Racing is one of the most multidisciplinary sports on the planet. On any given day one could be adjusting software on an engine ECU, welding exotic metals, researching fireproof thread, machining plastic spacers, or creating a web site to promote the race team. Beyond going fast, the difficulty of tackling such a wide range of challenges is what attracts many people to motorsport.

One area that has always been difficult for new drivers is publicity. The entire process of getting your name out there is surrounded with mystery, with secret mailing lists and special private contacts. This is the latest problem that NASA Rally Sport has set out to tackle.

‘Most new racers are focused on building the car and driving, so it’s understandable that they haven’t put much thought into media or promotion.’ says Anders Green, NASA Rally Sport Director. ‘Our focus is grassroots racing, and really that means developing and educating racers. It’s bringing new people to the sport and showing them what it’s all about.’

The new program builds a place where racers can have their press releases reviewed by other racers and writers before they send it out. Once the media has been polished, it is then sent out to rally related news outlets for the racers. The system tackles three basic problems: how do I write a press release, who can help me look it over, and when I’m done, where do I send it?

‘On one hand, it’s the exact opposite of revolutionary. It’s standard practice.’ says Green. ‘Writing, editing, and distributing quality news happens everywhere. What’s new here is that we’re taking the tools and methods we’ve built over the years, breaking the locks, throwing the doors open, and giving it away to brand new racers. To have us write a story about someone is like that old parable, ‘Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.’ We obviously want to teach everyone to fish.’

The first user, Daniel Spalinger, had high praise for the system. ‘Seriously, this is one of the coolest things I’ve seen. I really liked the peer review and help in getting the word out about my effort. It really says something about how NASA Rally Sport is trying to promote the sport.’

While racers like Robbie Gordan or Travis Pastrana have paid media efforts that work on publicizing their story, grassroots racers attempting to publicize their effort is doing that work themselves. Tomorrow’s winning drivers are being developed today, and NASA Rally Sport is proud to be helping them in every way possible.