: So at this point are you back talking or negotiating with Sheikh Khalid al Thani directly to buy the ADRL?

KN: No. I’m talking to Don Greenbaum (Al-Anabi Racing USA representative in the U.S.) and Puvanesan Kay (Sheikh Khalid al Thani or the Qatar Racing Club’s lawyer). I had not had one conversation with the Sheikh since he and I talked in late 2010 or (early) 2011 during the Arabian Drag Racing League season. I had spoken to him a couple of times by telephone in January or February (of 2012). On the day I got the termination letter, needless to say, I was blowing his (Sheikh Khalid al Thani) phone up, asking “What the f*ck is this!?”

I never heard from him again.

: So how did the sale of the ADRL to you or your investors actually happen?

KN: In September or October of 2012 we found out the sale price for the ADRL was $1,000,000. Bubba approached a couple of people he knew with a lot of money, Darrell Reed and Gene Hector, a couple of Pro Extreme racers. I knew both of them. I knew Gene a little better than I knew Darrell. And we were discussing how to put a deal together to buy the American Drag Racing League for a million dollars. We were having daily and sometimes hourly conversations.

Gene and Darrell were going to buy it (the ADRL) and own 50% of it. One of the sticking points was that I didn’t want to be in the same position, like I was the first time, of not have controlling interest in the ADRL. So, even though they were putting up the million dollars and they were telling me that the only person in the world they would buy it back for and partner with was me, and that I was the best and was the only person for the job, and on and on and on. I said I wanted 51% (ownership of the ADRL) and they were not willing to do that which I completely understood. To this day I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for both Gene and Darrell.

: How did the Scruggs family get involved as one of your partners in the ADRL?

KN: At some point Jason Scruggs’ and Mitchell Scruggs’ names get brought into the mix. Now, remember, at the time there was a group of people who had formed the X-DRL who had also put in a bid to buy the ADRL. Kay (Sheikh Khalid al Thani’s lawyer) sent an email to Don Greenbaum that I was copied on, saying, “Let’s just make this a simple race to the finish line.” They (Al-Anabi Racing USA) needed $300,000. As the story goes, there was debt on a building in Brownsburg, Indiana, where Al-Anabi Racing USA was located and they said whoever can get us the $300,000 first gets the ADRL.

So, I kicked things into high gear. At that point, Roger Henson, through his relationship with the Scruggs, Bubba Corzine and myself, got involved. Mitchell Scruggs and Roger Henson both agreed that I was the only person for the job, that I was the person for the job but – and Jason Scruggs, to give him credit, almost insisted that it be this way – that I needed to own it; they didn’t need to own the ADRL. They would give us the $300,000 with a promissory note... they would wire it to Al-Anabi Racing USA directly; they never gave it to us.

: So you never handled the $300,000 that was paid to Al-Anabi Racing USA?

KN: To this minute I have no documentation. We never saw the money. The money was sent directly to Don Greenbaum and Al-Anabi Racing USA. $150,000 from the Scruggs’ and $150,000 from Henson, I was told, and to this day have no reason to believe that wasn’t the case.

We (Jack Switzer, Jessica and I) now own the American Drag Racing League. I set a budget and a purse structure immediately. The purses were decreased dramatically, I mean dramatically. In our top classes it was going to be $3,000 to win. We were going to continue to charge the racers an entry fee because there was no way for the ADRL – at that point without sponsorship – to be sustainable. We would then go to the 2012 PRI Show, make our announcement and start procuring sponsorships. The old regime had started selling general admission tickets and it didn’t work, so we were going back to the free-ticket model.