The snowy mountains of Maine will once again echo with the throaty roar of 900-horsepower off-road Pro 4 trucks as Red Bull Frozen Rush returns to the slopes for the second year in a row on January 8-9, 2015. The raw power and impressive speed of these machines will be put to the test by some of Mother Nature's harshest winter conditions, as the trucks race head-to-head over jumps, around gates and down ski slopes. The action-packed competition will air on NBC as part of the year-long Red Bull Signature Series.

In 2014, Sunday River Ski Resort, just a few short hours north of Boston, played host to eight of the country's best professional off-road truck racers, who ventured far from their usual dirt, sand and gravel tracks to tackle unprecedented terrain, including icy berms, snow-covered jumps and steep slopes. In the end it was motorsports legend Ricky Johnson who was crowned champion in the first ever off-road truck race on snow. He now looks to defend his title against this year's stacked roster of industry greats and hungry newcomers.

"Winning the title last year was amazing, especially after going head to head with the best in the business.  It could have been anyone's day, but I'm glad it was mine," said Johnson, the recent Motorsports Hall of Famer. "This year won't be any easier.  Everyone wants that title now and like I said to Johnny (Greaves) last year… My a** is here, come kick it."

Returning to compete this year alongside Johnson is Bryce Menzies, Todd LeDuc, Johnny Greaves, Scott Douglas, Rob MacCachren and Carl Renezeder. New to the wearies of winter weather racing will be decorated freestyle motocross rider turned off-road champion, Brian Deegan and young up-and-comer RJ Anderson. Both are standout warriors in the 2-wheel drive off-road class and are stepping up to Pro 4 truck for a shot at the Red Bull Frozen Rush title.

The United States Auto Club, one of auto racing's leading governing bodies and an international motorsports authority, has sanctioned the race for its second year and will again oversee safety and competition to ensure that Red Bull Frozen Rush will be an amazing experience for both spectators and competitors alike. One-of-a-kind, studded and specially designed Mud-Terrain tires from BFGoodrich's Research and Development team will outfit each vehicle able to power up the hill. No lift access needed.

Red Bull Frozen Rush created a new chapter in the history book of off-road racing in 2014, and this winter, it will return to push the progression of the sport even further. For more information, including the schedule for an additional Fan Day on-site, please visit www.redbull.com/frozenrush.

Infiniti Red Bull Racing has formed a partnership agreement with EXNESS, one of the world’s largest retail Foreign Exchange Brokers.

The association will formally begin on January 1, 2015 and the EXNESS logo will be featured prominently on the cockpit of the RB11 that will be driven by Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat.

“We are very proud to become a team partner with Infiniti Red Bull Racing,” said Petr Valov, director of EXNESS. “Red Bull and Formula One are two of the strongest and most exciting brands in the world, and our philosophy is very similar to that of Infiniti Red Bull Racing – we are both young teams and very ambitious, and we share the same values of freedom and drive.”

“We are delighted that EXNESS is joining our team next year,” added Infiniti Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner. “Our approach as a team is to do things differently, with a strong commitment to quality and excellence. These are principles we share with EXNESS and we greatly look forward to our partnership during the upcoming season.”

This announcement by EXNESS follows a period of outstanding growth by the company and expansion across the globe. In September this year, EXNESS’ trading volumes exceeded $190 billion. During the past two years, EXNESS has won awards for the best broker in Asia, Russia, the Middle East, and the UK.

After ensuring a true ladder program from the grassroots of karting to the upper echelon of motorsports in North America, the Mazda Road to Indy announced the finalists of the inaugural Mazda Road to Indy and MAXSpeed Group Driver Advancement Program on Monday.

The four winners will be given the opportunity to sample the next step in their careers with a test in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda.

“We had 12 very worthy semi-finalists, which is a testament to the caliber of drivers in the Rotax program,” said Michelle Kish, COO of Andersen Promotions. “I would like to thank our judges for giving back to the sport with not only their time but their enthusiasm. We’re excited to introduce our four winners to the USF2000 platform and, hopefully, the next step in their career paths.”

