NASCAR opinion, analysis and news
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I convinced a reluctant Sarah Gluck to be this episode’s podcast guest so we could talk more about why we’re currently in Albuquerque and our recent trip to China. Also, the podcast now has intro music from a NASCAR fan/DJ named Enshrowd!
Oh God, I have to defend Darren Rovell in today’s Internet Controversy of the Day. I’d normally hate myself for that, but Rovell is right on the money.
If you missed it, Rovell pissed off a bunch of people because he tweeted this:
The Chicago Sun Times has a wire story on Northwestern basketball for a home game? Here’s an idea: Ask a student. They’ll write for free.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 27, 2017
Then he doubled down on it after some Twitter blowback.
It’s hard enough to get paid to work in sports. You have to prove value more than ever. Foot in the door often comes by working for free.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 27, 2017
Look, this is honestly good advice. I know people have their moments of Rovell hatred, but doing free work when trying to get started can sometimes be necessary to generate a big break.
I did this for the first few years of my career, acting on my dad’s advice that it’s the equivalent of “investing in yourself.” While employed as a high schools writer at local newspapers, I did things like cover the Super Bowl, ACC basketball games and NASCAR races on my own time and money in order to get clips.
I would tell the editors, “Don’t worry, I’ll do this on my time off and you don’t have to pay for my travel. As long as you use my stories in the paper, I’m good.” Some resisted, but ultimately let me go; they were getting free content from notable events, after all.
That actually paid off for me in a major way. In 2006, I took vacation time from the Inland Valley Daily Bullletin and flew from Southern California to Indianapolis to cover the Brickyard 400. I was chasing a dream of being a NASCAR writer, and this was my first opportunity to really hang out with some people I really looked up to (Jenna Fryer, Bob Pockrass, Nate Ryan, Marty Smith, etc.).
That weekend in Indy helped me build relationships that proved to be invaluable. Six months later, when there was an opening at NASCAR Scene, Jenna sent me an email about it and encouraged me to apply.
I did apply and ultimately got the job. I’ve been on the NASCAR beat ever since and credit spending my own money to make connections in Indy that weekend as a big part of it.
I’m not saying professionals should work for free. But if you’re someone trying to break into an industry and you can swing it, then consider investing in yourself.
Ryan Ellis made 24 starts across NASCAR’s three national series last year, another young driver trying to stay alive in the sport by jumping into whatever ride he could.
But Ellis, tired of waiting for his big break and facing another exhausting season of trying to chase sponsorship, realized it might be best to take a year off from driving, then reset and try again in 2018.
His job for this season, though, is perhaps unprecedented for a driver who raced in the NASCAR Cup Series as recently as November.
Ellis is now the public relations representative for Matt DiBenedetto, who joins GoFas Racing’s No. 32 car this season.
“I’ve always said, ‘Hey, PR person Ryan,’ because he would always just do everything for me and he’s so good at working with people and just kind of winging everything,” said DiBenedetto, who is close friends with Ellis. “That joke actually turned into a reality for this year.”
It was actually such a running gag between the two that when DiBenedetto sat down and sincerely offered the position, he kept trying not to laugh. All joking aside, he said, there was a lot Ellis could do to help the team.
And Ellis, 27, didn’t have to think very hard about it before accepting. Despite having what he called “the best racing year of my life” in 2016, every potential opportunity closed up.
“It’s just so hard to claw and scratch and still be able to pay the bills halfway through a season,” Ellis said this week in between shuttling DiBenedetto to various stops on the NASCAR Media Tour. “I’ve been able to do it the last couple years, but it just takes such a burden on you.”
That’s no exaggeration; Ellis has taken side jobs like working at the Richard Petty Driving Experience and even mopping floors at a BMW dealership to make ends meet.
So the opportunity to try his hand at PR — which comes with a steady salary — was too good to pass up, especially while working with a good friend.
“(Finding a ride) is only getting harder,” Ellis said. “With the self-funded drivers or the drivers who know the right people, you’re just not going to get one of these opportunities without money. I need to pay the bills, so I’ve just got to accept it and do all I can.
“Outside of it being weird, it’s not going to be hard.”
But it is definitely going to be weird. Ellis joked he already wanted to quit while hearing DiBenedetto, a feel-good story last season for BK Racing, tell reporters over and over again how the key to surviving in NASCAR is sticking around long enough to get one great opportunity.
Ellis said the biggest challenge will come when he’s at the track every week but can’t get in a car despite still wanting to race.
