Drivers can now register online to be part of the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s. The 38th annual Super Nationals will be held September 7-12 at Boone Speedway.
“This will be the third year we’ve required online registration for Modified, Stock Car, Hobby Stock, Northern SportMod and Sport Compact drivers. We would appreciate Late Model drivers doing so as well,” said IMCA President Brett Root. “The process has become much easier for IMCA and track employees.”
The form for pre-registration can be found at imca.com and raceboone.com under the Super Nationals menu. Drivers who do not already have a MyRacePass account can create one when they go to that link.
Drivers must also pre-register to reserve pit stalls and to compete in the September 5 Wild Rose Casino Prelude at Boone. Pit stall application links are on Super Nationals menus on both IMCA and Boone Speedway websites as well.
The Prelude and each night of Super Nationals will be broadcast by IMCA.TV.
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based Marx Buscemi Eisbrenner Group (MBE Group), a full-service marketing communications agency focused on the automotive, mobility, trucking, tech and consumer goods industries, has promoted Kaleigh Jerzykowski to account executive.
Jerzykowski joined MBE Group in 2017; she previously held the position of assistant account executive. Throughout her time at MBE, Jerzykowski has had important roles in many of the company’s key accounts, supporting integrated marketing programs via social media management, brand launches, event and trade show logistics, and competitive analysis, according to a company release.
In her new role, Jerzykowski will lead initiatives for B2B and B2C clients that include public relations, event management, and social media marketing, as well as continuing to guide advertising campaigns and digital strategies.
Jerzykowski earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Oakland University in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Prior to joining MBE Group she worked for the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce, as an event and social media coordinator. She resides in Auburn Hills, Mich.
For more information on MBE Group, visit mbe.group.
Following the guidance of local and state health officials, U.S. Legend Cars International and Charlotte Motor Speedway have announced the remaining schedule for the Summer Shootout, which will be contested on Monday and Tuesday nights through August 4. For the remainder of the season, Summer Shootout, which showcases the best Legend Cars and Bandolero drivers from across the country, will be run without fans in an effort to follow safe social distancing practices and limit potential exposure to COVID-19 for drivers, crew and fans.
The final six rounds of the summer schedule follows:
July 6: Round 5 for Legend Cars and Bandoleros
July 7: Round 6 for Legend Cars and Bandoleros
Week of July 13: OFF
July 20: Legend Cars and Bandolero practice
July 21: Round 7 for Legend Cars and Bandoleros
July 27: Round 8 for Legend Cars and Bandoleros
July 28: Round 9 for Legend Cars and Bandoleros
Aug. 3: Legend Cars and Bandolero practice
Aug. 4: Round 10 for Legend Cars and Bandoleros
Now in its 27th season, the Summer Shootout has become a proving ground for up-and-coming drivers, with NASCAR stars like Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Hemric cutting their teeth on Charlotte Motor Speedway's frontstretch quarter-mile before advancing through the NASCAR ranks.
Competitors with questions about registration or competition schedules should reach out directly to U.S. Legend Cars International.
Cadillac will serve as the title sponsor for the Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring on Saturday, July 18, at Sebring International Raceway in Florida. The event will be the second race back for the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series, following the WeatherTech 240 At Daytona on Saturday, July 4.
"High-performance driving is part of Cadillac’s DNA. We have all missed racing and we’ve been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to see our DPi-V.R prototypes compete on the track again," said Steve Carlisle, Cadillac president. "That’s why Cadillac is proud to support IMSA’s return to racing as the title sponsor of the July 18 race at Sebring, one of the world’s most iconic tracks."
Prior to the race, the 2020 Cadillac CT5-V will serve as the official pace car. This marks the first pace car duties for the all-new compact luxury sedan, which went on sale earlier this year.
