Mooresville, N.C. (February 14, 2011) – If anyone doubts that Alli Owens has some of the most dedicated fans in racing, the evidence can be seen on her race truck. After losing her primary sponsor at the conclusion of last season, Owens faced the daunting task of finding the funds to compete in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Daytona International Speedway (DIS). Owens turned to her social media resources, which proved to be a winning move.  The support of her fans has afforded Owens the opportunity to make her first NASCAR start in this week’s NextEra Energy Resources 250.

Owens’ grassroots effort rallied her fans and local sponsors to contribute to her cause. Within weeks, Owens raised enough money to subsidize her No. 76 Ray Hackett Racing Ford F-150 at the famed Florida race track. Local Daytona establishments Mullinax Ford, Rue and Ziffra, P.A., Giles Electric Company, AXA, Miller Electric Company, NECA North Florida, Bob Evans of Port Orange, IBEW Local Chapters 756, 915, 1205, 613 and 222 all contributed to the cause. She has rewarded her supporters by placing their indivdual names on her truck.

“It has been overwhelming to see the support of my fans,” Owens said. “When I lost my primary sponsor during the off season, I didn’t know if I’d be able to race at all this year. I’m so fortunate for my fans. They’re truly the best. I can’t thank them enough for all of their dedication. It means the world to me. I’ve had kids, adults, friends, strangers and everyone in between donate money for me to race. Their names will all be on my truck and I’m going to do everything I can to bring them a win.”

No stranger to DIS or restrictor plate racing, Owens sat on the outside pole in 2009 for the ARCA event at DIS. In 2010 at DIS, she ran inside the top five for the majority of the ARCA race before being shuffled out of the draft in the closing stages of the event. Owens recorded her best ARCA finish at Talladega Superspeedway in 2009, finishing in the top-10.

With sponsorship in place, Owens is ready to focus on the task at hand.

“I’m so excited to make my first NASCAR start,” Owens said. “Growing up in Daytona, I’ve dreamed of this since I was a kid. It took a lot of hard work and effort to get to this point and I can’t wait to hit the track.”

Scene from Rue & Ziffra – Alli Owens Community Service Commercial (PSA) shot at NASCAR

A group of organizations including, Daytona’s own Rue and Ziffra PA, sponsored Alli Owens for the race. Alli’s social media sponsors, including Facebook and Twitter  account for what may be the first time in history, fan donations helped put a NASCAR racer on the track in Daytona  Over 2000 Alli Owens followers on Facebook knew she needed their financial support to get in the race, and they responded.  Alli herself used funds from her bride-to-be savings to get there.

This spot is not Rue & Ziffra’s first venture in community service advertising. The trial attorneys at Rue & Ziffra promote motorcycle and auto safety while sponsoring other Volusia County community programs. Joining forces with hometown hero, Alli Owens made for a particularly strong message to the community. Alli  is known locally and nationally for both her ability as a racecar driver and motivational speaker. She has addressed middle school students in 18 states about believing in themselves and committing to their dreams Her philosophy for success comes down to three steps: dream, believe and achieve. Following those simple guidelines have taken Alli far, and although she did not time qualify for this particular NASCAR event, she’ll be back. As she says in this spot with Rue & Ziffra: “never let anyone tell you, that you can’t do something”  Alli Owens is committed to following her dream.  

The TV commercial “Live Your Dream”, sponsored by Rue & Ziffra, was produced on February 14, 2011 at the Race Against Drugs (RAD) Headquarters in Port Orange, Florida where Ms. Owens has given several motivational talks.  ”It’s law firm advertising that promotes community service involvement and it works” states John Heller, Producer, Director of iCreative Network.  “I have previously featured Rue & Ziffra as a community conscious enterprise and the results have been significant. I believe any company or law firm should consider community service to be an important message and selling tool in their advertising communications.  My approach is to work with the client so they can have more than one TV spot running at a time.  Every company has a story to share about its service. Delivered correctly, these stories can help drive sales. Law firm advertising has gotten a bad reputation over the years in both the content and the quality of the commercials. Law firms like Rue & Ziffra are helping to change that perception.”

