First, let me start off with an apology, because I am about to step up onto my soapbox. Some of this will be to get a point across and some will be to vent some anger that has been building inside of me and my therapist says that I need to find a way to let it go.

With today’s technology, we are seeing more voices being heard in the local racing scene. I know you are now going…huh? Seeing voices being heard…what? Yes, that is exactly what I mean. In today’s local racing world we are seeing more people sounding off about different topics they see in local racing via message boards and let me tell you, it is doing more harm than good.

Everyone has their particular goals for this season, and I have one that I would like to pass along to the other racetracks and series out there. I hope that you get the same kind of media coverage that the local media is providing to Rockford Speedway.

Last Saturday, April 5th, the Speedway opened for its 61st season of racing with its annual Practice & Media Day. It was a pleasure to have all three of Rockford’s television stations and Doug Goodman of the Rockford Register Star come out to visit with many of the drivers and capture footage of some of the on-track activities.

That night, all three television stations had highlights of the activities, sound bytes from Rockford Speedway GM, Gregg McKarns, and various competitors on their newscasts. In other words, they helped us by letting the people in the greater Rockford area know that we are open for the season. You cannot ask for better advertising than that and the cost was reasonable, it was free.

It will be three years ago on March 30th that I lost my friend Mike Pritchett. Mike was pretty much a brother to me and also was a race fan.

I documented how we found out we had a common interest in a column I wrote back in October. (http://www.kevinramsell.com/node/30).

The other day, I was going through some papers in my apartment when I stumbled across the photo you see on the front page to the right of this story. It was taken on March 21, 2002 inside the Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY.

This was a few days before Mike got married to Christina, we traveled to Lexington to watch Mike’s favorite team, Indiana Hoosiers, take on the Duke Blue Devils. The thought process was that we would go down, watch Indiana lose, have fun and get ready for the wedding in Bloomington, IN on Saturday.

THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX FOR SPONSORSHIPS
By: Kevin Ramsell (www.kevinramsell.com)

The gas prices are up, the housing market is down, and overall many will say that the economy stinks. So naturally, many will start to worry about what will happen with the local racing scene. If a team cannot get that primary sponsor, they don’t feel positive that they can run the entire season. Now is the time to get creative.

When I mean creative, I am not talking about how to design your car, but creative in the way of marketing your car and team to get some of that sponsorship dollar to start flowing in.

Steve Dickson, the 2007 Madison International Speedway Bandit Champion, is moving up to compete in the Sportsman division this season. Recently, I got an e-mail from Steve where he announced his “Friends and Family” Plan. No, Steve is not selling cellular phone service, but advertising space on the hood of his car.

THOUGHTS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR
By: Kevin Ramsell

Even though it is the early part of 2008, it shouldn’t be a surprise when I say the racing season is just around the corner. I would like to suggest that we call 2008, “The Year of the Local Track.”

The 2008 season can be a great opportunity to get the local tracks to flourish. But, it cannot be accomplished by having the owners and promoters do all of the work. Everyone needs to participate to make this work.