Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

I just wanted to give an update on my new venture, SprintCarUnlimited.com. The site is coming along and will be ready for launch Jan 20 at the Motorsports show in Philadelphia.

During the show, I will be raffling off tickets to various Sprint Car events. There is no cost to enter. Just sign your name and provide an email address on the entry form and put it in the box at the SprintCarUnlimited.com stand. 

Fans will be able to purchase the website for $8 a month, $35 for six months and $50 for the year. The site will feature breaking news, features, photo galleries, interactive polls, lists, slideshows, results stories, video and more original content. There will also be a history section featuring track and series champions, all time win lists and schedules.

Every fan that signs up will receive an entry into the Month of Money Contest at no extra cost. First prize is two tickets to the World Finals in Charlotte. Members will also be entered in a monthly ticket giveaway, also at no extra cost.

Any questions can be forwarded to Jeremy Elliott via this thread or [email protected]. Advertisers can also reach me at the email address.

Thanks and Happy New Year.

Wishing you nothing but the best in your new venture. Looking forward to signing up at the Motorsports show.

The first giveaway tickets are in. SprintCarUnlimited.com members will have a chance to win tickets to the Kevin Gobrecht Classic at Susquehanna Speedway, which will be held in May. A drawing will be held in March and April. Two tickets will be given away each drawing at no extra cost.

Jeremy, coming together nice.  Kind of looks like your using SquareSpace for the site, but I don't think SS has the functionality to be an everyday updatebale (or not easily) site.  Either way, looks nice.  Start hitting those phones for advertisers - call Mike Heffner, call local tracks, speed shops, etc.

I have a web design company developing a site. Not something I'm doing on my own. I feel I need to pay a professional to have it look good. Trust me, I'm burning up the lines. 

I dont' want to tell you what the smartest move you've made yet, but hiring a professional web design company is a VERY smart move.  Nothing worse than a poorly functioning and appearing site.  I'm sure it'll be adaptive and optimized for mobile as well. The upfront fiscal cost for this will pay dividends in the end. 

I did it for a number of reasons. I need to focus on putting in schedules for 22 tracks and 13 touring series. And I keep adding more each day. There is a lot of content as far as special event win lists, track champions and all time win lists for speedways. I have to find it and manually put it in. Plus, I want to have eight to 10 stories on the site when it launches on Jan. 20.

I will check into it.

I like the concept but I'm questioning the paid membership business model for a dirt track racing site.

Breaking news?  I get that from driver Facebook pages, Twitter, driver websites and sites such as iBracin for free.

Features?  I get a magazine for an entire year for a very reasonable price.  I have written some feature length articles over the years as well so I'm more familiar than most with how that all works.

Photo galleries?  I shot for a local racing paper for years and have a closet shelf full of my stuff on disc.  In addition to my own archives there are free galleries posted online after every night of racing if a person knows which photographers to follow.

Polls?  They're interesting but in the final analysis are simply fan's opinions and opinions are like ___ we all have one. 

Lists?  I see those online all the time as well.  What kind of lists and stats could be more comprehensive and interesting than the ones posted by tracks and series? 

Slideshows?  Same thoughts as the photos, all they are is a collection of pics often time put to copyrighted music without obtaining licensing from the artists (one of my pet peeves as an amature musician).

Results?  Listed on Twitter in real time and on track and series websites by the next morning.

Video?  Plastered all over YouTube the morning after races.  Unless video content will include live racing and an extensive collection of full race archives like I get on Lucas Oil TV for $60 per year I'm not interested.

I listened to the Penn Live podcast many times as a free download to my MP3 player so I am not doubting that the content will be first class.  I spent a season creating podcasts and interviewing drivers a few years ago as well so I can appreciate the work involved setting up interviews and processing the adio files.  Nevertheless, free Sprint Car racing coverage permeates social media, track and series websites and YouTube.  The business model for all of that free content is advertiser supported which allows the content to remain free of charge to the fans.  Maybe I'm wrong but I see the kind of content noted above for NFL, NHL, NASCAR, and every other sport imaginable free of charge so what is it about this proposed site's content that will make it worth $50? 

I'm sure some will call me a hater and naysayer and won't get the sense of what I'm asking but that's the nature of this beast we call the internet.  I'm just asking as someone who has produced much of the type of media content noted above what will make this stand out from all of the free stuff available on the web?

Stan Meissner

I'm willing to give it a shot and I'm sure I'll like the website, but I do think live video is going to have to be part of the business model.

Yes, I think for a paid site that live video would be the only type of content that stands out from the free race coverage we see all over the web.  Perhaps that is part of the content and that would put it in the category of sites I would be interested in subscribing to if it's going to be available through the Roku player. 

I should have included live audio on my list of free content that I follow.  The past few years I've been feeling my age more and backed off from the writing and shooting.  More often than not aside from a handful of races and street rod shows I still like to photograph I find myself sitting at home a lot of Saturday nights.  I know a few drivers who run Knoxville, Tatnells live nearby and we run into them around town, a relative was involved with the Heskin team and I got to know Dollansky a little while I was writing.  Sometimes I'll tune into the Knoxville or Dirtvision free audio and listen in so I can keep up on how they're doing. 

I have found as I have crossed the line into senior citizen status and stopped chasing races that continuing to follow the sport can be somewhat sketchy.  On the one hand a person can follow all the free content but it's not the same as watching a live feed.  There is no consistency with the live feeds with one site picking this series up, another that track and so forth.  Nobody, especially someone cutting expenses to prepare for retirement, can afford to put that  hodge podge of streaming sites on their charge card every weekend.  I picked Lucas Oil and they feature the ASCS as well as their Late Model series.  If I want to see the WoO or Knoxville there are two other services both Ala Carte by the race that I would have to use.  No way I can afford to charge up all of those sources which has been a source of frustration now that I'm outside looking in and still wanting to follow the sport.  Back when I was chasing races I never thought about what it would be like to go from writing, photographing and interviewing to sitting in the recliner scratching the cat and watching Netflix.  That's a culture shock that not many racing fans could appreciate and probably the reason I'm so vocal about free content. 

Stan Meissner