The four rising stars chosen were Oliver Askew, 17, of Tequesta, Fla.; Christian Brooks, 14, of Santa Clarita, Calif.; Sabre Cook, 19, of Grand Junction, Colo.; and Austin Versteeg (pictured), 15, of Sandy, Utah. All are competitors in the United States Rotax MAX Challenge program.

The candidates participated in in-depth video interview conferences with Verizon IndyCar Series multi-time race winner James Hinchcliffe, Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires champion Gabby Chaves, three-time Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals champion Ben Cooper and veteran karter and multi-time Team USA member Alan Rudolph. The interviews were mediated by the “voice” of the Mazda Road to Indy, eKartingNews.com’s Rob Howden.

“This was our first year working with the Mazda Road to Indy program and what a great group of people they have behind the scenes,” said MAXSpeed Group’s Richard Boisclair. “A top-notch crew made this lengthy process an easy one as we all worked seamlessly as a team. Our judges did a great job in the interview process and we couldn’t have asked for anything better. I would like to personally thank all the applicants as well as congratulate those who were chosen by our panel of judges.”

Michael McCarthy, 15, of Clearwater, Fla., was selected as first alternate should any scheduling conflicts arise with the winners.

“First off, it was great being asked to be a judge for this program,” said Hinchcliffe, who recently announced his return to Sam Schmidt Motorsports after finishing fifth with the squad in the 2009 Indy Lights title chase. “Karting is such an important element to the health and growth of motorsport in North America. As far as the 12 finalists, wow! The talent pool was deep and all of them should be proud of what they have accomplished and of making it into the finals. The interviews were a blast and they all did exceptionally well. The winners will be truly deserving, but I wish each and every one a huge amount of success in their careers.”

The drivers are each awarded a full one-day test and will turn their first USF2000 laps on Jan. 28 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla., with the support of both Mazda Road to Indy and MAXSpeed Group personnel.

Having a fresh perspective when working on solutions to your problems makes all the difference. Albert Einstein said: "Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them."

When I coach, I become that person that can give my clients a fresh perspective and guide them more quickly to solving their problems. They were stuck on their own for a long time because they were still in the "problem awareness."

When clients and students start in my programs, as their coach I am already in the "solution awareness" for solving their problems. This always works really well for our coaching sessions, and I hear this a lot from them: "Wow, I did not think of that" or "Wow, I never saw it that way."

It's not their fault—it's human nature. We are always too close to our own problems to see the forest through the trees. That is why I coach and mentor. I love to be able to help people through this. I enjoy creating solutions for others.

With that being said, I see so many racers struggling with the same problems and issues over and over. Here are some of the reasons behind these common problems/struggles to help you get a fresh perspective, as well as how to start approaching these with my solutions.
 
Top 10 Reasons Racers Struggle To Get Sponsorship

1) Do not know how to market themselves and show their value

2) Believe "doomsday" news about the economy, so don't try

3) Fear holding them back; "mental blocks"

4) Using "push" sales tactics instead of "pull" marketing strategies

5) Not focusing on building business relationships

6) Focusing too much on racing results and not enough on marketing results

7) Racing beyond their budget until too broke to even start marketing

8) Waiting too late to start marketing

9) Expecting other people to do the marketing for them

10) Not being willing to learn and try new things


Top 10 Things Racers Can Do To Stop the Sponsorship Struggle and Start Attracting Sponsors Now

1) Make a conscious decision to start marketing more and create a marketing plan around your racing—understand that you must show a unique marketing value to a company over and above the name on the car and the suit—and decide to get creative. You want to be able to say to a company, "We have something here that you can't get anywhere else" or "We have a direct way to drive customers to you" and show the value in how you will do exactly that.

2) Understand that the more negative news you allow yourself to believe, the more it will hold you back from moving forward. There are always sponsors out there, no matter what the economy. My clients and students are signing them as I write this. Some of the most famous millionaires in history came out of the Great Depression. Have a positive, grateful and abundant mindset and get yourself out there networking with new businesses. While everyone else is sitting home thinking they cannot try because of the economy, you are out building relationships with new emerging companies. You will be way ahead of the game.

