ThorSport Racing Looking for Experienced Tire Carrier: ThorSport Racing [#13, #88 in Truck Series] is looking for an experienced front tire carrier willing to relocate to the team's Sandusky, Ohio base for an open position on Matt Crafton’s #88 Menards Chevy team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Shop duties include general mechanics and fabrication. Please forward all resumes to David Pepper at dnpracing@aol.com. No phone calls please.(1-19-2010)

DST will be conducting tryout for various different NASCAR pit crew programs beginning on January 4th. Please contact David Smith-Tilley via email at smithtilley@yahoo.com to set up your tryout.(12-31-2009)

First scholarship recipient receives diploma: As the first recipient of the Universal Technical Institute Foundation Brienne Davis Scholarship, Kenna Primm is blazing new trails for females in the motorsports industry -- in and out of the classroom. "I have big goals and I'm determined to make them happen," said Primm. Primm received her diploma from NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, N.C., graduating with top honors and a perfect 4.0 GPA. While taking two six-hour classes every week day, Primm managed to make the Director's Honors List and receive multiple awards. Primm also participated in the DRIVEN program as a student mentor and was voted by her peers as president of the NTI Motorsports Club. In 2009, Primm was named the first recipient of the UTI Foundation Brienne Davis Scholarship and received a $10,000 scholarship towards her tuition to help foster her dreams of a career in automotive and NASCAR. Last year, Primm moved 950 miles from her home in Greenwood, Ark. to study automotive and a NASCAR-specific technology program at NTI -- the only school of its kind that combines automotive training and a NASCAR-approved technologies curriculum into one program. For seven consecutive years, 90% of NTI graduates have found employment in either the automotive or motorsports industries. Named after Brienne Davis, a UTI alumnus who went on to become a Cup Series Official before tragically losing her life in a 2008 traffic accident, the annual scholarship fund provides an opportunity for aspiring female students to attend any one of nine UTI campuses across the U.S. Primm recently accepted a position in the marketing department at Roush Yates Engines and will begin working there in February.(NASCAR.com)(2-3-2010)

Erin Crocker & Dirt Track Racing School Team up for Open Wheel School UPDATE: Erin Crocker and the Dirt Track Racing School have teamed up to offer a special two-day, open wheel driving school in January 2010. The program will include a mix of classroom learning and hands-on experience behind the wheel. This unique program will be held January 16th and 17th, 2010. It will include one day of classes to be held at Ray Evernham Enterprises in Mooresville, NC and one day of on-track activity at nearby East Lincoln Speedway.
Classroom training on the first day will provide valuable information regarding driving techniques, safety, fitness, marketing and public relations. The second day will take place at the racetrack. Each student will turn laps in two different types of open wheel dirt cars, including a full-size Sprint Car. Crocker will be heavily involved in all activities and constantly providing feedback.
After Erin Crocker was introduced to Shawn Parker earlier this year, she knew she had an interest in getting involved with his program. Parker, a former driver as well, is the owner and operator of the Charlotte, NC Dirt Track Racing School. The school began operating in March 2008, and offers students the chance to drive in a variety of different dirt cars. Parker and the school are off to a great start, having already provided schooling for NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Ragan's development drivers as well as H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler's Humpy's Heroes program.
As Erin Crocker and Shawn Parker had the chance to sit down and brainstorm, they came up with the concept of running a special program where Crocker could put her experience to use helping young drivers reach their goals. Crocker, the only woman to ever win a World of Outlaw Series race, has spent years racing on dirt tracks all over the world. She has also competed successfully in the ARCA series and the NASCAR's truck and Nationwide series.
"I really believe this is a chance for me to give back to the sport. I enjoy trying to help others reach their goals," says Crocker. "I've already experienced most of the things young drivers will face if they are pursuing a career in racing, and I'm confident I can help speed up their learning curve on and off the track."
"We're excited to work with Erin on this unique school," says Parker. "Erin has an impressive driving resume and significant experience working with sponsors. Her perspective on racing will provide valuable insight into what it takes to pursue a career in motorsports." For pricing and more information on the program, please call the Dirt Track Racing School at 704-728-2969. You can also visit them online at www.DriveOnDirt.com.(Victory Management Group)(12-1-2009)
UPDATE: Learning to drive on a dirt track can be a challenge since there are few dirt track driving schools. Erin Crocker and the Dirt Track Driving School have teamed up to provide students with a great hands-on learning experience that is hard to find. Crocker has made it a point to keep the program small to ensure a quality educational experience for the students where they can learn skills from a former dirt track driver with experience herself. The inaugural class includes six students originally from the northeast and Canada. These students, who are 15 years and older, have prior driving experience and have driven vehicles such as mini sprints and go-karts. On the first day, Friday, January 15, students will learn to drive midgets and winged sprint cars. The second day, Saturday, January 16, students will learn about the importance of fitness, safety and other information about driving on dirt.(VMG)(1-14-2010)

