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Want to get into racing but don't want to
race?
Lauren Liebowitz will take you through a typical
(if there is such a thing) preparation time for a
race weekend, giving you a behind the scenes look
at what it takes to get into the support side of
racing.
* * *
It's 6:30AM; the sun is peaking through the
drapes of my window. I am half awake and trying to
open my eyes to the pulsating noise coming from my
cell phone alarm clock. I turn on MTV to grasp a
constant in my life, knowing that my day will be
very unpredictable. Back in my days spent in the
college dorm MTV was part of my daily ritual, now I
only get to check out the latest songs in pop
culture when I am traveling. I wake up from a
4-hour "nap" after arriving in Phoenix late last
night, and I start preparing for my day. I need to
iron my shirt, my pants, and my hair. I need to put
sunscreen on for the desert sun and I need to pack
my brief case with business cards, pens, and note
pads. I finish getting dressed, pull my credential
over my head and greet the day - and the 14 men
waiting for me outside. I, along with the rest of
the Spirit
of Daytona Motorsports Team, begin the
journey to the Phoenix International Raceway. This
will be the first day our racecar circles the
track's 'roval' course. The crew guys know they
have a lot of work in store for them this weekend,
which hopefully will give me great material for a
story!
While braving the desert condition in Phoenix or
any other weather ailment I face during my job, I
am in charge of the public relations for the
professional racecar team, Spirit of Daytona
Racing. The team fields one Daytona Prototype (DP)
in the Grand American Rolex Series, and three
Pontiac GTOs in the Grand Am Cup GS Series. I am in
charge of writing the race reports for each car. I
also prepare promotional material for the team and
coordinate part of the hospitality. The list of
responsibilities also includes: filling the coolers
outside our team transporter with ice and soda,
arranging the breakfast bars and fruit in baskets
during the race weekend and keeping tabs on where
our drivers need to be and at what times. I also
hold the pit sign for when our Daytona Prototype
pits for a fuel and driver/tire change. While I am
doing this I always keep my eye open for potential
sponsors. This is my job, and after a year of doing
it, I can finally say that this is what "drives
me."
My job includes a lot of traveling and an
accumulation of frequent flyer miles. There are 14
races in a season, and only two of them are near my
rented apartment in the Daytona Beach area. During
the race season I pretty much live out of my
suitcase. I drop my little Chihuahua off at my
boyfriend's, kiss both of them goodbye and leave
mid-week for some far-away track. I return at the
end of the weekend, I say hello to my puppy and
boyfriend and then a few days later I do it all
again. It's not like I am a hamster circling in a
plastic wheel – there is meaning to my
constant routine, but I miss the down time. I wish
that the periods in between races grew longer and
the race schedule grew shorter, but this is my job
and I enjoy it.
Before each race I sit down to write up a
prerace report. How can I make the same story new
again? The Daytona Prototype will be competing at a
different race track than last week, but the
drivers aren't giving me any new quotes and I am
running out of ways of saying " I am really excited
to be racing at (fill in the racetrack name)." I
dig online for some interesting tidbit about one of
the drivers in relation to the track. I find my
anecdote and I create a story. Next obstacle to
complete is to print up media kits. Each media
guide contains information on the series, the team,
the car, and the sponsors. I need to go over the
info to make sure there are no typos or that I have
not mixed up the driver or sponsor. Included in the
team file of information is a handful of
sponsorship packets for the DP and the GTO along
with rental/ownership folders on the cars. You
never know who will turn up at the racetrack and
having a readymade folder on hand with all of this
information always helps. I am still sore over an
incident where I showed up empty handed. I was at
the Homestead-Miami Speedway I literally ran into
Gene Simmons, of Kiss. A crewmember and I chased
after him, confronted him about all the great
aspects of our team and I realized that I didn't
have any information to hand him. I couldn't even
find a piece of paper to write my email and team
name on for him. He was all business with me and
verbally gave me his work email address and I
automatically forgot what he said as he turned
away. Now I am always sure to keep my pockets
packed with business cards, paper, and pens. Next
time I run into him I vow to be prepared.
Another piece of information I am in charge of
before I leave my office is the race event
schedule. I create small hand held schedules to
pass out to the team members. I actually enjoy this
part of my preparations. It's kind of fun to see
all the events going on during the race weekend and
I feel like I am looking into the future as I type
out practice times and meeting locations. I also
try to figure out by the schedule what time I will
be falling asleep. If the track closes at 8:00PM I
will be lucky if I am back in my hotel room by
10:00PM. Sometimes I sneak away and hang out in our
hospitality trailer and relax for a few minutes as
I wait for the crew guys to finish going over their
checklist or complete their final changes to the
car's setup. I have a lot of respect for their
laborious and, at times, tedious job. The mechanics
and engineers that work on the car live and die by
the car. If there is one mistake it could mean the
difference of a few seconds lost or even the
driver's life. The time consuming precautions that
the team takes are to avoid accidents and
mechanical failure during the race. Each mechanic
wants to feel that while the car is competing on
track they did their best during the few days they
had in order to perfect the car's handling. When
race time comes it's up to the drivers to bring out
the best in the car.
During the time I spend at the race track I
gather driver quotes for my press releases. I
usually send out one or more press releases a day
depending on what car is on track and what happened
during the session. I also meet up with our
photographer to let him know which car we want to
highlight and what he should be looking for. I tell
him to be "creative" with the pictures meaning make
the car look different even though it is circling
the same track for over two hours. I am always in
awe at what he sends back to me, the car's colors
pop out of the picture even more so than in real
life. I also meet up with important guests of the
team and make sure all their needs are handled.
Another important aspect of my job is reminding the
drivers of the mandatory autograph session (our
team can lose valuable points in the series if the
drivers don't show up). Sometimes I feel like an
annoying songbird repeating the same message in
each conversation I have with the drivers. So far
during my watch the drivers have always showed up.
Most times one driver is close by and the other
driver is on the other side of the track in a golf
cart studying turn 3 or 4. After I hunt both of
them down I drive them over to their assigned
tables with a stack of hero cards and wait for the
line of fans to end. Hero
cards are like oversized baseball cards. On one
side is a picture of the team car and on the
reverse side is information on the team and the
drivers. Fans love these and I usually need to keep
a small stack of autographed cards to bring back to
the shop with me for requests.
With only a few hours left in the race weekend,
the final event starts, the 250 mile race. The
national anthem is belted out across the track and
I join the team on the grid as we look up at the
American flag. A final radio check is heard
throughout the team's headsets and moments later
the 40 plus engines are growling as the drivers
wait to take the green flag. Sometimes the race is
slow with endless yellow flags due to car crashes
and debris on course. Sometimes our car is rudely
crashed into or spun off track (we hate when that
happens, but it gets TV time). The racing gods
never tell us how we will finish the race but that
is always part of the fun. When the race is
complete and I post my final press release it's
time to pack up and go home. The long weekend is
tiresome but I usually go away with more than I
started off with. Many times I gain an important
contact or learn about new marketing ideas. The
final moments of the race weekend is all that is
left as I sit in the airport waiting for my
homeward bound flight. I close my eyes and wait for
it to happen all over again.
Lauren is the marketing and
public relations manager for the Spirit
of Daytona,
E-Mail
Spirit of Daytona Racing, LLC, 264 Carswell Ave,
Holly Hill FL 32117 or 386.253.4147 or Fax
386.253.4148.
Related Issue:
Women
Racers
Directory,
Women
in Racing,
Women
Racers,
More
Women in
Racing,
Race
Schedules,
Notable
Women
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