3) FEAR and MENTAL blocks. Your mind is your biggest enemy when it comes to success in anything in life, not just racing and sponsorship. Here is the key. You need to ask yourself: "What is holding me back?" Your subconscious could be telling you: "If I get a sponsor, that means I have to answer to them and I don't want the responsibility" or "Getting a sponsor is too hard to do and what if I get rejected—does that mean I am not good enough?"..... This is FEAR speaking to you, holding you back from moving forward. You must bring it to the surface and deal with it, and then overcome it to move forward. The doors will open up for you once you get rid of these fears and mental blocks—trust me on this.

4) Attracting sponsors comes from you and your team doing the things you need to do to "pull" in the interest from companies. Getting sponsors to sign with you is about the "bait" not about the "hunt." You must use more of a "pull" approach rather than "push." Cold calling, cold emailing and mass proposal mailings do not work. Building pull marketing strategies is the key, getting yourself and your team out there in a big way and having the marketing power and strategies to "pull" them in. Giving before receiving is a big one.

5) Sponsorship is all about relationship building with companies. Growing the Like, Know and Trust Factor. Your goal is to be an irresistable marketing value to those relationships so they want to spend money with you. To build business relationships, you must go where they congregate. This means away from the racetrack. The time must be set aside to do this all through the season in order to be effective for each next season. Think ahead and build your pipeline and Rolodex.

6) Racing results are just a part of what sponsors are looking for. In the modern market, companies want to see the marketing value and how it will directly help their company grow and build sales and exposure. They want to see a return on investment—so how can you give this to them? Get creative and use your winning record to leverage other marketing promotions. Become a local celebrity away from the track, too. The bigger your presence, the more you can do for them. It has to be the full package, track performance and marketing, with more of an emphasis on marketing. (Most sponsors put more importance on marketing results than they do team performance on track, in my experience).

7) I am here to take the pressure off you. Here is what I know for SURE. You do not have to race beyond your means or until you are broke to have success in this sport. Here is the key. Your success in attracting sponsors and advancing in the sport all comes down to strategy based on your budget. You should plan where and when to race based on the value of the events (exposure/purses/learning experience). Continuing to race weekly when you are strung out on funds and under financial stress is just going to make matters worse. Instead, create a detailed budget and a "per race" schedule on what you can afford to go and run well with minimal stress and promote it to the hilt. Sponsors do not want to sponsor racers who have run themselves into desperate times. They want smart racers that have strategy and a plan. That's the way they run their business, and you should, too. Your racing is a business. Start treating it as such. Take at least 25% or more of that budget and use it for marketing. The next year you will have more sponsors covering your budget because of the marketing you did the year before. So that means more racing with their funds and not yours.

8) There is an old saying, "Wait broke the wagon down," which means the longer you wait to start marketing and attracting sponsors (because it's the marketing that attracts them) the longer you will have to pay for your own racing, until you are left broke with little or no resources to do anything. There is another famous saying by author Napoleon Hill of "Think and Grow Rich". Napoleon writes in his iconic book: “Do not wait—the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.” I need not say more. Start marketing NOW.

9) I know you want to succeed in racing. You guys love to win and that's why you race in the first place! You love to work on your own cars—because YOU want it done right, and of course as drivers—YOU are in the driver's seat and nobody else! You have control of the wheel because YOU want and know how to do it and win! When you strap in to start a race, you are focused on succeeding—just you and that race car! Why should it be any different with the marketing? When you leave this up to other people and don't have a hand in it, what do you think is going to happen? Not much. Understand that NO other person is as motivated as YOU are to RACE, no other person is as motivated to get the funds you need to succeed! What does that say about getting other people to do something for you…that they don't care about as much as YOU do? Your success is up to you. On and off the track. Nobody else. Gather a good team around you, good mentors and helpers, and you lead the way. Have a major role in your own marketing and sponsorship attraction strategies and watch things immediately start to change for the better. Scoring your own new sponsor can be just as fist-pumping as a race win!