The 2020 Cadillac CT5-V pace car features:
• 360 horsepower and 405 lb.-ft. of torque derived from a high-output 3.0L twin-turbo engine, which uses low-inertia turbochargers to enhance power production across the rpm band
• 90% of peak torque at 1800 rpm
• 10-speed automatic transmission with Electronic Precision Shift and Dynamic Precision Mode
• Performance suspension with the fourth generation of Magnetic Ride Control
• Standard electronic limited slip differential, optimizing torque transfer across the differential
• Performance Traction Management and Launch Control
• Brembo front brakes, providing consistent high-performance braking in all conditions
• 19-inch wheels and summer-only performance tires 1
• Unique IMSA Sebring graphics package
Cadillac Racing has had plenty of recent success on Florida tracks, winning two of the last three Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring races (2017, 2019) as well as four consecutive Rolex 24 At Daytona titles (2017-2020).
"Cadillac has been a Sebring and IMSA partner for years, and we’re grateful for their support of the Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring," said Wayne Estes, president and general manager of the Sebring International Raceway. "Adding this event to the season schedule is a tremendous benefit to Sebring and IMSA fans, and having never hosted an international touring series event in the summer at Sebring, this will be a new experience for all of us and one we are anxious to give to our fans and competitors."
MAHLE Motorsport has promoted Joe Maylish to the position of sales and program manager for the company’s North American motorsports division, as announced by MAHLE Motorsport General Manager Brad Green.
MAHLE's U.S. motorsports division operates out of the company’s North American headquarters in Fletcher, North Carolina.
Maylish will now be the primary contact for all external sales representatives, warehouse distributors, and other customers. He will also develop and coordinate sales strategies, goals and missions, direct training, and coordinate market research to meet sales goals.
Maylish has been leading the division’s marketing department since 2018. Prior to his hire at MAHLE Motorsport, Maylish was the sales and production manager for Robby Gordon Motorsports SPEED UTV (Charlotte, N.C.) and regional sales manager for U.S. Legend Cars/Speedway Motorsports Inc. (Las Vegas).
Maylish will continue to provide direction and oversight of the company’s marketing efforts and media buys until the marketing manager position is filled.
Lincoln Speedway and Drydene Performance Products announced the Drydene 40, a $10,000-to-win 410 winged sprint car race, will be held on Wednesday, July 29, at the 3/8-mile dirt oval in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania.
The race is part of the new Drydene Triple Crown Series, which consists of Lincoln’s $7,000-to-win PA Speedweek show on Monday, June 29, the Drydene 40, and the $20,000-to-win Dirt Classic on September 19. If any single driver can win all three of the three main events, the team will collect an additional $5,000 bonus.
“We’re happy to partner with Drydene on the Drydene 40 and excited that there is an added chance for a driver to collect on the Triple Crown Series bonus,” Lincoln Speedway General Manager Jerry Parrish said. “It’s a great opportunity for the drivers and fans in central PA. Drydene is a great supporter of dirt track racing and for them to help put on an event like this right in their own backyard just goes to show how invested they are in making the sport the best it can be.”
Drydene Performance Products is based out of Jonestown, Pennsylvania, and has a strong presence in motorsports.
“Drydene is excited to partner to bring fans and teams the Drydene 40. From the famous PA Posse to legendary tracks like Lincoln Speedway, Drydene is proud to continue our partnership with dirt track racing,” Drydene Performance Products President Dave Klinger said.
Elko Speedway, the 3/8-mile asphalt oval in Elko New Market, Minnesota, is set to kick off its 2020 season on July 4, with a special event called “Racing Against Racism.”
The evening will feature on-track competition, fireworks, live entertainment, and a discussion about timely and current events.
“We are excited to start our season in such a unique manner at an important time in our lives,” Elko Speedway Owner Tom Ryan said. “At this crossroads in our society, we can choose to either ignore issues or address them. Elko Speedway, in a small way, will take advantage of this opportunity to address these issues.”
Speedway officials have implemented guidelines and policies to ensure its employees take precautions to protect their well-being and the safety of spectators, drivers, and crews.
Spectator gates open at 5 p.m., and racing begins at 6 p.m. For more information, visit ElkoSpeedway.com.
Borowski Race Engines, Inc. (BRE) has announced that Tim Zapp has been promoted from lead technician to shop manager.
Zapp, an active drag racer, is described as a "true prodigy," having assembled his first engine at the age of 14. Zapp most recently completed Holley’s EFI training program as well as an advanced Rottler 5-axis CNC course.