John Heller, Director and Alli Owens before qualifying competition at NASCAR

About iCreative Network: We are a CLIO Award winning DRTV commercial production company specializing in lawyer advertising, doctor advertising and professional services advertising. We have over twenty years experience helping companies grow through quailty budget conscious TV and internet advertising.

For more information on this article and on how important community service and advertising is for business. Contact Nancy Colgrove, Producer at iCreative Network, 561-214-4668 or nancy@icreativenetwork.com###

(Moorsville, NC,  January 26, 2011)   Bell struggled last year during her second season with NASCAR’s Drive For Diversity program, the series’ on-track diversity initiative which provides female and minority drivers the chance to compete in NASCAR. So Bell, 20, of Carson City, moved from the K&N Series back to racing late model cars at tracks around the east coast in 2010.

Bell, who lives in Mooresville, N.C., while she revs up her racing career, was again chosen to participate in the Drive for Diversity program this year, one of 10 drivers selected. This will be her third year in the program. “I just needed to learn a little more. There were some things we needed to do,” Bell said of the move last year. “We’re making strides to be competitive. You can’t walk before you crawl.”

Bell said the move gave her more time on the race track, which helped her confidence. In the K&N Series there were often long gaps between races while in the late-model series, she can race every other weekend, 17 times in all, and often in more than one race per weekend.

Marcus Jadotte, managing director of public affairs for NASCAR, said Bell has the talent and effort it takes to continue moving up the ranks. “Given her young age and the talent she has shown on the race track handling the car, she is one driver we want to have back in the organization,” he said. “She has the potential to develop into a driver who can compete at the national level.”

 Although Bell will mainly race late model cars this year, she could be called up to the K&N Series throughout the spring and summer and hopes to be there full time next year. Bell said many of the problems last year were due to crashes or mechanical failures, which were out of her control. But it is her name in the results, so she takes responsibility.

She is on the Revolution Racing team, headquartered in Mooresville, N.C., and owned by Max Siegel and John Story. “Everybody you meet knows racing. It’s a cool environment here,  everybody eats, breathes and sleeps racing. “It’s a big step. When you’re running 170 mph at Louden (a racetrack in New Hampshire), that’s quick.  There’s a lot of things you need to learn and you need to be very prepared for it,” she said.

She said the weather in North Carolina is much different than Nevada’s usually mild climate. Humidity is more of a factor in North Carolina. “In a race car, it’s 145 degrees, so that’s pretty hot,” she said. She works out with a trainer three to five times a week and runs three miles a day. Jadotte has seen the difference. “She went through a pretty significant physical metamorphosis,” he said. “She increased her stamina and her strength. Being in good physical condition allows drivers to stay focused longer and to withstand the heat that’s involved in handling a race car.”

Bell’s racing season starts March 12 and continues through October. “She’s certainly on the right path to do well in this sport,” Jadotte said. “There’s no guarantees, but if she continues to work hard I expect big things from her.”

Set Goals
Successful goal setting starts with clarity about expectations and outcomes. Some questions to help determine the best goals to set are:

• What specifically do I want?
• Why? What are my compelling reasons?
• What is the potential reward or impact?
• Whom do the results matter to?
• Which people need to be involved?
• What am I willing to invest or sacrifice?
• When would I stop pursuing or quit?

Guideline to setting goals
Outlining a goal increases the probability it will be accomplished. Some guidelines are:

• Focus on results and opportunities.
• Use positive, meaningful language.
• Personalize to your values and purpose.
• Write it down with a deadline.
• Use clear, simple and specific words.
• Make it exciting or challenging.
• Build in reminders and milestones.
• Create a contract with yourself or others.
• Craft a way to visualize the goal.
• Set short and long-term objectives.
• Analyze for problems and solutions.

Checkpoint: Write your goals in the present tense as if the results have already been obtained.

