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I post the following as a public service to the dirt track community.
Beware the name Corbin Reutimann & if you know where he is, please call the Sabine Parish Sheriff's Office (318) 256-9241. They would like a word with him. He may be in the Silsbee-Beaumont area of southeast Texas and has a wife (if that wasn't a lie too) who used the name Bulah when they were here.
He's wanted for hot checks. One to a local fuel supplier for $950 plus he took the man's leftover fuel and sold it at less than whole sale and kept that cash. I reckon that would qualify him as a thief.
As the new promoter at a Many, Louisiana dirt track, he took money for signs at the track and then skipped town. Apparently, he tried or did the same thing at the Silsbee, Texas dirt track several years ago.
By the way, Sabine Motor Speedway owner Robert Benecke told me that if you bought a sign from Corbin, he will put it up if you join him in pressing charges against Corbin. He and John Higgenbottom are going to run the track this year starting April 6th. It's a good offer since they won't get a dime for putting the signs up. They just want your help in busting him in exchange.
Corbin also took off with three Modified frames that may or may not have been Pro Chassis frames. I'm told he sold some or all of them and then didn't deliver them. So if you come across a good deal on a frame check it out, it may have already been sold once. You Pro Chassis folks, he dropped your name around like y'all was in business together. I sure wouldn't like that.
He stole two of Robert's water pumps from the track along with a large floor jack.
I think there is a lot more that he did from conning a loan-cosigner to hot checks all over the place and who knows what else. If you know more and want to, go ahead and post it. We might as well let the world know what a crook he turned out to be. Maybe we can keep him from ripping more folks off.
Corbin Reutimann showed up in the northwest Louisiana area late last season after making a deal to lease the dirt track in Many, Louisiana. He started going around to the bigger fall shows and trade shows and talked like he was God's gift to dirt track promoting and he was going to be the next savior of the Many dirt track. There have been three of those in recent memory and none of them measured up to that title. We had another promoter down there who left with $3000 of Robert's money for a series that never happened and then when he was supposed to show up for a banquet with some points awards, darn if his car didn't break down around Tyler, Texas and he couldn't make it. Ain't that somethin'...
First clue - Corbin said he had been racing in Arkansas and Missouri and had done real well driving Pro Chassis Modifieds. I print results from all over that area though and never remembered printing his name once. And I would. I used to watch his father Wayne Reutimann and uncle Buzzie Reutimann race as a kid and you don't forget how to spell "Reutimann" once you've learned it. This has nothing to do with Wayne or Buzzie and they are in no way responsible for Corbin's actions nor do they have anything to do with Corbin which brings me to my next point.
Second clue - Corbin said he was planning a "NASCAR" night at the Many track. Now there is nothing wrong with the Many dirt track -- it's a rural 1/4 mile that has seen many good races and has served the Many area well as far as that goes but the facilities aren't up to hosting a NASCAR night of the type that Corbin touted and anybody could have figured out that it wasn't going to happen. Corbin said his cousin David Reutimann and several other NASCAR drivers were coming. Well, I called Florida back in October where there are all of 5 Reutimann's listed in the white pages. There are none in Arkansas or Texas by the way so if this guy ever uses his real name again in those states, call that number at the top of the post please. Buzzie was one of those listed in Florida and he returned my call. He assured me David had no plans of coming to Louisiana to race in 2007 and he left me with fair warning about Corbin.
I could not post any of this on the internet (I didn't know about the Silsbee deal until recently) for fear of slander at the time. Obviously, I don't have that fear now. There's too many people he's ripped off telling me what he did now plus there are charges filed against him in Sabine Parish. That's a fact.
Off the record though I let Robert and many others in the region know what I knew about Corbin which wasn't much but was apparently just the tip of the iceberg. I wasn't alone though. EVERYBODY had suspicions.
So what happened? Well, two things. There were racers and others who wanted to see Sabine Speedway work and people tend to give folks a chance to prove themselves even when they shouldn't. Corbin was given a chance to do things right but instead, he took advantage of that and chose to rip people off. That was his call. He'll pay for it in the long run. The racing folks around Many shouldn't feel bad about being good people and giving someone the benefit of the doubt. I hope they are rewarded again one day for having a heart like that. Corbin and Bulah used a church, used kids and put on what I believe was a heck of an act. It ain't the first time they've done something like this, is it?!
Well, we get into February and everyone wants to know if we're going to have a race. Heck, they wanted to race! So, folks who knew they couldn't trust Corbin (like me) help put on a race. Corbin had the walls painted (well, a painter did and I think his check was hot too). Others helped him prep the track.
We had a good race too. The track was in great shape. The race was exciting. Corbin paid everybody cash from the racers to the help. Honorable? No. Smart. People would be expecting less and when he paid out like he did, our guard was let down. We think, "well, maybe he'll be legit after all." Wrong. Saturday rains out. Raindate is two weeks later. About this time is when stuff goes to missing and suddenly, Corbin moves out of his residence and disappears.
Not the first time it's ever happened and I'm sure it won't be the last. There are conmen everywhere. I just hope it's that last time this guy gets away with it.
Remember this though:
If a guy shows out of the blue with no background and you don't know where he's been at and tries to be a promoter, run the other way. If a so-called promoter has to move to a different track especially if it's in another part of the country every year, run the other way.
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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