TRG Motorsports & David Gilliland

– The Everyfan’s Grassroots Race Team -

I’m a major history buff. Especially when it comes to investigating “grassroots” movements that have made a difference in humanity’s timeline. When you think about it, there are quite few major accomplishments which started as grassroots efforts and evolved to shape mankind. Christianity, Womens’ Suffrage, Civil Rights, and the American Revolution immediately come to mind.

Today’s economy has jumpstarted the “grassroots revolution” once again. Small entities of like-minded folk have seen the benefit of gathering the support and garnering the loyalty of their constituents, customers, and devotees. By banding together in support of a worthy cause, we at the bottom-rung of the capitalistic ladder have once again discovered that we can indeed make a difference. In a world of corporate domination, there ARE a few entities surviving against all odds and there ARE worthy underdogs turning into Cinderellas right under our noses.

It’s happening in NASCAR as I type this.

If you like success stories, check out driver David Gilliland and TRG Motorsports. Regardless of your favorite driver/team, I think you’ll find DG/TRG’s story worthy of your investigation, if not your outright support!

Against all odds, Gilliland entered the NASCAR Cup scene and made a name for himself despite working amidst the heart-wrenching decay of Yates Racing. Rather than continue the 2009 season in an “iffy” part-time ride at Yates, this competitive, talented driver elected to throw his hat into the TRG Motorsports’ ring; paring up with visionary race-meister Kevin Buckler and staff. Compared to the big “corporate” race teams, TRG had many years’ success in other race series, but made their NASCAR debut as the under-funded under-dog.

NASCAR has seen many of its family-owned and operated race teams meet their demise and succumb to corporate takeovers and inability to fund a competitive stable of cars. Some have just folded altogether. An excellent example is Dale Earnhardt Jr. who (rightfully?) left his family-owned team and joined the uber-corporate Hendrick Racing team – with nothing but mediocre performance to show for it. Tough times for even the veteran and “popular” drivers/teams. Enter DG and TRG and a grassroots effort to succeed in spite of everything the economy has thrown at them!

How? I can’t tell you the entire secret to their success, but I CAN tell you that these folks do the VERY best job staying connected to, supportive and appreciative of their fans (a/k/a the Grassrooters)! How loyal are DG/TRG fans? Just a day or two ago, I noted several fans VOLUNTEERING to have their personal vehicles wrapped in a potential sponsor’s advertising and promote them in their hometowns for free! Supporters of grassroots efforts such as DG/TRG need a worthy cause to stand behind, and I’ve truly found none so worthy in all my years as a NASCAR fan.

The DG/TRG Cinderella story continues as we head into Talladega this weekend. Having obtained a much-needed sponsorship before the Phoenix race, TRG and Gilliland were thrown another curve today as it was announced that the sponsorship had fallen through, ostensibly due to “lack of funding” on the potential sponsor’s part. All too familiar a refrain, isn’t it? No matter, the fans and supporters are cheering on the #71 car with its hood once-again bereft of advertising and making plans to celebrate a grand finish at Talladega. Is it working? David Gilliland and the #71 care are running 2nd fastest in practice. Miracle? Magic? Coincidence?

I think not.

Join in the grassroots effort – visit http://www.davidgilliland.com/ and sign up as a fan. Go to http://www.trgmotorsports.com/ and check out their creds. You’ll feel good about being part of the Cinderella story.

TMS 2009 - Best to Worst!

Another Texas race is in the books! At almost the 11th hour, we decided to ignore the economy and head for Big D. At the very last minute I coaxed fellow blogger “SNAFAM” into joining me for an “on-the-cheap” vacation at Texas Motor Speedway. It was an exciting, interesting and eventful trip, AND windy -- with a few surprises thrown in for good measure. Here’s my “best to worst” of the Samsung 500 at TMS!

The Best…..

David Gilliland & TRG Racing REALLY know how to make their fans feel appreciated! Via David’s Fan Club message board, his fans mounted a grassroots campaign and raised nearly $3,000.00 to buy a set of tires for the #71 car last week at Martinsville and David flew the fan club colors on the decklid. At TMS, we were honored to visit with TRG team owner Kevin Buckler, Marketing VP Lloyd Wideman, and DG himself!

If I have a NASCAR pet peeve, it’s drivers, team owners, and sponsors who don’t acknowledge the loyalty and support of the fans. I realize how difficult it is to reach out on a personal level to thousands of supporters, but many NASCAR “stars” treat their fans as “necessary evils” and nuisances. Some are apathetic, and others are downright hateful at times. We realize that it’s a high-pressure job, and time is precious, but it takes so very little to make a fan feel appreciated. (Of course, there ARE some psycho fans that make the rest look bad…… more on that later).

I’m proud to say that David Gilliland and TRG Racing and staff have climbed to the epitome of fan-appreciation in my book. They’re gracious, they’re humble, they work their butts off, they’re an American small business surviving in spite of a rotten economy -- and they deserve your support! Sign up on the David Gilliland Fan Circuit at http://www.davidgilliland.com/ and find out more about this wonderful team!

Top Notch Hospitality & Great Grub! Thanks to the Tripps for providing us with great hospitality, culinary delights, and lots of laughs! Visiting with Mr. & Mrs. Lugnut is always a treat, and is the only time of the year I actually appreciate OU! Without them, I would not have had the pleasure of seeing my first gasoline-powered blender with an actual pair of handlebars and a throttle! Gotta love “The Corner” at TMS on Saturday night!

