Fans attending NAPA Auto Parts Super DIRT Week could potentially be setting up for the Matt Sheppard Show this weekend. Sheppard has a fire lit under him this season at Super DIRT Week, as he continues his comeback charge for the Super DIRTcar Series point lead.
Race fans at Super DIRT Week have been treated to one of the best racing surfaces in the history of the storied event. The week-long event is in it’s second year at Oswego Speedway and track crews have been working hard to turn things around on the surface that destroyed many race cars in 2016.
‘Super Matt’ Sheppard is continuing to keep his quest for a sixth Super DIRTcar Series championship crown alive and well, and proved Thursday at Oswego Speedway that he remains the master of NAPA Super DIRT Week time trials.
Greg Hodnett’s eventful Thursday evening was capped off in style, as he led all 30 laps to score the $20,000 Summer Nationals make-up feature from July.
David Gravel assumed the lead after race leaders Greg Hodnett and Shane Stewart got together on lap nine and won Thursday night’s feature on the opening night of the National Open at Williams Grove Speedway.
Brian Brown ruled Central Pennsylvania soil on Saturday evening during his visit to Selinsgrove Speedway, claiming the 35th annual Jim Nace Memorial/National Open with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions.
Last weekend, Woodhull Raceway Modified competitors competed in the 13th Annual Lyle Sherwood Memorial on “New York’s Toughest Bullring.” It had been just over 12 years since one of Woodhull’s historic Modified legends lost his life on the third-mile.
Michael Muldoon and Dave Shullick Jr. were crowned champions of the 10-race Shea Concrete Triple Crown Championship Series presented by ASI Racewear, with the duo netting a combined $16,000 for their efforts following Saturday night’s Star Classic 150 at Star Speedway.
Lance Dewease scored the richest payday in the history of Port Royal Speedway on Saturday night, leading the final 44 laps of the 50th running of the Tuscarora 50 to bank the $50,000 winner’s share.
Lance Dewease returned to Port Royal Speedway on Friday evening and left as a winner, earning the Night Before The Tuscarora 50 victory over a field of 65 Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions entries.
The Ontario County Fair Board and Paul Cole have signed a deal for 2018 and 2019 for the operation of the speedway in Canandaigua, N.Y. Formerly known as Canandaigua Speedway, the track will be managed and operated as Land of Legends Raceway, building off of the longtime nickname of the famed 1/2-mile dirt track.
The happiest man at Oswego Speedway when the checkered flag flew to end Sunday night’s Budweiser Int’l Classic might have been first-time winner Dave Shullick Jr., but across the pit area, Dave McKnight was arguably equally as relieved.
The genesis of Race Chaser Online actually took place in 2001 when Senior Editor Tom Baker formed a partnership with a news group in Central New York State to put together a motorsports news site called Inside Groove, aligning it with Baker’s motorsports talk show based in the Syracuse area.
Though it was only online for two seasons, Inside Groove quickly became a focal point for race coverage across the Empire State. The same passion, drive and determination to provide interesting, energetic and unique content that went into that site was recalled when creating Race Chaser Online.
Throughout the past 28 years, Baker has successfully served the motorsports community in several capacities, including track promoter, writer, broadcaster, marketing and public relations specialist, driver coach and spotter, and returned to his journalistic roots in May of 2013 (he started writing for his local paper in 1988) as the CEO and Senior Editor for Race Chaser Online.
“I am blessed to be able to have a second chance at a motorsports news site,” Baker said. “I love giving people a chance to share their stories and recognizing them for their hard work and achievements. We were quite successful with Inside Groove back several years ago, but I didn’t really understand where the Internet was going as a news source so I didn’t stay with it. With my experience over the years and the encouragement of a number of highly regarded people in our sport, I believe we are creating something that every race fan will enjoy.”
“Our goal is always to gather together all the latest technologies so we can bring our audience a high-octane multimedia buffet and provide unique coverage of drivers, teams, tracks and series you will not find elsewhere.”
“We can also provide those same teams, tracks and series with all the marketing and promotional materials and consultation they need to be successful, and we customize each program to the needs of the client. We can do everything from graphic design to marketing presentations, websites, videos, copy writing, press releases and even live radio broadcasts for races, tracks or series that want to elevate their online presence to a more exciting form of coverage. We can also set up a support program to work with them on refining their marketing efforts and increase their chances at success in that area.”
“I enjoy helping others to develop better strategies and approaches to their marketing in the sport,” Baker continued. “You cannot shortcut the process. It takes a lot of time to cultivate and maintain sponsors and you have to invest in the right materials and spend the time it takes to help them reach your audience. For those willing to make the investment of time and money to get it right, the investment is much more likely to pay off than for those who just think it’s about putting a decal on the car and having a Facebook page. As soon as you introduce sponsors into your race team, it’s not a hobby anymore. It’s a business. We can work with you to polish and promote your racing business.”
As a way of “giving back” and also of focusing on the future of motorsports, Race Chaser Online and its wireless mobile radio station — the Performance Motorsports Network — specialize in telling the stories of those who are climbing the racing ladder and highlight both the national levels of NASCAR and IndyCar as well as the niche divisions of the sport, including Australia’s Supercars Championship, the mighty supermodifieds, Legends cars, go-karts and even online sim-racing, including iRacing’s NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series!
Making this story even more unique, Baker has assembled — for the second time in his media career — a staff of inexperienced but surprisingly knowledgeable young racing journalists with a desire to learn the business and work in the sport, and he is providing the coaching and mentoring to help them take advantage of the opportunity to display their talents and skills to a worldwide audience.