RSVP Attendee List
Michael Whaley
John Tongish & Guest
Nels & Vanessa Prario
Jim (cobrajj)
Bill & Brenda Robertson
Bulldog302
Viking Joe
Dennis Flaherty
Tracy Marshall
John Aldrich
Perl (Jeff) and guest
Lynn VanWinkle
David Hodgkins & Family
John Jones
Ron Morris
Lytle Thiesen
Frank and Julie
Anthony Connell & Guest
Mike Dey & Guest
Mike H. & Son

Riverside International Raceway Automotive Museum
815 Marlborough Avenue #200
Riverside, CA 92507
(951) 369-6966
http://www.riversideinternational.org/about/aboutus.htm

More exciting news; check out www.laurenfix.com to visit my all-new website that is now interactive and easier to use. Thanks to eTool Developers and their creative work, we were able to built a completely new site.  Shelby and I reported from the Detroit Auto Show on CNN International. I was such a proud parent; it’s exciting to be a part of your daughter’s first international exposure.  Check out the clip! Many thanks to the talented team at High Impact Television for making this segment work at the 11th hour.  They are amazing! It’s been a busy month and there is plenty of great car news to come.

Please be safe on the road and remember to increase distance between cars when the roads are slippery.

 This month’s winner of a signed, free copy of: 

LAUREN FIX’S GUIDE TO LOVING YOUR CAR  is Tom. Congratulations! Invite your friends to sign up for this free e-newsletter for their chance to win.   Thanks for the retweets and for reading my blog.  Your comments and feedback are appreciated.

Have a happy and safe holiday season!

Drive with Car Smarts®.

       

Daytona Beach, Fla. (January 25, 2011) - A little over a week ago, Alli Owens announced on her social media channels that she intended to make her NASCAR debut in the Camping World Truck Series at her home track, the Daytona International Speedway.  To do so, Owens asked her fans to raise the additional capital needed to fulfill the monetary commitment to run the race.  With the help of those fans, a few local businesses and a new website, Owens announced today she will indeed make her debut in NASCAR during the NextEra Energy Resources 250 driving for Ray Hackett Racing, an experienced team based out of Salisbury, N.C.

Owens was able to raise the funds after getting support from Mullinax Ford, a dealership from New Smyrna, Fla.; local Daytona Beach area chapters of the IBEW and NECA to promote www.thequalityconnection.org, a website dedicated to the National Labor-Management Cooperation Committee of the Electrical Construction Industry; and also her fans, who helped her raise enough funds to complete the sponsorship needed.

“It’s amazing that in such a short period of time everything has come together like it has,” said Owens. ”I went to Twitter and Facebook and put the word out there that we needed help.  Almost immediately we had people jumping on board.  It’s been humbling, and I’m so truly grateful for the businesses and fans who have helped me.”

Owens has three top-10 finishes in the ARCA Series and started on the outside pole at Daytona in the series in 2009. Owens will be the only female competitor from Daytona Beach competing at Speedweeks in 2011.

“I’m really honored to race for the city of Daytona Beach, the local IBEW and NECA chapters, Mullinax Ford and my family in the area,” said Owens.  ”Growing up, the Daytona International Speedway meant everything to me.  It still does, and I’m ready to make a successful NASCAR debut there.  It’s going to be a special day.”

Owens will stay in North Carolina to help with the team the remainder of this month and into February.  She will travel with the team to Daytona, where their first practice is scheduled for Wednesday, February 16.

Additional sponsorship opportunities are still available for Owens in 2011. For more information, please visitwww.AlliOwens.com.          

Contact Information:
Jeff Dennison

On Sunday, Jan. 2, TDR teammates Jessica Dana and Tyler Tanner finished 1-2 in the TaG Senior class during Round 3 of the Stars of PGP Kart Fall and Winter Series at PGP Motorsports Park. The event was the first time the duo had competed together, as well as being Dana’s first TaG race and Tanner’s second kart race.

“I am excited to be a part of the TDR growth. It became quite evident this weekend that there is phenomenal synergy between the Tanner and Dana families and that our styles are a perfect complement to each other,” said Kelly Tanner, father of Tyler Tanner and crew chief for the new team. “I do not make predictions and keep my expectations real, but I see Jessica Dana and Tyler Tanner becoming great representatives of Northwest racing.”