10) John F. Kennedy said: "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." To be a great leader of your team, to grow your career and to attract leaders of other companies to partner with you, you must first take the time to learn new things. Many times racers get stuck in old ways of doing things—or are afraid to try something new like social media marketing or hiring a coach like me to help them because they don't understand how it works. I run into this a lot. In the words of Dr. Phil McGraw "How's that working for ya?" You stay stuck trying to do this on your own and in a fog of misunderstanding. Listen, I know you want sponsors. I know you want to race and keep affording to do what you LOVE, and even get your teams and careers bigger and better. But here is what I have learned. You have to step out of your own limitations and be brave and open to learning new ways to get better at what you do. The first thing you must do is be accepting of the fact that marketing has changed. Not just motorsports marketing and sponsorship—marketing as a whole entity around the world. Once you grasp that, accept it, and start to learn how you can make it work for you. YOUR entire world will open up. It won't just change your racing for the better. It will change your life. Learning, adapting and applying what you learned is the key to attracting the sponsors you need and your ultimate success. Remember, the BEST investment you can ever make is in YOURSELF!


Assignment:

Take these 10 items and see which one you can start applying first. Start with one a week. Before you know it you will start to see big positive changes. You don't have to struggle! Racing should be something that is enjoyable and not stressful! This is not hard to do—just start one step at a time. You are struggling because you don't know what to do to fix it and that's not your fault! That's why I am teaching and coaching and getting the answers out there! I want to see you succeed, and I am here to help you no matter what your situation! I am here to give you unconditional love, dedication, support, strategies and solutions. Let's make this happen and together get extraordinary results for your racing, your team and your career!

Don't miss Annamarie's exclusive PRI Show seminar, “How To Attract All The Sponsors and Opportunities Racers Need," from 8 to 9 a.m. on Saturday, December 13, 2014, in Room 242 of the Indiana Convention Center, where she'll share her proven step-by-step process to get the winning marketing mindset, attract more sponsor dollars, boost racing teams and income, and advance driving careers!

Expanding on its nearly 50 year commitment to motorsports, WELD Racing (WELD) has announced the promotion of Mike Mulcahy to vice president of sales. Mulcahy now has total responsibility for company sales including street performance, truck and motorsports.

Mulcahy joined WELD in March of 2014 as vice president of the company’s street and truck business lines after a successful career as an executive with Federal Mogul and running his own client-focused motorsports business.

The company has also announced the addition of Greg Bennett to WELD’s sales and marketing team. Bennett assumes responsibility for trackside service and sales for WELD’s drag racing and oval track racing product lines. In partnership with the most advanced engineering team in the specialty wheel industry, Bennett will oversee WELD’s close collaboration with professional and sportsman racers to ensure that WELD’s partners continue to dominate the winner’s circle.

Bennett joins WELD after more than a decade of involvement in NHRA professional drag racing with numerous race teams including Bob Vandergriff Racing and Steve Johnson Racing. Bennett’s background as a lifelong motorsport enthusiast provides him with key insights into the performance market. This knowledge will ensure that WELD customers receive unmatched levels of support from Bennett.

“WELD is poised for another year of strong growth in 2015 and beyond,” said Norm Young, president and CEO. “The promotion of Mike with added sales responsibilities and the addition of Greg to trackside support further strengthens our team and gives us the opportunity to continue to serve our customers with excellence.”

For more information on WELD Racing, visit weldracing.com.

The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) announced the creation of the Bishop-France Award to honor the class champions in its TUDOR United SportsCar Championship—and the legacy of IMSA founders John Bishop and Bill France Sr.
 
The inaugural Bishop-France Awards will be presented this evening during the TUDOR Night of Champions postseason celebration at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. Driver, team and manufacturer champions in the four TUDOR Championship classes—Prototype, Prototype Challenge, GT Le Mans and GT Daytona—will receive replicas of a perpetual trophy that will be on display permanently at IMSA headquarters in Daytona Beach. The perpetual trophy, made of sterling silver, is inscribed with the names of all 288 IMSA class champions dating back to IMSA’s 1969 founding.
 
