#ATTHETRACK - 3 RACES IN 3 DAYS

In my blog “an improved experience” I offered some suggestions to race promoters and track owners to what I was looking for from the tracks I attend from the fans perspective.  One of the talking points was related to social media and developing a track hashtag slogan.  Taking my own advice, you may have started to see #atthetrack in my previous blogs as well as on our social media pages.  The hashtag #atthetrack comes directly from our mission statement.  Unlike all the other social media groups out there that I could find related to short track racing it is our goal to SUPPORT the local short track industry, INCLUDE anyone who may be interested, and LIVE our experiences sharing stories AT THE TRACK.  What makes this group unique and separated from the rest is that we want to spend our Thursday through Sunday nights living our experiences at the racetrack rather than reliving past experiences at home or on the “when racing was…” social media pages.  There will always be room for some reflection on past experiences on our website and social media pages as that is what keeps us all connected.  Given the overwhelming amount of member requests we have seen in just the first few weeks of race season 2015 it seems like I am not the only one out there wants to continue supporting the sport through our attendance week in and week out.

SUPPORT

The first part of our mission statement is support, more specifically, it is supporting each other. That is was United Race Fans of Wisconsin is all about.  We are supporting each other through the website, social media, and each time you sit next to your fellow United Race Fan at the racetrack.  Through our attendance we are supporting the industry of track owners and employees, car owners, drivers, and crewmen, as well as track and car sponsors.  I’d like to encourage each and every one of you reading this to look at the billboards at the racetrack, listen to the announcers as they read through their sponsor ads, and read the sponsors on all the racecars as they round the track or are parked in the pit area after the races.  Then, go support those businesses telling them that you choose them because of their support in short track racing.  If we all support one business connected to the industry in this way imagine the impact it could have not only to that business, but also to the sport.

INCLUDE

The second part of our mission statement is something that we all can do, but sometimes can be a little more difficult.  Personally it has always been a struggle for me as shown in my blog “I love this track - Madison International Speedway”, but we are to include anyone and everyone in order to grow short track racing at the local levels introducing new fans to the sport.  The one thing I have learned is talk about why you love this sport to your neighbor, a friend at work, a parent of your kids friends, or anyone who you think may enjoy a night at the races.  Talk to them about the value you get out of a night at the races not only from a dollars perspective, but also from a pure entertainment perspective. Tell them about your favorite car or division, your favorite seat or even your favorite food item.  Most importantly, tell them why you love your track.  

LIVE… AT THE TRACK

The last section of our mission statement is a summary of the goal in the first two.  We want to live our experiences, not at home on facebook or twitter, but sitting in the stands.  We have added a new way for members to show their support for local short track racing with our new group hashtag #atthetrack.  Posting this hashtag with which track you are at to the facebook page or tweeting to @URFWI on race days will not only get your attendance credited to the member race log, it will also show your support to the industry and to your fellow members and friends who follow our social media pages.  What a great way to show our support for the sport and hopefully we will see a few new faces included in those posts.  

3 RACES IN 3 DAYS

To celebrate the one year anniversary of United Race Fans of Wisconsin and our new slogan, the original 4 members of the group are going on a short track racing excursion June 4-6.  I personally will be attending 2 tracks I have never attended before and for the other 3 members it will be their first trip to all of these facilities.  June 4th we will be attending State Park Speedway in Rib Mountain.  June 5th we will be attending Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, and June 6th we will be attending LaCrosse Speedway.  These are all official meetup events and at least one of us should have our United Race Fans of Wisconsin tees on so please feel free to say hello. Membership along with a member number is issued immediately if requested and we always love getting to meet fellow race fans.  We are looking forward to an awesome 3 days of racing and hope to meet some current members and new friends as well.  Have fun this upcoming race weekend, we’ll see you #ATTHETRACK!