Zapp first joined Borowski Race Engines while still attending high school, and is now in his ninth year of employment with the engine builder.
Borowski Race Engines, based in Joliet, Illinois, builds engines for street, race, and marine applications. Established in 1968 by Ted Borowski, the company is known for its high-end LS builds.
Borowski Race Engines was purchased by Ken and Joe McCaul in 2010. The company was also recognized by Engine Builder Magazine as the Race Engine Builder of the Year at the 2018 PRI Trade Show.
The Fundamentals of Building Awareness For Your Brand
What’s a brand?
You might think of a brand as:
A logo
A slogan
Advertising
Your website and social media
An experience
Products and services
You and your employee team
The answer? A brand includes all these and more.
A brand is the distinctive promise you make to the marketplace and deliver to customers. Logos, slogans, and the rest reinforce (or sometimes contradict) the messages that you communicate about your brand.
Major manufacturers and motorsports sponsors depend on fans recognizing their brands, understanding what benefits they can deliver, and increasingly preferring them over the competitors. How can you employ those same principles, especially if you don’t have massive dollars to invest in building awareness and preference for your brand?
Let’s explore some of the fundamentals that any business can successfully embrace to set the stage for greater awareness.
LEVELS OF BRAND AWARENESS
There are multiple ways to describe brand awareness and the connections between buyers and brands.
When a brand is new or has not marketed itself, there may be no brand awareness. In this case, your potential customers don’t even know you exist.
The next level of awareness is familiarity. This describes the situation when potential buyers have some understanding of your brand—maybe they recognize your advertising, or are able to recall your brand when looking at a list of brands they might consider.
When a potential buyer recalls your brand and important details about it without prompting from any external sources, you’ve achieved the top level of brand awareness. And, if your brand is the first one that comes to mind for a buyer, that is a huge win!
BUILDING AWARENESS
Understanding these different levels is important. And in order to achieve stronger awareness, your brand has to:
Promote a straightforward, consistent message
Have a look and voice that stand out
That’s why the first step in building brand awareness isn’t advertising more or creating a bigger social media presence. First, you want to make sure that you have a clear, consistent promise and message that stands out from competitors and sets you apart.
CLARIFYING BRAND BENEFITS
Many brands never mention how they benefit customers. They concentrate on communicating their product features. While features—what your product or service does—are important, they tend to be similar among direct competitors. That’s why you need to stand out from the competition by being very clear about your brand benefits. Benefits are the positive things your brand delivers for customers. Benefits are what customers really buy. One often-used example to illustrate this is that people aren’t really buying power drills for the drill’s features, but for the holes it can make.
To more clearly communicate your benefits, look at all the materials that feature your current marketing and sales messages. Review them, and identify if they communicate how whoever buys your product will experience and realize better results than they would from other options.
If you’re mainly focusing on features now, clarify and communicate your benefits. One way to do this? Think about the negative things that would happen for buyers who choose a brand other than yours. Make a list of what their challenges would be, and then flip those challenges to positive statements. For example, a negative could be that your competitor doesn’t have the right parts in stock. Flipping that scenario, you could include an easy drop-off experience or faster repairs as a benefit of your brand. Those positive impacts are compelling benefits you can communicate.
DEVELOP A STRONG BRAND PROMISE
Your brand promise tells your audiences about the commitment to expect from your brand and the experience you create. Here are some well-known brand promise examples:
15 minutes or less can save you 15% or more on car insurance —Geico
The Ultimate Driving Machine —BMW
Save Money. Live Better. —Walmart
Notice that each of these brand promises:
Uses real words that customers understand
Is distinctive to the brands
Can shape business decisions the brands make
Allows employees to participate in living them out
A strong promise should address all of these points in a clear, concise manner.
If you’re developing a brand promise on your own, start by looking at what your customers say when they compliment your brand or make a referral. What aspects of your business impact them so strongly that they tell you and others about them? If you lack recent testimonials, contact current customers—both new ones and those who have bought from you longer. Ask how they’d describe the impact of what you do.
