Quality learning opportunities at the annual PRI Trade Show cover critical subjects across business, tech, and EV performance—many of which can be put into practice straight away.

Racers should never rest on their laurels. No matter how fast, quick, or reliable the race car is right now, it can always be faster, quicker, more robust. The same holds true with racing and performance businesses, engine builders, and race teams.

Racing has enjoyed a resurgence of late, thanks in large part to post-pandemic, pent-up demand; but the marketplace is constantly shifting, and strategies that worked today may not be enough to ensure success tomorrow. 

To keep racing and performance businesses moving forward in 2023, we’ve collected tips, advice, insight, strategies, and other key takeaways from select PRI Education seminars presented at the recent PRI Trade Show in Indianapolis.

Subject-matter experts covered a number of disciplines, from how to make better use of social media to maximizing engine (and EV) performance. We’re sure there’s information here you can use to sharpen your program for the new race season.

Social Media Marketing Tips & Tricks

Social media marketing is one area where many small-business people struggle to keep up. Not only is it hard to create good content and find the time to post it, many people are unsure how to gauge the effectiveness of their efforts.

Sasha Dierker of SRI Performance in Mooresville, North Carolina, offers some tips and tricks for performance and racing businesses, starting with the basics. She defines digital marketing as all the opportunities brands have to interact with consumers online, via email, social media, websites and blogs, display ads, and search engines. 

An advantage to posting on social media—Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube among the most popular—is that companies can do so for free, whereas display advertising is a pay-to-play environment.

Tools for a digital marketer include conversion funnels, key performance indicators (KPIs), search engine optimization (SEO), Google ads, campaign tracking, retargeting strategies, display ads, social media, newsletters, user experience (UX) and user interface (UI), spreadsheets, WordPress, customer relationship management (CRMs), Google analytics, A/B testing, customer journey mapping, and website optimization.

According to Dierker, a digital marketing plan has seven key parts: an executive summary, KPIs, marketing strategies, objectives, the target audience, competitive analysis, and market analysis.

How can one measure the success of a social media program? First, goals should be very specific, she said, and it’s paramount to know your audience.

KPIs are crucial. Some examples include sales growth, sales per client, profit margins, customer retention, and customer satisfaction. “KPIs should be simple to understand and measure,” Dierker noted. “They should be aligned with your company’s overall strategic goals and objectives. They should be actionable. They should focus on internal factors that are in a business’s goals.”

There are various ways to measure a social media program. Since Dierker uses Facebook extensively, she pays attention to the analytics it offers. 

It also helps to schedule posts in advance, and there are several options for software to help. Most of them include analytics that can be valuable. Dierker uses Sprout Social. Other options to consider include Hootsuite, Buffer, and Zoho. 

Also of note is Canva, a free-to-use online graphic design tool. Not only will it help to create artwork for posts, but its templates can stimulate creativity. Adobe Photoshop is another option. 

Deanna Baldwin of Baldwin Racing Engines in Friedheim, Missouri, and Abby Hohlbein, a USAC D2 midget driver from Cloverdale, Ohio, found the information on Canva helpful.

“Appealing to what people want and watching your analytics were interesting to me,” Hohlbein said. “I use social media mostly to promote my sponsors and to provide videos of our races, because they’re not televised. We use Facebook and Instagram mostly. For the races we use Facebook Live a lot.” 

Giving Small Business an Edge

Small businesses have the opportunity to outshine bigger ones if they provide better and more personal customer service, noted retail expert Tom Shay of Profits Plus Solutions, based in Dardanelle, Arkansas. This approach gives them an edge over big businesses that simply track customers’ spending habits but don’t offer a personal touch. 

“Today’s customer focuses on availability, convenience, and customer service,” observed Shay. 

He advises not spending money to search for new customers if you’re ignoring customers who have done business with you in the past; he notes that 65% of people leave and go somewhere else because they think a business doesn’t care.

In tough economic times it may be tempting to “save” money by not advertising, but Shay advises against it. Instead, he said small business owners should determine their advertising goals and change their messages—and the media they use—frequently.

It’s important to test new ideas, he emphasized. “You have to try new approaches, because challenging times require radical thinking and actions. Listen to your gut feelings,” he said. 

Small-business people should calculate what they may lose if a new tactic fails, but also what they’ll gain if it succeeds. If their gut feelings say it could work, try it.

Two of those new tactics could be discontinuing a product, or even firing an employee, which can be hard but necessary. It’s easy to put both off in the day-to-day routine of doing business, but it’s important to take stock of a situation realistically and make necessary changes as soon as possible.

Another change Shay recommends is a shift in focus from a business’s products onto its customers. “Focus on who your customer is and what you can do for them instead of on your products,” he said. “There may be other things you can add to your product line or provide as a service.”

He also advises looking for every possible expense to eliminate, and to understand your financial statements.

“Remember Vivian Greene’s quote: ‘It’s not about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain,’” he said.

