win friends and influence people":party-smiley-004:

Typical John C. - back in the day- I paid all my expenses - asked nothing from JC - yet he was the "dictator" at the time- One would think he would realize what good press is - and what benefits his org. would receive - however - he is very short sighted - If he said he does not take payoffs- thats a laugh - thats all he wanted when I was around - it was money money money - anyway- at least the Open water - is free - he could not control that - I wonder why he could never accept that what others do, could benefit him - instead he wants to be the KING or RULER - I guess you cant take a carpet layer and make him an executive - a shame -

Phil

John and reggie are pretty tight...... may have been their only chance to take a shot at the cat killer.... killer!:eek:

That's funny i saw the mojo crew there with their motorhome and setup and i didn't see any mojo boat racing??:rolleyes:

IMO what this sport needs is attention. We need LOTS of attention. Not the attention that we have been getting as of late with the accidents but good attention from teams like Geico and boats like Gino's bring. Gino's boat and boats like it draw a lot of attention from the crowd. IMO it is just good "press". Now if there is an insurance issue then he could have said sorry but insurance will not allow it or..... To be pissed at FPB and their poker run is amazing to me as with out them the attendance would be way down. People that do not boat down want to see those boats just as much as the race boats. If I was down there I would have been all over the Bounty hunter boat, just love those old boats!

It was his guys that let us in the gate. It was also his people that said they were short a boat for the parade and they were under the gun to find another being 5:00 and it starting at 6:00. The attitude he had was completely unnecessary. Larry Goldman is a registered racer this year. I was a member of SBI 4 years. I don't know what his problem is with Stu but his comments and attitude really were unnecessary.

Gino,
Did you have your Cat Killer T-shirt on???? Sorry it didnt work out. the week was a slight disapointment to me as well as, one the weather sucked, and the water was flat for the most part.

Cant wait to see the 2009 schedules!

I dealt with him one time, a few years back....let me just say...arrogant, egotisticlal....way out of line....I see things have not changed.

Sounds like BS to me. Sorry Gino. If I wasnt broken as well you could have used my boat to entertain.

One of the reasons racing is where it is today, does not surprise me at all. That guy could never see the forest through the trees.

I heard there was an issue with a race team about what class they were running and he didnt stick up for them.

Gino,
Sorry to hear this. I am one of the organizers of the Harrison Twp Michigan OPA race. We are really trying to make this event part of a week long powerboat event in MI. Our race kicks the week off and coincides with the Sunsation Rally at the Park were the Pits are. Then on Wednesday, we have a Special Olympics Poker Run and finally end the week with the St Clair Race.

We are working closely with manufacturers, poker runners, charities and racers. We would be honored to have you and some of your buddies check out Michigan in August.

www.HarrisonOffshore.com

Flip side of the coin:
We had two spots reserved at an APBA race (Baltimore). One for F2-07 "Wild Child" and one was for the motor home. We decided not to bring the motor home so I had one of our guys bring my Cigarette so our friends could go out on it & watch the race. No go! We were told "no poker run/pleasure boats allowd in the pits". End of story.
Does OSS allow pleasure boats in the pits?

Sad...VERY sad......One word sums up the problem with Gino's story AND racing as a whole......EGOTISTICAL!!!

I honesty don't believe you can say that about the OPA. We pride ourselves on being a friendly community that will go beyound to help one another, our fans and volunteers.

WOW, I cant believe what I just read....I know of a boat that came in on the poker run with Stu, that is a year old Fountain 35 and had a drive problem and couldnt get it out of gear. They made a call to Reggie and explained the situation, he then asked my friend to take the boat to the pits and the Fountain team took care of it and fixed it for him at N/C in the pits with there race crew....must be all the dollars he (Reggie) spends with him ???? or maybe hes also afraid for the cat killer.... lol


Gino I spoke to you at the race, let me know if you ever find the videos.....

I agree with you 100%!!!!

Funny... I've never heard anyone say anything nice about that guy. Makes me wonder if there might be something to it...

Good to see you, Gino- thanks for the shirt!

hell he is one of the main reasons offshore racing was split into so many factions....never have i heard anyone say anything positive about the man....just a jerk....

Gino,
What goes around, comes around!
Dean

LOL, whatever.....:rolleyes: That's exactly why you'll never have real sponsors in your "sport". Those races would have been gone years ago without the poker run bringing the fans down to watch.

He had Mercedes f-cking Benz there interested in spending more advertising money, but I guess urinalmint.com sponsorships are bringing in all the cash they can handle.:rolleyes:Brilliant.

Have to agree!! We raced our 1st year with OPA and enjoyed it and everyone was friendly and helpful to us, being one of the new teams on the block. Thanks OPA

The OSS pits in Sunny Isles Beach had plenty of Poker Run boats in it. We do joint events with Stu Jones and the Poker Run clubs. We ENJOY working with them and look foward to doing more joint events in 09.

They had no problem with me parking my boat in the pits....

that's cause you're special:grinser010:

URINALMINT.COM LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!:evilb::evilb:

but you bought a race boat big daddy! :drink:


Gino you should of just came down to our pit and we would of gave you a Fury sticker for the boat and you could of just slid into our spot, I doubt most of those officials would of known the difference. :drink:

I was knee deep in oil/water in the bilge after the boat was upside down and one official came flying up in a golf cart and wanted to know why we weren't lined up to go out for the street party. :rolleyes:

well said !:ernaehrung004:

Thank you, At that point it wouldn't have made a difference. Aquamainia didn't use 1/2 the space they paid for and even had one less boat then expected in the pits.
To tell you the truth, we were asked almost as a favor to do the parade. The city expected $500 per boat and no one else wanted to do it for that money. Of coarse, It wasn't a favor at all, it would look great to the Mercedes guys. We headed to the pits thinking we would be welcomed with open arms, instead we were treated like garbage.

J.C. has always had a bad rep, cocky and arrogant. Someone needs to slap him upside the head and knock some sense into him.

YEP! I could add more but I will keep my mouth (and keyboard) shut...

Ben

a few years ago when I helped set up the OSO party SBI had a fit because I dared to contact some of the restaurants on my own. Their attitude was I had to go book it through them since they had secured the venue, when checking into it, I found out every place they wanted to send me to had HUGE banquet fees that gave you nothing but a place to show up at, food and drink was extra. As far as I was concerned they should have paid us to bring 1,000 drinkers into their establishment. I got the feeling that they thought all of Key West was their venue, not just the race site.

The following year I had a similar problem when I posted about getting a group to watch from the Sebago. I don't remember the details but somehow SBI got word about it, so the Sebago, people called me worried saying that they did not want me promoting it on a web site. They said something to the effect that they are only told at the last min. if they could be a turn boat and if looked like they were going to be hosting an OSO party then they might not be able to be a turn boat or they would be charged. It's unfortunate that the race promotion organization, the Conch Republic, granted John/SBI the rights to the race site for several more years. But since John lives in KW the mucky mucks and him are buddies. The head of the Spotswood company, who was and maybe still is, the head conch for the Conch Republic said he could care less about the race organizations, he is just about filling the town. I just wish one year Stu Jones would not have a run there, and all the fans would stay home. Then Spotswood and the CR would really see who fills that town up, it is not just JC.
Also in my limited dealing with anyone working for JC, you could definitely get the sense that no one, not even the volunteers wanted to cross him.