While this exercise will yield ideas to develop the brand promise, we recommend getting help from someone who is a professional writer to craft your ideas into a polished message.
CREATING A STAND-OUT MARKET POSITION
What do you want customers to think about when they think about your brand? Your answer reflects your brand’s market position.
Ideally, your brand’s position relative to competitors is distinctive and completely consistent with the experiences customers have with your brand. If your message is inconsistent (e.g., one part of the website says one thing, your salespeople communicate something different, and actual experiences don’t match either one), customers can’t associate a clear market position with your brand.
You can identify potential market positions by imagining on what street corner you’d locate your brand to describe as much as possible about it. For example, consider Starbucks. The brand could position itself at any of these corners:
Every Place and Familiar Tastes
Cappuccino and Conversation
Mocha and Meetings
The first position highlights that Starbucks is everywhere and provides the same experience every time. The second emphasizes the casual, coffee-centric get-togethers that happen at Starbucks. The third is geared toward professionals using Starbucks as a remote office. All of them are true, yet selecting one over the others would lead Starbucks to emphasize different brand aspects. For your brand, think about which position will best represent the consistent advantages it offers.
PREPARATION IS KEY
While it’s true that a significant part of brand awareness is telling potential buyers about your brand, you want to start by being prepared to tell them compelling, purchase-inducing messages. Take advantage of these foundational steps to ensure you have the strongest brand promise, message, and position to attract all the right kinds of attention!
Mike Brown is founder of The Brainzooming Group and a frequent keynote presenter in marketing best practices, innovation, strategy, and social media. Additionally, he authors the daily Brainzooming blog (brainzooming.com) on strategy, creativity, and innovation, reaching readers in nearly 200 countries.
A top-performing eSports competitor brings one of the industry’s premier simulation companies along for the ride, from Late Models to NASCAR’s Truck Series.
In the world of virtual motorsports, it’s important to note that there’s a clear distinction between games and simulators, and iRacing is among the most respected of the latter. The subscription-based service first came online back in 2008, boasting a strong emphasis on realism—not only in terms of the race cars, tracks, and physics models, but also the rules and formats of the series and classes represented in the software.
Over the years iRacing has grown from a niche audience, comprised primarily of diehard sim aficionados, into the 160,000-member community it is today. It’s helped in no small part by stories like William Byron’s, a teenager who managed to translate his formidable talent in iRacing into a successful NASCAR career back in 2016.
But a simulator’s inherently unforgiving design has also kept it off the mainstream’s radar for the most part. That’s something the Chelmsford, Massachusetts, company hopes to change, both through the rise of the various e-motorsports alternatives that have emerged in the wake of COVID-19, and by way of partnerships like the recently penned agreement between iRacing and Ty Majeski of the Niece Motorsports team, who currently competes in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. We recently sat down with Majeski and iRacing President and CFO Tony Gardner to get the lowdown on what this new deal brings to the table.
Ty Majeski’s relationship with iRacing dates back to 2014, when he became the platform’s highest-rated competitor in terms of skill ranking. Majeski’s achievements led to a sponsorship for his Late Model car, followed by an agreement on his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series ride.
PRI: How did this partnership come about? Who approached whom?
Tony Gardner, iRacing: It is kind of an unusual situation for us to sponsor a national series car, but Ty Majeski has been an iRacing member [for] many years, and we took note of the fact that he was the highest rated racer on our service in terms of skill ranking. Maybe six or seven years ago, I got a call from the Majeski Racing team asking if we would be interested in sponsoring his Late Model, and that really established the relationship—we have been involved in his career ever since. When Niece Motorsports reached out earlier this year, they knew about Ty’s work with us in the past and we really like the team, so we decided to sponsor another five or so races with him, along with a race for [Niece Motorsports’ teammate] Ross Chastain as well.
Ty Majeski, Niece Motorsports and Majeski Racing: Back in late 2014, I was doing a lot of short-track events in iRacing and it got to the point where I was approaching a 10,000 iRating on the service. I think there was kind of an assumption that the rating capped out at 9999, so when I went over that, it was kind of a big deal on the platform.
