Following My Dreams
 

Hello. My name is Heath Scharen. Since the age of ten my untimate dream has been to race in NHRA Super Stock. My grandfather raced a 1966 Fairlane back in the '60s, and I have always wanted to do so after seeing pictures of his car. The problem that I am having is that I am in a very bad financial bind, and at this point I cannot afford to race. I was hoping that someone could point me in the right direction to someone who may be willing to sponsor me or someone who might know what I might be able to do so that my dream does not die. I'm just trying to chase my dreams and follow in the footsteps of my grandfather. "Gampa", as I called him, died in May of 2005 after a long battle with cancer, and I really would like to pay tribute to him. My grandfather raised me, and he always told me that if I wanted something bad enough, I had to go out and get it. So that is what I am trying to do. Please respond if you know of anyone who might be of help. Thank you and God Bless.

Get a pit pass....
 

I would suggest starting out by going to
as many meets as possible, try to include
a couple of the big divisional meets if you
can. Spend your time in the pits talking to
the racers. '66 Fairlanes with FE's are usually run in SS/E or SS/EA. Some of them
are original "H" code cars, but not necessarily. Talk to them about how they
built their cars, engines, and drivetrains,
how much they have invested in them,
how much time and effort they put into
them. Look over the cars and try to learn
as much as possible, take notes if you
want. In other words, try to get a feel for the sport and what it will
take in terms of time, sweat equity, and
money to become an entrant. Sportsmen
racers are a very friendly talkative bunch
who enjoy sharing their hobby with others, about the only time you shouldn't bother them is when they're
in the middle of a between the rounds
thrash, getting their cars ready
for the next round. Some racers form
partnerships as a means of the spreading the costs the around. Commercial sponsorship in sportsmen
racing is extremely rare because there
is little or no media exposure given to
it. Most of the time what "sponsorship"
you do see on a sportsmen car is usually from the owner's own business
or that of relatives or close friends. Most sportsmen entrants are content to
race for the small amount of purse and
contingency money paid out. Again,
spend you time in the pits getting to know the sport and the people in it and
you'll be on your way.

....Fred

Fred

Good advice.

Yes I agree getting the feeling for the events and the cars is certainly the way to go. Very few sponsors would be willing to just step up and sponsor an unknown driver or car. So as said you'll probaly carry the cost yourself at first.

You'll need to get out there and gain some smaller sponsors to get the momentum for the next step and a bigger sponsor.

The smaller sponsors may just want to have their name out there?

%/

Obviously, you will need to be a front runner also before sponsors start talking with you!! Every sponsor wants BANG for his/her bucks.

Self sponsorship....
 

Bernie....

Getting involved at the grass roots level
of the sport such as volunteering to be on
a pit crew of a sportsman racer can bring
out certain talents you may not have known you had. You can use those talents
to pay your way into the sport. Back in
the 60's, I knew a guy who cobbled together cars on a shoestring budget. The
cars themselves were nothing exceptional
except that his engines were always very
strong. People would ask him who built
his heads, he would reply, "did 'em myself." Then they would ask, "hey, would you build some heads for me?" Word got around fast and soon he was building heads for dozens of racers. He had to
turn people away because his head building business had become that big.
His head building activity bought in enough money for him to build better
cars for himself. I knew another guy
who basically went the same route
except that his talent was in building
rear ends. He eventually left his job
with an auto parts jobber and opened
his own rear end shop which made him
enough money to self-sponsor his own
SS/GA Camaros. Anything seems possible if you put your mind to it.

....Fred