Modified Driving Experience to Invade Myrtle Beach Speedway in 2010: Starting spring 2010, Carolina Motorsports & Myrtle Beach Speedway will be offering a new, exciting type of race car driving experience for race fans and speed enthusiasts alike. Carolina Motorsports and Myrtle Beach Speedway have partnered together to create the Carolina Motorsports Driving Experience, a NASCAR open wheel modified driving experience at the Myrtle Beach speedway. "This new driving experience is a rush, the people that come out to drive these cars are absolutely going to love it," says Billie Hardee, owner of Myrtle Beach Speedway. For more information visit Carolina Motorsports at www.carolinamotorsports.net.(1-5-2010)

Motorsports College Class: at Mitchell Community College, located in Statesville NC. Called Motorsports, Introduction: Take advantage of this opportunity to learn entry level skills such as: Race car chassis fabrication, suspension component assembly and adjustment, safety standards, and the importance of precise measurement and tolerances. Also learn what major race teams expect from an employee in order to gain a qualified advantage over other applicants.
WFD, 115, M Tu Th, Feb. 22 - May 3, 5:30p-9:30p, $225 Lim. 20
See the listing on page 19 of this pdf document.(1-5-2010)

Professor studies the culture of NASCAR: John D. Miller teaches early-American literature at Longwood University, but lately he has lectured on a more contemporary theme: NASCAR and globalization. A fan himself, Miller says the lure of NASCAR is not so much the cars and the race as the spin they bring to an archetypal American narrative. "I think most fans are attracted to NASCAR because it celebrates this national culture," he said. NASCAR's popularity has increased with the rise of globalization, which some people see as a threat to traditional American identity, he said. They look to NASCAR as a way "to celebrate and reaffirm a traditional set of American values." That script is followed from the start of the race. Miller notes that NASCAR is the only professional sport that still begins with a prayer over the public address system. The national anthem is sung by a national recording artist, accentuating its importance, and the military fly-by seals the association between patriotism and the military. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a doctorate from the College of William and Mary, Miller wrote his master's thesis at Auburn University on the culture of NASCAR. Miller looks to NASCAR for the stories it tells about America "that help define that cultural identity for people, for readers or for sports fans."(see full story and quotes at the Richmond Times Dispatch)(12-8-2009)

NASCAR seeks recruits at JCSU: The NASCAR College Tour visited Johnson C. Smith University last week, and a group of about 50 students gathered at Biddle Hall to hear from African Americans the stock car racing company hopes represent a significant part of its future. There was Marc Davis, a 19-year-old driver and team owner in NASCAR's Nationwide Series. There was Arionne Allen, a 23-year-old who went through NASCAR's Diversity Internship Program. There was Mike Phillips, a senior manager for track services, who helps run emergency crews at Lowe's Motor Speedway. For the past nine years, NASCAR has sent a team of officials every year to historically black colleges and universities. The goal is to recruit minorities into a sport that hasn't always welcomed them. JCSU was the last of five stops on this year's tour; the others were at Clark Atlanta and Morehouse College in Atlanta, Virginia State University in Petersburg, and Delaware State University in Dover. The college tour dovetails with NASCAR's Drive for Diversity program, a 5-year-old initiative that tries to develop minority and female drivers and pit crew members.(Charlotte Observer)(10-20-2009)

