CONCORD, N.C. — Drivers building their own brand has become increasingly important through the social media age.
Speaking during media day for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, David Gravel said he believes it’s one of the most important things a driver can do.
“I’m over 30 years old already, which is crazy,” he said. “Social media and media, you have to be involved in, especially being a younger guy, you are stupid not to be involved in it. Growing your brand is important. Look at what Rico (Abreu) is doing. He is doing it on an extreme level and building a big brand for himself.
“It is part of our sport to sustain success and stay around for a long time,” he continued. “We are not going to be in the best shape our whole lives and not be wanted as a sprint car driver for our whole lives. You have to make your 15-to-20-year career the best it can be because you don’t know when it is going to end, and when you are not going to be wanted anymore.”
• When Carson Macedo and the Jason Johnson Racing crew hit the road to begin the World of Outlaws season, it will be with two new crew members under the direction of crew chief Phillip Dietz.
Macedo said the team struggled to replace two departing crew members during the offseason and that he believes there is a shortage of crew members wanting to commit to a full season on the road.
“The crew guy situation has really gotten tough here lately, maybe just the grind of the outlaw tour. It is just a tough life,” Macedo said. “People couldn’t believe we were struggling to find help. It takes a lot for somebody to uproot their life, and for our team, they have to move to Eldon, Mo., which is kind of a long way from the key areas in sprint car racing, Pennsylvania, Iowa, California or Indiana.
“Not only do you have to uproot your life and live at the team house, and then if you have kids and you have to leave your family, that becomes really tough.”
• As he embarks on his first full season of World of Outlaws competition, 10-time IRA sprint car champion Bill Balog also serves as the crew chief for his No. 17 machine.
“I’ve been my own crew chief for a while. I’ve had crew chiefs in the past,” he explained. “At this point in my career, it works better that way. I don’t have anyone I have to argue with other than myself. I look at the race track and start to make decisions early in the day and feel what the car is doing as quickly as I can and make the changes that I feel like need to be made.
“Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Each race track can be compared to somewhere you have been before. There is something there that you can use from your notebook or from your memory.”
• Horsepower is important to winning sprint car races and the engine configurations used in World of Outlaws competition vary greatly.
“Figuring out your engine package is huge,” said reigning rookie of the year Gio Scelzi, who drives for KCP Racing. “Brian Morrison is building our stuff and it takes time. We have eight engines and they all run differently. No matter how similar you build them, they are all going to have a different feel.”
Ten-time series champion Donny Schatz runs the Ford Performance engine for Tony Stewart Racing and also talked about figuring out various engine packages.
“When you take 10 different engine combinations, some days you feel like it is flipping a quarter in regard to what you are going to try,” Schatz said noting there are 14 Ford engines in existence and he’s run every one of them at some point.
• Brock Zearfoss benefitted from having 2001 World of Outlaws champion Danny Lasoski work with him during his January tour racing in Australia.
“Danny is a legend of the sport and it was an honor to race with him,” Zearfoss said. “I learned a lot from the guy in a short amount of time. It goes back to understanding the language between crew chief and driver. Me and Danny understood each other pretty quick. Our car had speed over there, we were just missing that little bit.
“Sometimes it is good to have that extra eye to see things and Danny brought that. We had a little bit of bad luck. It was good to get Danny over there and it had been 24 years since he was last there,” Zearfoss noted. “Sean Carren, who was my car owner, was Danny’s car owner back then, so it was good to see them reunite and listen to some stories.”
• Journeyman World of Outlaws driver Bill Rose will have a little extra support when the season kicks off next week, having signed a sponsorship with the Michael Waltrip Brewing Co. for his No. 6 sprint car.
“I am thrilled to have Michael Waltrip Brewing Co. come on board with us,” he said. “As a mostly self-funded team, having this partnership is huge. I am looking forward to working with Michael and his company this season.”
Rose said the sponsorship has allowed him to hire a pair of crew members.
Asked what he thought about media day, Rose said: “I hate this crap.”
• A native of Wooster, Ohio, Sheldon Haudenschild is happy to see a plethora of World of Outlaws race in the Buckeye State this season.
“I love our schedule this year. I think it is great,” said the son of Hall of Famer Jac Haudenschild. “A lot of great Ohio tracks. Two nights at Chillicothe, Sharon, Eldora, the Buckeye Brawl at Wayne County. I am excited for all of those.
“Ohio produces some of the best racing, Attica always produces a great show. Going back to Fremont, I am excited about that. I haven’t been to Fremont in probably 10 years.”
• Logan Schuchart was late arriving for media day after enduring a mechanical problem with his motorhome along the way to North Carolina.
“When you have a moving house, things don’t always go as planned,” Schuchart said Friday afternoon.
• Rookie-of-the-year contenders Bill Balog, Buddy Kofoid and Landon Crawley were among the 11 drivers in attendance during Friday’s media day activities.