Bishop, his wife Peggy and France founded IMSA in an attempt to bring big-league organization to sports car racing in North America—a catalyst reminiscent of what motivated France to create NASCAR in 1947. France had the vision, but needed a partner to complete the concept. He tabbed Bishop, a former longtime Sports Car Club of America official.
 
Bishop, who died on June 6 at the age of 87, loved to tell the story of receiving a surprise telephone call from France one evening, in 1969.
 
“Bill wanted me to come to Daytona Beach for a meeting,” Bishop said. “Well, I went down there to talk. We had a lot of scotch and a nice chat. Bill said that with so many race tracks being built, he didn’t think the sports car sanctioning bodies that were out there could handle it. He said, ‘You ought to think about setting up a new organization, and if you do decide to do that, let me know and I’ll help you if I can.’
 
“When I got home, I talked to Peggy. We had no idea how much work it was to set up a new organization. But we did it.”
 
Bishop sold IMSA in the 1980s but by then his legacy was secure. With the help of his wife Peggy, Bishop had made France’s vision a reality. As the 2014 season ushered in a new, rejuvenated IMSA headlined by the TUDOR Championship, with the sanctioning body’s headquarters back in the city where it all began, the idea of the Bishop-France Award quickly gained momentum.
 
“We wanted to establish a perpetual trophy that captured the history of IMSA, going back to when my Dad and John Bishop started the whole thing,” said IMSA Chairman Jim France.
 
“John and Peggy Bishop, with the help of my Dad and others, really grabbed IMSA up by the bootstraps and got it going all those years ago. They created the high-water mark and now, we’re working to get IMSA back to those glory days … and beyond.”

Petty Holdings, LLC, the owner/operator of the Richard Petty Driving Experience (RPDE) and Exotic Driving Experience (EDE), is rolling out the 2015 track dates for Charlotte Motor Speedway and 15 other tracks around the country, along with the launch of the seasonal Petty and Exotic Speed Passes for the extreme driving fans.

The Richard Petty Driving Experience offers real life NASCAR racing thrills, putting drivers as close to being in the race as they could ever get, while Exotic Driving Experience gives participants the opportunity to get behind the wheel of supercars by Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Audi, and Nissan.

For drivers who can’t get enough of the 600 horsepower NASCAR-style stock cars, The Petty Pass is available for $999 and includes four, eight-lap Rookie Experiences, four “Bring a Friend” vouchers, which takes $150 off any Driving Experience for a guest, four free ride-alongs for pass holder and 25 percent off all merchandise purchased the day of pass holders experience. The pass is valued at more than $3000.

For motorists who prefer the high-performance sports cars, The Exotic Speed Pass is available for $749 and includes three Exotic Driving Experiences, six “Bring a Friend” vouchers which takes $100 off any driving experience for a guest, and 25 percent off merchandise on day of drive. The package is valued at more than $1600. Both Passes must be purchased between October 13 and November 9.

Atomic Speedway and the Renegade Sprints will partner for approximately five races next season.

The high-banked track in Chillicothe, Ohio, hosted the inaugural Renegade Sprints event in August and will wrap up this season with the $15,000-to-win Open Wheel Championships on Oct. 24-25.

“One of the biggest things is the promotional side of it and them acting like a first-class organization,” Atomic Speedway Owner and Promoter Brad McCown said about working with the Renegade Sprints. “They are all banded together.”

Atomic Speedway showcased nearly 40 sprint car drivers during the first-ever Renegade Sprints event and McCown anticipates that number to go up for the Open Wheel Championships, which will be moved to a different weekend next season.

McCown said he supports the series and would encourage other track promoters to give the Renegade Sprints an opportunity.

“I’d tell them to trust in this group of drivers,” he said. “I talked to these drivers and they are together for the better of the sport. The more tracks who come on board will reap the benefits of this.”

Toyota will have an all-new Camry race car for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Season, with the street version serving as the pace car for the 2015 Daytona 500.

