AUTO RACING BLOG - Promote a Louder Positive Voice to Short Track Racing

If you are like me, you are passionate about short track racing.  Your passion focuses on a particular track, division, series, etc.  When you are passionate about something, it is easy to give a positive voice to it.  Positive to where you can influence others to get interested and join you in your passion.

Sadly, there are also people, while they may also share your same passion, tend to focus more on the negative side of short track racing.  Many of us can site examples that could put this sport in the wrong direction.

What is sadder is the negative voice tends is usually louder than the positive voice.  It is time for the positive voice to get loud.

I won’t disagree that the negative voice does, at times, has a legitimate complaint or concern.  They are heard and many times those issues are fixable and they do get fixed.

At the same time, that voice is more over sour grapes and the issue cannot be let go and not be moved forward.  You can only scream for so long, before you fall on deaf ears.

Most of all, a good percentage of the complaints are “internal” and needs to stay away from the fans.

Instead, we need to focus more about the positive aspects of our sports to the fans.  We need to encourage more fans to come to the track and putting on a great entertaining show for them.  Give them a show that will encourage them to come back next week and bring more family and friends with them.

Promoters need their competitors, teams and fans to help promote their events. 

Your car easily draws attention if it is on display at a busy grocery store or retail store on a weekend. 

Meeting fans while the car is on display or after a night of racing in the pits will create more interest than you can imagine.  A fan that has a positive interaction with a driver and their crew will become your biggest supporter the next time you are on track.

Focus more on what positive things you see at the track.  What brings you back every week?  Share those stories and not the negative ones. This may make them think twice of going to the track.

Short track racing is still affordable, family friendly and transcends from one generation to another.  Let’s keep that going for the next generation.

Let’s use social media and message boards to push the positive side of short track racing.  Let’s all help create new interest and excitement. 

Let’s make sure that our local short tracks have great revenue from the front gate and not solely rely on the back gate. 

If we are going to talk about short track racing, let’s keep it positive and moving forward in 2013.

DECA Blog - Structure in your Presentation

By: Kevin Ramsell

By the time you have read this, many of you will have experienced a DECA role-play event.  The same is for the judges as well, as we try to get into our rhythm for State and International competitions.

After judging a recent high school district event, the group of judges I worked with all had the same comment; students should work on more structure and organization in their presentations.

Even when I was a competitor, I was guilty of sitting down, reading the case, and the plethora of ideas start flying out of my head.  The list of ideas is so awesome that you lose time in your prep and you walk in to your judge and give them a great list of ideas.

It is also exciting for the judge as you show your creativity and eagerness.  But, here is the problem.  Your list of ideas doesn’t help us score you on your evaluation sheet.  Your list doesn’t help show that you are using the performance indicators listed for that case.  As a judge, it is tough to give you the high score that you deserve for your efforts.

Some cases will ask you to create a plan, especially in promotion. Again, just providing a list of ideas doesn’t show the judge what your plan will be for executing your ideas.

Do not be afraid to show a judge a calendar of your timeline for an advertising campaign or promotion schedule.

Do some prep work in educating yourself on what the current prices are for advertising in newspapers, television and radio.  This will help you show the judge a realistic budget for your plan.

When you have a structured presentation like this, it allows you the opportunity to make the “close” with the judge.  You presented your ideas in an organized way and the best way to end it is to ask the judge for the green light to move forward and start executing your plan.

By putting a plan together and having this kind of structure in your presentation, you will become more confident in your ideas. That confidence will help with your role-play with the judge. 

Talk to your advisor and see if they have past cases for you to practice. Ask your advisor, business professionals and others to help with your preparations.

Each case is unique and different, but prepping yourself to put together a structured presentation will make your interaction with the judge more fun and a better learning experience.

Have fun with these cases! Remember, you get to interact with people who could be your future boss.  What a great way to leave a positive lasting impression, especially when your future resume crosses their desk.