Shay’s advice registered with Saban Bibent, an 18-year-old sprint car driver from Cincinnati, Ohio, who wears most of the hats on his team.

“We’re all so different, and you have to make the best choices for yourself,” he said. “Having good relationships with your customers will differentiate you from the competition that is only doing things online. 

“In my case, as a driver, fans don’t just show up,” Bibent added. “You have to give them something, whether it be your time, or something that you support or stand for, before they’re going to want to buy one of your T-shirts, for example.”

Sponsorships in the Digital Age

If social media has changed the small-business person’s daily routine, the digital age has also generated big changes for the people who buy and sell motorsports sponsorships. Stephen D’Hondt of Spire Sports + Entertainment in Cornelius, North Carolina, said the digital age has shifted the balance of power between companies’ marketing decision makers and the sponsorship salesperson.

Today, the entire discussion is different, and the sponsorship salesperson needs to adapt. 

Marketing decision makers don’t want to be sold because they’ve already conducted their own research and have a good idea of what they want to sponsor, D’Hondt said. Therefore, the sponsorship salesperson needs to come across as a problem solver instead of a salesperson, and the questions he or she asks often determine his or her success. 

Tactics that work include introducing who you are, but asking questions to understand what the company is looking for in a marketing partnership; admitting that you may not be able to help; asking discovery questions in a conversational format, using neutral language; and asking consequence questions to get the prospect to start selling themselves on why they need what you have to offer. 

D’Hondt suggests people become fanatical about media and creating content, because the lines between sales and marketing are blurring. “Your digital presence is your presence,” he said. “Actively seek out audiences and meet them where they are spending their time.”

How can sponsorship salespeople best move forward? “Stay close to your points of contact,” he said. “Ask how you can help them through economic cycles. Find efficient ways to deliver incremental value.

“The future of motorsports sponsorship is one of transition, where business models will have to adapt in order to survive,” D’Hondt continued. “Multiple points of value will have to be provided.”

Salespeople should be on the same social media platforms as the brands, he added. 

It’s often hard to even determine who a company’s decision makers are. He suggested LinkedIn, SponsorUnited, Winmo, company press releases, and Google searches as ways to find the right contact person.

At-track hospitality is still a key component to sponsorship, D’Hondt said, and the driver is now more important than ever. 

“Ask questions about what matters to the company; that’s key,” he stressed. 

Christian and Adam Mulloy of Mulloy Motorsports in Lockport, Illinois, a drag racing and motocross team, took it to heart. “We will be more personal and get to know our sponsors and potential sponsors better,” they said. 

Women in Motorsports

Being in sponsorship sales is challenging, and so is being a woman in what has traditionally been a man’s sport. 

Natalie Decker of Natalie Decker Racing; Michelle Lackey Maynor of Alaska Raceway Park; Kaylynn Simmons of the Parts Plus Top Fuel dragster team; and Dr. Rebecca Starkey of VMP Tuning offered their thoughts and advice under the direction of Jeanette DesJardins of Car Chix.

Work-life balance is a challenge for all of them. “I’m a big proponent of more hours in a day!” said Starkey, who has six children. On a more serious note, she added that she has to prioritize tasks.

On the subject of how to handle negative comments on social media, the advice was to ignore it. “I can’t control it, so I’m not going to put my energy into it,” Decker said. 

Maynor said one racer at her track uses social media to complain about track prep, but her policy is not to engage in it, and to try not to even read it. 

Simmons shares behind-the-scenes information on YouTube, and she’ll respond to educational comments, but tries not to respond to negative ones.

Starkey has separate personal and business social media accounts.

What is one thing women in racing do that hurts their careers?

“They don’t dream big enough,” said Starkey. 

“Some constantly try to be tough, and sometimes that blocks people from coming into your life,” noted Simmons. 

“Not aligning themselves with good, genuine people who have your best interests at heart,” offered Decker. 

One attendee asked for advice on making connections despite being shy. 

“Follow people on social media,” suggested Simmons. “It will give you a common ground to talk about when you meet them.”

“Do your research so you can go talk to them and make it happen,” offered Maynor. 

“Show up!” added Decker. “You never know who you might meet!”

Among those inspired by these women was Sonya Lortie of K & K Insurance in Fort Wayne, Indiana. “Their perception of being a minority in this industry and their advice about how to handle it was interesting, and I’m sure it will help me.”

“A lot of it was helpful,” agreed Sara Thorpe of Disorganized Grime in Littleton, Colorado. “I’m a drag racer myself, and it was very encouraging. It helps to know you’re not alone. Other women are dealing with some of what I’ve experienced, too.”

The Engine as a System

Engine builders should think about every component in an engine as being part of a system and concentrate on how the components interact with each other, since oftentimes changing one thing will adversely affect other components.

According to Billy Godbold of Godbold Engineering Solutions in Lakeland, Tennessee, “If your valvetrain is out of control, [then] you increase your springs. Then, all of a sudden, you’re doing horrible things to your valvetrain. It becomes a vicious cycle.”