Kulwicki Family Gifts to Fund Scholarships, Motorsports Facilities: To honor the legacy of former NASCAR racing champion Alan Kulwicki, his family is making a gift commitment of nearly $1.9 million to support engineering education at UNC Charlotte. A trust fund created by the late driver’s mother since the age of 14, Thelma H. Kulwicki, will benefit the Motorsports Engineering Program in the William States Lee College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Sciences. Considered the largest individual gift ever received by the engineering school, the funds will be used for student scholarships and to construct a new motorsports engineering facility on the UNC Charlotte campus. The Kulwicki family also is contributing nearly $630,000 to his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The gift also will be used for scholarships and to create the Alan Kulwicki Memorial Student Center in the university’s engineering building. In recognition of the Kulwicki family’s generosity, the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees has approved naming the university’s existing motorsports research laboratory in honor of Kulwicki, who died in a plane crash several months [April 1, 1993] after he won the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup championship. The facility will be called the Alan D. Kulwicki Motorsports Laboratory. For her part, Thelma Kulwicki said she was struck by how much the students in the motorsports engineering program have in common with her son, who earned a mechanical engineering degree from UWM in 1977. Alan Kulwicki was the first college graduate to win stock car racing’s premier title, the Winston Cup Series championship. It is now called the Sprint Cup Series.(UNC Charlotte)(10-15-2009)

Kelley Earnhardt, John Bickford & Boston Reid: Performance PR Plus’s third annual Driver Advancement Marketing Summit set to take place in Charlotte, N.C., on January 30 – 31, 2010, is designed to provide valuable information and insight from industry professionals on topics that include obtaining sponsorship, driver development programs, stepping-stone racing series and how to use public relations, websites and social media to promote yourself and sponsors. Speakers will offer valuable information and answer any questions that attendees have about marketing themselves and the many off-track components necessary to have a realistic chance to advance, and what needs to be considered before making life-changing decisions around a career in motorsports.
Kelley Earnhardt, vice president and general manager of JR Motorsports and business manager for brother Dale Earnhardt Jr., will discuss how JR Motorsports selected some of the young drivers such as Brad Keselowski who have competed for their organization, and how even she has had to become more creative in this difficult economic time to secure sponsorship for the most popular driver’s race team. Having started out as a late model stock car driver herself and now considered one of the most powerful people in motorsports, Earnhardt’s experience in nearly every aspect of the sport will provide valuable information to drivers at any level of competition.
John Bickford, vice president of Jeff Gordon, Inc., is the stepfather who had the wherewithal to make many strategic decisions and coach a young Jeff Gordon on and off the track from the age of four. Bickford has mentored other young drivers along the way, including Boston Reid who competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series as part of Hendrick Motorsports’ driver development program.
Bickford will share his vast knowledge and experience as it relates to what drivers need to think about now, some of the pitfalls and roadblocks that may exist, and how to be strategic about career choices. As the cliché goes, every driver aspiring to compete at the highest levels of motorsports wants to be “the next Jeff Gordon” and Bickford is responsible in many ways for developing Gordon into the four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion that he is today.
Along with Bickford, Reid will be on hand to talk specifically about making those strategic decisions and how his immense commitment and off-track efforts landed him at Hendrick Motorsports. He will talk about where he is now and provide insight about how development programs at the highest levels work and advice on how to get there. An industry professional who seeks sponsorship for a living, Michael Burch, who works for Bruton Smith as the vice president for business development for Speedway Motorsports, Inc, will talk about best practices for approaching sponsors, how to qualify companies as potential sponsors and how to make sponsorship proposals all about providing a return on investment for prospective companies. Burch will talk about what to include and -- as importantly -- what not to include in sponsorship proposals.
Other speakers will be announced as they are able to commit. Past speakers include NASCAR’s Jim Hunter, FOX Sports’ Matt Yocum and Lowe’s Home Improvement’s Gray Abercrombie. Like speakers will be added to include a sponsor representative such as Abercrombie who will talk about how to approach a company like theirs for sponsorship and why they sponsor motorsports, along with a regional or national touring series executive and a member of the media to provide advice on interviewing techniques. For more information or to register, please call (704) 377-8727 or visit www.performanceprplus.com and click on the Driver Advancement Marketing Summit logo.