At the same time, I was also seeing success in my real-life racing career, so it made a lot of sense for us to team up, and it’s been a growing partnership ever since. Over the years we’ve developed a great relationship with Tony and the rest of the iRacing team, so with this latest agreement it was something where I essentially put Niece Motorsports in contact with them to work out the details.
PRI: Entering into this sponsorship, what were the goals for each side? What did you hope to gain?
Gardner: Rather than specific targets, I think we’re really looking to tell the story of Ty’s racing success in both the virtual world and the real world—how skills in iRacing can translate to competitiveness in the real world.
We also want to do a lot of social media engagement, have him on our podcast, and have him host some races on the service so he can interact with the community directly. But more than that, Ty serves as sort of an ambassador to the service, showing folks how talent in the simulator can be applied to real-world racing.
Majeski: I think for iRacing it’s a great situation to have them on the truck—if you’re watching a race you’re probably already into racing, so they’re capturing the attention of people who are likely to be interested in the product already.
It’s also a cool story to tell. They’ve helped me out all along the way—I cut my teeth in short-track events on the iRacing service while simultaneously competing in the real world, and I would not be where I am today without their support on my Late Model program.
PRI: What deliverables and/or assets are included in the agreement?
Majeski: Along with the race hosting and things like that, we want to stay on top of the social media engagement—posting about practicing a particular track in preparation for an upcoming race, for instance. But there aren’t specific targets there. You can’t shove content down people’s throats; you have to understand what your audience responds to and strategize based on that, so we have to be careful that we’re not overdoing it in that regard. There’s a balance. And, of course, they’re going to be on my Late Model car again for this year.
Gardner: Right now, the focus is really on brand awareness more than anything else, and that’s largely told by stories like Ty’s and William Byron’s. Engagement is important, both through social media and through the iRacing service, along with the podcast and race hosting, but a lot of things are on hold right now because of the current situation.
PRI: That’s certainly understandable—and in that regard, has COVID-19’s impact on the racing season necessitated any changes to the sponsorship agreement?
Majeski: Things are obviously a bit complicated right now, as they are all throughout the industry. The plan is to get back to racing when we’re allowed to do so and hold up our end of the deal. They’ll be on the truck for the final race of the season in Phoenix, and some of the races they’re sponsoring are already scheduled for later on in the race season calendar. The guys at iRacing have been really flexible about the situation—they’re really good guys, [and] there’s definitely a mutual sense of trust there.
Under their sponsorship agreement, iRacing hopes to tell the story of Ty Majeski’s success, and how virtual skills can translate to competitiveness in real-world racing. Majeski is pictured here, at left, accepting the ARCA Midwest Tour championship trophy from Gregg McKarns in 2016.
Gardner: We had some good conversations with Niece Motorsports—we’re going to work with them the best we can to try and deliver value from the agreement. We want to support the teams and support racing of all types, so we’re going to try and work it out through some different races and see how it goes from there.
Because we are the virtual series that a lot of these racers are competing in now, we’re getting quite a bit of press already. We haven’t really asked Ty to run the iRacing brand in the virtual events—he can go out and make new relationships for the team if he wants to do that. We haven’t pushed that issue at all.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t make much of a difference if one or two cars in the race are running the brand—the whole show is already covered with iRacing branding. I think we’re really just going to wait until real racing gets underway again and figure out the best approach at that point. (Editor’s note: NASCAR released its updated 2020 Truck Series schedule in late April, shortly after this interview was conducted.)
PRI: What does “success” for this agreement look like?
Gardner: I think for us it’s about him doing well. That doesn’t mean Ty has to win every race, but doing well and representing us well is how we would define success here.
Majeski: We definitely hope to provide iRacing with more exposure. They’ve seen a big jump in membership this year, so it’s nice to actually see something positive come out of all of this, and it’s been really neat for me to be a small part of their program and their growth.
The goal is to get as many people into iRacing as we can, and the most effective way to do that is to make your fans aware of it—whether that’s the audience watching on TV or my followers on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. If you can get people who like racing to try iRacing, there’s a pretty good chance that they’re going to like that, too.
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