The new Sprint Cup Camry was unveiled Saturday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway, prior to the running of the Bank of America 500.

The key design point of the new Camry race car—as with the rival Generation 6 NASCAR Chevrolet SS and Ford Fusion cars—is that it has a much closer appearance to its production car equivalent than the old Gen 5 cars did. The three automakers, collectively known as OEMs, or original equipment manufacturers, have worked closely with NASCAR to make that critical objective a reality.

With the 2015 Camry Toyota becomes the first of the automakers to come out with second iteration of the Gen 6 cars, which were approved for competition by NASCAR in late 2012 and debuted at the start of the 2013 season.

"The 2015 Camry is something that we actually started working on about 18 months ago," said TRD, U.S.A. President and General Manager David Wilson in an exclusive interview with FOXSports.com. "It really comes back to the philosophy that NASCAR and the OEMs adopted with the introduction of the Gen 6 cars and that is to make sure what we're racing on the track has relevancy to the product that we're selling in the showrooms."

The street version of the 2015 Camry is available at Toyota dealers nationwide. The NASCAR version will be ready to roll at Daytona Speedweeks next February.

"This past April at the New York Auto Show, we unveiled our 2015 model year Camry," said Wilson. "And of course, we knew far enough upstream that that was coming that we went to work on it. It was a terrific experience because we again worked with our design partner, Calty, who has a studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as well as Newport Beach, Calif."

According to Wilson, NASCAR signed off on the new design in August.

"We have the same box that we're working with in terms of aero—downforce and drag," he said. "We went through the qualification program procedure, with our OEM colleagues in attendance, so there was complete transparency. We passed all of the tests and so we're excited to get that car."

Racing the car for the first time at Daytona will be a big marketing plus.

"It's a dynamite-looking car," said Wilson. "And the neat thing is, we debut it on the race track and run it in anger at Daytona at the 500 and it just coincides that it's our turn to pace the Daytona 500 as well, so that's going to be kind of a neat way to introduce it to the fans."

"We're thrilled to finally be able to show off our new 2015 Camry race car—becoming the first manufacturer to update the 'Gen-6' model that was introduced before the start of the 2013 season," added Ed Laukes, Toyota Motor Sports vice president of marketing, performance and guest experience.  "We anticipate that fans will appreciate the development behind this bold Camry design—both on the race track and the showroom floor. Fans will have the chance to get an up close look at our new 2015 Camry in our NASCAR activation and fan engagement activities."

Officials with the Midwest Open Wheel Association have formed a partnership with Neal Tire and Auto Service that will make Neal Tire the title sponsor of the Midwest-based sprint car series for the 2015 season and beyond.

Founded in 1925, Neal Tire has 25 retail locations in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky and is also a leading tire distributor in the Midwest through its sister company Ben Tire Distributors. In addition to providing direct financial support for the series, Neal has made a significant commitment to enhancing fan experience and engagement at series events.

The series will be known as the Neal Tire Sprint Car Series presented by Casey’s General Stores. The 2015 season will mark the fifth year for the series.

“Neal Tire is an incredibly great fit for MOWA. When you combine a strong regional racing brand like MOWA with a leading regional automotive service brand like Neal, the possibilities are endless”, said Ken Dobson of CILTRAK, which manages the MOWA Sprint Car Series. “This relationship will help MOWA continue to grow into the future and will provide great benefits to our teams, fans and host tracks. The support of Neal with along with our other major partners, Casey’s General Stores and Hoosier Racing Tires ensures a strong foundation for our points fund and driver rewards.”

Jeremy Standridge, President of the Midwest Open Wheel Association, believes that the relationship will enhance the experience for fans at MOWA events.

“I feel like MOWA has always been a leader in getting fans involved. Neal Tire will help us do things that make for an even better show and hopefully draw even more fans. When you leave one of our shows, we hope fans feel like you haven’t just been to a race, but to an event. We think this relationship will help us be even bigger and better in 2015 and beyond,” said Standridge.