Best of all…. Good Friends! Thanks Merri, for all you did, and it was nice to find someone else who’s as directionally-challenged as I am! We got to take several unanticipated detours between Austin, Grapevine, and the Track – but had a blast every minute. Thanks, too, for the CHOCOLATE!!!! I would NOT have been able to hoof it and hike 50 miles with a 40 lb. backpack without Ethel M’s Truffles for fuel! (and I topped-off frequently)!

American Idols! Got to see “Mr. The King” up close again, and DW called me “honey!” Funny, the older I get, the hotter Richard Petty gets! Age has it’s advantages! I’d like to have DW for a Grandma, so it felt all warm and fuzzy getting a Southern greeting from “Jaws!”

The Good…..

- Lite traffic & Good Parking! I know it’s probably a sign of the sad economy, but the traffic was relatively light all four days. We had no problem finding parking near the RV lot, and thus we were close to the track exits. We parked in the infield on Saturday, and it was a blast driving through the tunnel and emerging inside. My Durango R/T loved it and I was afraid it was going to try to boogity its way onto the track -- it thinks it’s a RaceTruck! LOL! No four hour drive leaving the track on Sunday, either -- it took us less than 30 minutes to escape the track proper, but the local police had the 35S and 114W ALL messed up with bass-ackwards detours and circuitous routes!

- Nice folks who offer golf cart rides! Gotta love that Texas hospitality – we were able to find free transportation from VERY cordial volunteers and fans several times when our feet and legs had given out.

- Reed Sorenson is just downright precious! It was hard not to pinch him on the cheek and make him a peanut butter & jelly sandwich!



The Bad…..

- Wind!!!! OK, so we didn’t have to “Take Shelter Immediately” due to impending tornado, but we sought shelter nonetheless due to incredibly high winds. It obviously made the race a mess, as we heard drivers on the scanner asking if they had flats. No flats, just brutal wind gusts funneled into the track by the grandstands. My lips are making crackling sounds when I talk, and it may take 3 weeks to get all the grime washed out of my hair.

- The Nationwide race was a snoozer.

- Ticketmaster Sux!!! Folks, when you are talking on the phone with a TMS sales representative, BE SURE they work for TMS and NOT “Ticketbastards!” Tickermaster has royally screwed the music industry and it’s fans with their hostile takeovers of the primary and secondary ticket markets and (despite the economy) have driven prices out of the ballpark. Now, it seems, they’re trying to do the same with NASCAR. Alas, you can’t buy TMS tix online without going through Ticketmaster, and despite several follow up calls with my so-called “TMS rep” I wound up getting screwed when we went to pick up our tix and credentials. Take my advice – make sure you’re talking to the right folks!!

- Bus Chaos! To put it bluntly, it’s a miracle that no one was killed at the track Shuttle bus pickup point! After the Cup race, thousands of fans were trying to squeeze their way onto the shuttles. Problem is – the shuttles wouldn’t STOP! Big busses swing wide in the rear, and the crowds were pasted to the sides of the moving busses by the masses of people trying to guess which bus would have room. It was a HORRIBLE and frightening experience! When we asked the “lot attendant” to do something, she rudely replied “There’s only three of us here! What do you want us to do?” Bruton and Eddie – you boys need to address this situation BEFORE the next race. Does anyone remember The Who in Cincinatti in 1979? I’d hate to see a repeat at TMS!

- Elliott Sadler fans left disappointed once again, and I’m sure he and his team are colossally bummed, as well. According to the SFC Message board, E unloaded in “fair” shape, but despite the adjustments made over the weekend, the car got worse instead of better. I can’t help but wonder if the wind played a role in the #19’s (lack of) performance. Brett Griffin offered up several interesting and insightful explanations on the message board, and we can only hope that the #19 team overcomes COT learning curve issues and get back on track. As Brett said, “Performance cures everything” and I’m all for a cure!

The Absolute Worst (most disgusting, putrid, tastless ,etc.)…….

Folks who know me and follow this blog know that I’m a peaceful hippie and rarely get riled enough to go postal. No so on Sunday morning! I think I crossed over into the “homicidal zone!” I’ll try to keep this clean, but it won’t be easy!

We gathered for a driver appearance on Sunday morning. At the front of the crowd was a female (I refuse to call her a “lady”) decked out in the driver’s gear and holding a “We Love _____!” sign, but on the BACK of the sign, facing thousands of spectators, cameras, and film crews was a slanderous, derogatory, and downright nasty insult against one of the drivers family members! Of course, the driver and broadcast host didn’t see the back of the sign, but LOTS of people did! And boy were they pissed off!! If that wasn’t enough, this *&^%$ even had the driver AUTOGRAPH the front of the sign and laughed at him as he was leaving!!

I’ve seen a lot of rotten stunts by psycho, stalking fans in my time, but I think this takes the cake!

I’m a die-hard race fan and I LIKE to interact with the drivers, teams and crews! I want to earn their trust and respect so that I can represent the fans in a positive manner. I do not want to be perceived as a psycho because of the reprehensible actions of others. How in the HELL can I expect a driver/team/crew to respect and support ME as a fan when there are morons out there who think attention-getting stunts like this are funny??? Whoever you are, you bottom-feeding imbecile – you have shamed yourself all right – but you’ve also shamed that driver, his family, you have shamed ME, all those at the appearance, and 180,000 other fans at TMS who support this sport and its participants with dignity.

If I could find you right now, you idiot, I’d wring your neck and stick that sign where the sun don’t shine!