By the time you read this column, the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic will be behind us — hopefully.
By the time you read this column, the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic will be behind us — hopefully.
However, its lingering impact will challenge us for some time to come, often in unexpected ways.
During the PRI Trade Show in December, we visited with hundreds of industry manufacturers, promoters, sanctioning body officials and race teams. Many of them are struggling. The bogged-down supply chain is making things difficult in many ways.
Crucial components are delayed by weeks or months. Keeping operations running is further challenged by the lack of a motivated, qualified workforce.
It‘s tough out there … but the very fact our industry peers attended the show, tells me they are looking forward despite the adversity. After all, racers are resilient.
The media business is not immune to these challenges. Advertising dollars, for example, are an important part our revenue. But when manufacturers can‘t fill the orders they have, there‘s little reason to buy ads. Our print publications, “SPEED SPORT Magazine” and “Sprint Car & Midget Magazine” have been further challenged by rising paper costs, supply shortages, and U.S. Postal Service delays.
But the loss of our colleague, Sprint Car & Midget Magazine founder Doug Auld, has been a devastating, unexpected loss that is going to take us some time to work through. No correction to the economic conditions will change the fact Doug was irreplaceable.
Doug was a passionate, staunch advocate for his magazine and the industry it covered. He and his team of hall of fame writers and championship-winning drivers made SCM the No. 1 open-wheel magazine. It has been a tremendous and complimentary sister publication to SPEED SPORT Magazine. The two publications share the same values.
Our commitment has always been to our readers … to continue to deliver quality, accurate and entertaining motorsports journalism. Despite Doug‘s loss, we believe we have a responsibly to our loyal Sprint Car & Midget subscribers to carry on. I‘m humbled that every single contributor shares our commitment. So we‘re moving forward. Doug would have wanted that.
Our Editor in Chief, Mike Kerchner, worked with the Sprint Car & Midget team, our printer and U.S. Postal Service representatives to put together a workable transition plan. This month‘s double issue is the first step.
It may not seem like much, but it was a Herculean effort. So far, the response to combining the magazines has been positive. Less dedicated publishers would have simply folded.
Going forward, it is possible we will merge the contributors and content of Sprint Car & Midget into SPEED SPORT Magazine … yielding one more robust offering. But that will only be another step in the process. The reality is that at some point, there just aren‘t going to be enough print subscribers and advertisers to make it practical. We‘ll keep working to push that day as far into the future as we can. Nevertheless, the digital age is upon us.
Now the good news.
The past two years have marked tremendous growth in our digital and broadcast platforms. SPEED SPORT Network, which we launched in 2019, has grown exponentially. Since the pandemic began, we‘ve been adding tracks rapidly and have grown from a few hundred live broadcasts in 2019 to more than 1,800 in 2021.
Our strategic partnership with NASCAR Digital Media has also helped facilitate our record growth on the digital side. SPEEDSPORT.com is a leader in motorsports news and information. Our “The Daily” e-newsletter keeps its huge subscriber base informed every morning with the latest headlines from across the motorsports world.
And with made-for-social media productions such as “LIVE FROM” and “SPEED SPORT TV LIVE Look-Ins,” the number of passionate followers and friends across our social media sites continues to grow.
Our award-winning weekly television program “SPEED SPORT Presents,” entering its ninth year on MAVTV, is a prime-time mainstay of the motorsports network. As a crucial extension of our streaming partnerships, it allows us to showcase the best of grassroots racing and automotive events on a larger scale. We are also exploring exciting new ways to produce and distribute motorsports and automotive content to television audiences in the U.S. and across the globe.
The foundation of it all has always been our commitment to motorsports journalism of the highest standard. Doug Auld — and his beloved “Sprint Car & Midget” was built on those same values … and we know our loyal SPEED SPORT and Sprint Car & Midget subscribers appreciate that.
Here‘s to moving forward together, in Doug‘s honor and in honor of all those before him who made this possible. After all, racers 
are resilient.