After earning the pole in qualifying and winning the heat race while setting a new track lap record, Dana completed the sweep by leading flag-to-flag en route to winning the finale. Cold tires and shade on the track made the going slippery in the combined TaG/Rotax finale, but Dana and Rotax Senior winner Russ Francis set the pace and drove away from the field.

"Jessica's ability to adapt to a brand-new machine was amazing. Every session throughout the weekend she improved her overall speed,” said Mike Rolison of the Rolison Performance Group (RPG). Rolison, who won multiple karting championships himself and helped many others win titles as a driving instructor, was on hand to help Dana debut a new Kosmic Kart and make her first outing in the TaG category. “In the final she had her best run, getting every extra tenth of a second out of the Kosmic Racing Kart. I've worked with a number of drivers over the years and Jessica's desire to learn and succeed ranks up there with some of my strongest students."

Things didn’t go as easily for Tanner, however. It took all of the 19-year-old’s racing skill to gain the runner-up finish after sustaining a bent axle during contact with another driver who spun out during the first of four attempts at starting the race. Despite beginning in the rear of the field and having to fight an ill-handling kart around PGP’s .82-mile track, Tanner was able to push forward into third place and then the runner-up position with just a few laps to go.

“This past weekend was a great opportunity to meet other racers and improve my skills in karts with the help of Jessica, Troy Dana and our team,” said Tanner. “Matt Kindrick was a big help and excellent mechanic and is fun to race with. Kart racing is fun and very demanding as well.”

Under the TDR banner, Tanner and Dana, 16, will race in the Super Stock division during the upcoming season at South Sound Speedway in Tenino, Wash., as well as in select kart events. A sophomore studying mechanical engineering at Arizona State University, Tanner earned two poles and finished second overall in points at South Sound in 2010.

Although he has extensive experience racing sprints, midgets and late models, Sunday’s event at PGP marked just the second time Tanner raced a kart and it was his first ride in Dana’s Arrow Kart. Supported by Kindrick, Troy Dana and his father Kelly Tanner, Tyler Tanner quickly found his pace in the Arrow Kart during the TaG Senior practice session, going second quickest. He qualified fourth and finished fifth in the heat race after a tight race-long battle.

"Tyler's communication with myself and the other mechanics under the tent was fantastic,” said Rolison. “For having such little time in a kart he was carrying himself as a seasoned veteran at PGP.  Talking with Tyler before the final on Sunday we decided to make a front end change which enabled hiim to come through the pack and record a strong finish."

Interested in finding out how you can become part of the Tanner Dana Racing team? Contact Troy Dana at (360) 402-5500 or Troy.Dana@D3Rec.com.

On the Web

A Tanner Dana Racing website is planned for the near future, but in the meantime please visit www.JessicaDanaRacing.com or “like” Jessica Dana Racing and Tyler Tanner Motorsports on Facebook.

About Tanner Dana Racing

Tanner Dana Racing was formed in late 2010 to support two up-and-coming drivers, Tyler Tanner and Jessica Dana, and to help them achieve their shared goal of racing at the highest levels of motorsports.

Jessica Dana began riding ATVs when she was 4, and racing them at 8. Two months after sitting in a kart for the first time she was recording a top-5 finish at the 2009 U.S. Indoor Kart Championships. Over a two-month period in the spring of 2010, the high school sophomore raced and defeated both four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon and extreme motorsports star Travis Pastrana in charity kart events.

Tyler Tanner began his racing career at 5 in quarter midgets, earning four national championships, numerous track records and more than 100 wins over 10 years. Tyler also raced in mini-sprints and full midgets before moving into late models in 2008. Racing at South Sound Speedway in Tenino, Wash., in 2010 he earned two pole positions and finished No. 2 overall in points in the late model division. Tyler earned early admittance to the Ira A. Fulton Mechanical Engineering Program at Arizona State University, where he is a sophomore.