Oil analyses and combustion analyses are important tools, added Ben Strader of EFI University in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. “Measure the power in each cylinder and try to get each cylinder to do the best job it can do, instead of doing it exactly like the other cylinders,” he advised.

“You can’t make each cylinder the same; it’s not possible,” Godbold offered. “But you want to make each cylinder do the best job it can do. All the NASCAR guys know this.

“You only have four things you can change,” he continued. “There’s displacement; you can make the engine bigger. You can go to a higher rpm. There’s volumetric efficiency, and BSFC [brake-specific fuel consumption]. Rarely is there one trick part that will make more power. An engine is a series of independent parts. When you consider making a change, you need to think about the trade-off, and determine if that change is worth it.

“Remember that you have eight unequal cylinders,” Godbold said. “At the end of the day, we want you to think of the whole system when you change one component.”

Godbold and Strader’s tips landed with Evan Overturf of Greeley Automotive Machine of Greeley, Colorado. “It’s about balancing all the components, and the valvetrain in particular,” he said.

Performance and the Law

Making horsepower is always important, and so is following the law. Shop owners, tuners, and parts manufacturers know all too well that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforcement of emission levels is on the rise, and fines can be hefty. 

Clean performance tuning happens when a shop or tuner can show reasonable basis that they have not grossly increased a vehicle’s emissions through working on that vehicle by installing parts and/or tuning. 

It applies to any modern street vehicle that is modified or tuned. It does not apply to race cars. 

Bob Morreale of The Tuning School in Odessa, Florida, said that if EPA representatives come knocking on your door tomorrow, you need to be able to show them documentation that you are making a vehicle more compliant, not less. 

Morreale offers a few key suggestions for performance shops:

1. Develop consistent packages of already tested and approved parts, and pursue testing using Tuning Labs and/or the SEMA Garage, a testing program that SEMA has developed.

2. Buy parts with EOs—executive orders saying the part complies with emissions requirements—which have already been tested and approved. “Supercharger kits with EOs avoid 100% of your possible issues,” he said. 

3. Standardize packages so everything you do isn’t 100% custom. “Bundles will help you be compliant, and you can make more money because you’re minimizing your time,” he said. 

Tuners can minimize their exposure to fines by never disabling or deleting oxygen sensors on street cars, or disabling test routines. 

“Consider joining Tuning Labs; do your own tuning and testing, or test for others in the area who also need parts or tunes tested for their own protection,” he said.

Morreale suggests parts manufacturers get their products certified through the SEMA Garage, a program located in both Plymouth, Michigan, and in Diamond Bar, California. For large volumes of product, consider getting an EO test procedure at the SEMA Garage as well.

“The future is going to be that everything is going to be EO tested,” he said. “It’s already to the point that the big parts houses don’t want to carry parts that aren’t EO tested because of the liability. EOs are expensive, but SEMA’s certification program costs about $10,000 to $12,000 and takes a lot less time than going the EO route.”

“I’m going to try to use some of his suggestions,” said Zack Remsen, who owns Remtune in Gainesville, Florida. “I’m a small-business man, and I can’t afford a $60,000 piece of testing equipment, but I will look into the suggestion to package different components together that have been tested, and also the SEMA Garage program.”

EV Performance

The EV movement has come a long way in a short time. People like AZN of Street Outlaws; Steve Huff of Huff Motorsports; John Metric of Lonestar EV Performance; and Allen Thomas of the National Electric Drag Racing Association expect this to continue because a certain number of people are always into new technology, and the younger generation cares about sustainability. They all told moderator Alan Reinhart of the NHRA that the number of EVs on the road will drive the EV aftermarket.

This generates immediate opportunities for suppliers.

“We have a steep learning curve with all the sensors, but other companies will get involved in the future,” Huff said. “One thing we need right now is domestic manufacturers of batteries, but we’ll get them. The chemistry dictates batteries built to specific needs.”

Huff said the fear level has come down concerning safety, but noted some things track operators could improve in the new year. He said teams often have to bring their own fire extinguishers for chemical fires, and many pit areas need more power outlets. Standardization is also a problem, so most teams have to invest in a lot of adapters and bring generators to the track. Promoters who fulfill these needs will have an advantage over others who don’t.

Getting into EVs requires a big expense up front, but after that the discipline can be done cheaply. And, as far as records go, they predict every one will eventually be broken by an EV. 

“We can see the difference in EVs just in the last five years,” said Christopher Cysewski, a student at the University of Northwestern Ohio in Lima, Ohio. “It’s nice to know there is going to be a high-performance sector.”

“Everything that comes out is new,” noted fellow Northwestern Ohio student Collin Peterson. “You have to just dive in and figure it out yourself. We’re all going to have more voltage as things go on.”

“For me, it was great to hear EV and racing together,” said Jake Hawksworth of Hypercraft in Provo, Utah, which manufactures EV powertrains. “It was neat to hear all the positives. It gave us a sense of where the racing industry sees itself in relation to EV. It’s going to be a part of our future.”