“Being emotionally stable (will be the hard part),” he said with a smile. “It’s great to be working with a friend and hopefully bettering his career, but it’ll be hard not making those comparisons to the drivers you think you’re better than who are on the track every week. That will never go away.”
DiBenedetto said Ellis will be “one of the best in the industry” despite a lack of experience because “he’s pretty much done his own PR and self-promoted himself for so many years.”
Of course, if Ellis gets really desperate to get back into a car before 2018, there’s always one sinister option.
“The good news is I control Matt’s food for the most part, so I can poison him at certain tracks,” he said.
Hat-tip to Chris Knight for first tweeting about this development.
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Jordan Bianchi from SBNation.com stops by again to help me break down the NASCAR Media Tour.
Look, you’re a busy person. You don’t have time to stay up to date on every single freaking thing that happened on the NASCAR Media Tour.
So ICYMI, here are some quick takeaways from this year’s two-day event.
Everyone seems to love the new NASCAR changes
Nothing close to a bad word was spoken about the new format — which normally doesn’t mean anything since drivers could get fined if they criticize the sport.
However, I got the sense they actually meant it in this case and weren’t just trying to be politically correct. Drivers seem to be very optimistic and positive about the upcoming changes, and so am I. The fans are, too:
Do you like the NASCAR changes announced last night?
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) January 24, 2017
Danica Patrick might have some sponsor trouble
This was odd because it didn’t come up in her news conference at all, although the absence of a Nature’s Bakery firesuit tipped off reporters that something was amiss. Shortly afterward, there were several reports about how Nature’s Bakery might be backing off its sponsorship for this season.
Furthermore, there was no Nature’s Bakery patch on Patrick’s firesuit — even as an associate sponsor. Hmm…
Carl Edwards’ decision is still a mystery to everyone
No one pretended to really “get” Edwards’ exact reasons for retirement, even friend Matt Kenseth (who said he had talked to Edwards). Former teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch sounded similarly clueless (and less than thrilled) about it.
But then a Missouri political columnist speculated Edwards could run for U.S. Senate, a notion Edwards didn’t exactly shoot down via a text message conversation with the AP’s Jenna Fryer.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ready to go
It was nice to see the sport’s most popular driver looking happy and healthy — and he’s clearly anxious to get started again.
In an excellent but all-too-brief media session (where Earnhardt said he wished he could have stayed longer), the recently married driver spoke of the perspective he gained while being out of the car and said he eventually wanted to retire on his own terms — not because of poor health.
Bubba Wallace needs some funding to run a full season
The Roush Fenway Racing Xfinity Series driver said he’s good for the first six races of the year with sponsor Leidos, but then needs some help to run the rest of the schedule. However, Wallace said he’s optimistic that will happen.
No pizza allowed
Box lunches weren’t cutting it for the aforementioned Jenna Fryer, who did everyone a solid on Tuesday and ordered four pizzas from Papa John’s (they were half price because the Charlotte Hornets scored 95 points the previous night).
But the Charlotte Convention Center was like OH HELL NAH, and Wednesday morning’s session opened with a reminder that no outside food is permitted on the Media Tour.
Lesson learned.
Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards have been fairly tight the last few years, with their infamous Martinsville altercation buried long ago.
But even Kenseth says he’s still not sure why Edwards stepped away from racing — this despite speaking with Edwards on the phone about it.
“I called him and asked him (why) straight out, and when I hung up, it was probably less clear than before I picked (the phone) up,” Kenseth said. “I tried to listen to what he was saying, I tried to listen to what he wasn’t saying and I didn’t really come up with anything.”
Kenseth said he had no idea Edwards was thinking of leaving until Joe Gibbs put all the drivers and crew chiefs on a conference call together on a Sunday night — which was the first time that had ever happened in Kenseth’s tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing.
“(Gibbs) told us about it then, and I guess the announcement was (the next) Wednesday,” Kenseth said. “That was the first time I heard about it, and I was very, very surprised.”
But Kenseth said after thinking about it more, he wasn’t totally shocked — because that’s sort of Edwards’ nature.
The AP’s Jenna Fryer asked why that is.
“Carl has always been his own guy, right?” Kenseth said. “He kind of does his own thing, and if he decided that’s what he needed to do at the time, it doesn’t shock me he actually went through with it.”
Below: Matt Kenseth cracks jokes in a sarcastic press conference.
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In the first-ever episode of my new podcast, Jordan Bianchi from SBNation.com joins me to help digest all the changes announced for the 2017 NASCAR season. (Warning: I didn’t know how to edit a podcast very well yet, so the volume is uneven at times — sorry!)