(Riverside, CA, January 3, 2011)  The 2010 race season brought continued racing success for Team Thunder Valley Racing. Campaigning in her Factory Five Challenge Series racer, Team TVR owner-driver Karen Salvaggio secured 11 race victories, and stood on the podium 21 times to secure championships in what would be a record-breaking season.

Karen entered the 2010 race season as the reigning West Coast and Southern California Champion, and with new and talented racers entering the FFR Challenge Series this year, she knew this would be among the toughest seasons to date. Karen is now in her 24th year in auto racing, including cutting her racing teeth on dirt short tracks in the NASCAR regional racing, drag racing and performance driving Corvettes, and instructor driving in just about anything with wheels. Karen joined the NASA FFR Challenge Series in 2006, and completed her 5th year racing the Challenge Series roadsters in 2010. She has secured more than 200 victories in her racing career, and in 2009 was named NASA Instructor Driver of the Year.

Karen holds track records at Infineon Raceway (Sears Point) and Buttonwillow Raceway, and campainged her Challenge Series racer at legendary tracks including Willow Springs International Raceway, California (Auto Club) Speedway, Infineon Raceway, Thunderhill Raceway, and Virginia International Raceway this year. On her way to the podium in 2010, Karen  set pole position in 12 of the 24 races in which she  competed. NASA FFR Challenge Series Race, Infineon Raceway, October 10, 2010:  http://www.vimeo.com/15870267

Karen enjoys sprint racing as well as endurance racing in her #28 Challenge Series racer, but her racing interests expanded in 2009 with the addition of a Factory Five Racing Type-65 Coupe to her race team. Over the last year, Team Thunder Valley Racing worked with industry leaders and grassroots racers to develop the Coupe into a viable endurance racer, with a focus on optimizing all performance aspects of the car.

With the help of hundreds of FFCars.com forum members, Karen and her intrepid race team set out to develop her Factory Five Racing Type-65  Coupe, a replica of the legendary Coupes that ran Sebring and LeMans in the 1960’s, for endurance racing, and campaigned the Coupe at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill held in December 2010.  The #28 Coupe qualified 2nd in class, and 10th overall in a very competitive field, which included many of the best endurance race teams competing on road courses today. A crew of more than 30 volunteer mechanics, fuelers, data team and communications specialists supported  the Coupe, which endured hours of competition, day and night, in a steady rain, which often became downpours, that saw many of their fellow competitors fall victim to accidents and off-track excursions in the dicey conditions. In the end, Team Thunder Valley Racing #28 Coupe endured, and completed more than 1,500 miles in some very tough racing conditions, and finished the longest endurance race in North America.

Special thanks to Mark Dougherty for his guidance and hands-on support with the development of the  Coupe, and to Dave Smith, owner Factory Five Racing, D&R Machine, Jerry Hoffman and John Card at DIY AutoTune, Doug at Raptor Racing, Ted Falk, owner Replica Promotions, Roman Vaisman owner Ezlogy, Bill Robertson Tracy Marshall, Tracie Card, Allen Parkinson, Carlos Coronel & Josh Loe at Think Tank Creative Consortium, DSS Motors,  Hank Lopez , David Borden, Russ Thompson, Track Guy (Dawg) Mitchell Pinnix, SVTOA Track Dawgs Josh Bligh and Jeremy Bligh, Jeff Collins owner Whitby Motorcars, Richard Oben owner North Racecars, Terry Free and Cynthia Dora, owners Team Free Racing, TC & BaLinda McNett, owners TC Motorsports/AlarmCo, Inc., Ryan Althoff, Molly McCarthy, Rich Cobb, John Marsey, and big thanks to Crew Chief Andy Salvaggio for keeping both cars on track and on the competitive edge all season!

We also owe a debt of gratitude to the hundreds of forum members at FFCars.com for providing their support, technical advice, and encouragement all season long, as well as to Jerry Kunzman and all the folks at NASA for making Grassroots Racing possible. We did it!!  Thank you!

See you at the track n 2011! 

2011 Thunder Valley Racing Schedule: http://www.thundervalleyracing.com/racer-schedules