2013 Tech Seminar & Promoters Roundtable Announced

TWIN LAKES, WI (Friday, January 25, 2013) – The 2013 Stock Car Tech Seminar & Promoters Roundtable has been scheduled for Friday, March 22 and Saturday, March 23, 2013 at Five Star Race Car Bodies in Twin Lakes, WI.  The bi-annual event is open to promoters, tech officials, and public/media relation members in auto racing.

The one-day seminar and roundtable is designed to help learn and share ideas with peers along with experts in the industry.

The Tech Seminar topics and experts include:

Ignition Tech (Terry Johnson, Crane Ignitions)

Wheel Safety (Brian Gill, Bassett Wheels)

Whistler and P&G (Eddie Chew, CRA Racing)

Crate & Seal Engines (DeWayne McGunegill & Sean Brincefield, MEP Engines)

Tires (Irish Saunders, Hoosier Racing Tires)

Chassis Safety (Wayne Lensing, Lefthander Chassis)

Seat and Driver Safety

Correct Body Mounting/Tech Inspection (Five Star Race Car Bodies)

How to Handle Non-Compliant Parts (Gerald H. Brandenhoff, Attorney at Law)

The Promoters Roundtable will feature experts discussing different topics with the main emphasis being an open discussion among promoters and public/media relation members.

The Promoter Roundtable Topics and Experts include:

State of Short Track Racing (Tim Frost, National Speedway Directory)

What the Racer Really Wants and Keys to Successful Promotion (Rob Fisher, Circle Track Magazine)

Current Insurance Issues and Trends (Jeff Ladd, Sports Insurance Specialists)

Marketing/Public Relations/Social Media (Craig Armstrong, Iowa Speedway)

Sanctioning Bodies (Dennis Huth, ASA Racing)

Race Directing and Dealing with Difficult People (Steve Dickson, Rockford Speedway)

Hits and Misses at your Track/Series

Ideas to Enhance your Announcers

“We are pleased to host this event for the third time at Five Star Race Car Bodies,” Carl Schultz, Five Star Race Car Bodies President said. “This will be a great opportunity for the racing community to get together for learning and sharing.  Our past seminars have been positively received with the amount of ideas shared among one another for the betterment of this sport.”

“This is a unique way for officials and promoters to meet with some of best industry experts to improve what they do at their tracks and series,” Mike “Lumpy” Lemke, Tech Seminar Coordinator said. “The one big thing about this, it is not just about late models. We will cover asphalt, dirt, and many support divisions as well.”

Circle Track magazine, the leading auto racing technical magazine, is supporting the 2013 Tech Seminar & Promoters Roundtable.

A special thank you to the following supporters: Five Star Race Car Bodies, ASA Racing, Circle Track magazine, Hoosier Racing Tires, McGunegill Engine Performance, Crane Cams, Bassett Wheels, Lefthander Chassis, CRA Racing, National Speedway Directory, and Rockford Speedway.

On Friday, March 22, there will be a Meet & Greet Reception at Five Star followed by dinner & drinks at Lucky Mojo’s in Burlington, WI.  The Tech Seminar/Promoters Roundtable will take place on Saturday, March 23 with breakfast and the opening presentation at 7:30am.

Registration is $75 per person if paid by March 1 ($85 after March 1).  Checks should be made out to ML Racing and sent to Kevin Ramsell, 335 Olson Ct #103, Stoughton, WI 53589.

The Hampton Inn in Burlington has a block of rooms available at a discount rate of $89.  Please call (262) 767-1900 to make a reservation and request the Five Star group rate.

Five Star Race Car Bodies is located at 36728 89^th St, Twin Lakes, WI 53181. www.fivestarbodies.com.

For more information, please call Lumpy at 920-621-7329 or Kevin Ramsell at 608-219-5912. The official Tech Seminar & Promoters Roundtable is www.fivestarbodies.com/techseminar.