RPM Promoters Workshop returns in 2010: After a five-year absence, the Speedweek RPM Promoters Workshop, one of two national conventions for auto racing promoters, produced by Racing Promotion Monthly, is returning to Daytona Beach in February 2010. Promoters will convene February 8-10, 2010, at the Hilton Daytona Beach/Ocean Walk Village, Daytona Beach's premier beach side hotel. The Thirty-Seventh Annual RPM Promoters Workshops Series begins December 3, 2009 in Reno, NV, with the three-day Western National Workshop, and concludes in Daytona Beach in February. The Speedweek Workshop will be the 99th produced by Racing Promotion Monthly since 1974. More than 1200 track operators, their employees, and industry leaders attended last year’s Workshops. Racing Promotion Monthly, the idea newsletter for auto racing promoters, and the Workshops are produced with the year-round support of K&K Insurance Group, Inc., Hoosier Racing Tire.
Dave Moody, host of Sirius Speedway on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128, and for 30 years the announcer at Thunder Road International Speedbowl, Barre Vermont, will present keynote remarks at the upcoming 37th RPM Promoters Workshops. Moody, is also heard each week on MRN Radio, as he calls action in Sprint Cup races. At Reno, Moody will keynote the meeting and broadcast his daily NASCAR Cup-oriented program from the stage in Brew Brothers Brewpub at the Eldorado Hotel Casino, Reno, NV. In remarks to promoters, Moody will share some stories of his days at Thunder Road and offer his thoughts on how promoters must better use their announcers to raise the entertainment bar at their events mixing serious sports with humor and human interest, to compete with the high production values of TV racing and fans’ ever-heightening entertainment expectations.
The Workshop will also include remarks from Promoters of the Year Joe and Walt Doellefeld. Other sessions will discuss new media promotion, attempting to sum up what promoters have learned about using new Web techniques and Web-based social media. Cary Agajanian and other Workshops attorneys will answer promoters’ questions about risk management, business, and regulation. The Workshop will be a “Short Track Short Course,” with dual focus on business and promotion and on operations and competition.
The Thirty-Seventh Annual RPM Promoters Workshops Series, begins December 3-5 in Reno, NV, and concludes, February 8-10, 2010, at the Daytona Beach Hilton Ocean Walk Village.
SIRIUS NASCAR Radio's Sirius Speedway, hosted by Dave Moody, will broadcast live from the Brew Brothers Brew Pub inside the Eldorado Hotel Casino during the Thirty-seventh Annual RPM Promoters Workshops. The Brew Brothers, the Eldorado's marquee entertainment attraction, named Best Brewpub in America by Nightclub & Bar magazine, will host the daily satellite radio program December 3 & 4, 2009.
More information can be found on the Workshops Website www.rpmpromotersworkshops.com, or is available from RPM at 715-536-1067.(RPM Promoters Workshops)(10-30-2009)

The new venue for the Motorsports 2010 show is only about 5 miles from where it all started in 1986 when the show made its debut at the Valley Forge Convention Center. The new home at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center at Oaks, PA on January 22nd, 23rd and 24th, 2010.
Greater Philadelphia
Expo Center At Oaks
100 Station Avenue
Oaks, PA 19456
484-754-3976
More info at aarn.com