we were going to do . There were no no-shows , so actually 472 [ entries ] went down , which is exactly what we oversold the race for the noshow deal . We took and added $ 66,000 to the purse , which was 100 % of the entry fees from the oversells , and we added it back to the purse . We didn ’ t keep a dime of it .
We ’ ve had people in the industry tell us , “ Man , you all should ’ ve really played that up that you all gave back $ 66,000 .” Well , we ’ re not like that . We don ’ t like to pat ourselves on the back . We just like to do what we say we ’ re going to do , plus more .
For total payout , it started off being $ 1.268 [ million ], and then we added $ 66,000 , plus the three 40-grander races – we added every bit of entry fee back from them also , and I think that was another $ 20K – that would ’ ve been $ 1.354 million .
ROLISON : A lot of people don ’ t know that race didn ’ t pay a million to win . It actually paid $ 1,066,000 to win . So it didn ’ t look like we were trying to be a little sketchy with taking any more entries , which makes the event more profitable , we took all the money past 450 entries and we added it back into the purse , which was $ 66,000 . We could ’ ve kept that money in our pocket , but we just knew the right thing to do . So , that race ended up paying the winning person [ Jeff Serra ] $ 1,066,000 a win .
It obviously takes a lot to put on a race of any kind , but especially one paying out a million dollars to the winner . What did it take to put on this race ?
ROLISON : A lot of work . A lot of belief . A lot of belief in the process you ’ re taking to make that race a success . Sometimes when you just sit back or
August 2021 if I put my Great American Guaranteed Million hat on and I ’ m driving down the road and I ’ m just thinking about it , it ’ s like , man , it ’ s still hard to believe that I was associated with that event .
It also took the right people . This is probably the most important part of this whole conversation . Britt and I firmly believe that if you want to be successful , you have to surround yourself with people that you can trust . When you have people around you that you can trust , your chances of being successful are at an infinite level . We obviously can ’ t do it alone .
A few of those people are Frank and Tammy Kohutek , Joel Boyd , Jennifer Johnson , Steve and Lora Byrum , my wife , Jennifer , and my oldest daughter , Morgan , along with my parents , Kim and Gaylon Rolison Sr . My mom and dad run the front gate . They handle a lot of money . So , having somebody up there you can trust matters . I also want to thank Britt ’ s brother Slate and Britt ’ s son Cole Cummings . The list goes on : Pam Kendrick , Paul Cartwright , “ Jabbo ” Terry Forsythe , Beau Cantrell , “ Rooster ” and “ Smoke ,” Jake Hodge , Cody Pollage , Ryan Gleghorn , Martha Edwards , Cody Harger , Madison Ellison , and Paige Hamlin .
These folks have all had their impact on our events . I know that ’ s a long list , but it would be a fallacy on my part if I didn ’ t mention those people , because without them , our level of success
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