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Tag: Bobby Dale Earnhardt

  • Bobby Dale Earnhardt to address youth coalition on life choices.

    For Immediate Release from TeamEarnhardt.
    3/10/2011

    Bobby Dale Earnhardt to address youth coalition on life choices.

    On March 23, 2011, Bobby Dale Earnhardt will be addressing the Marinette and Menominee Healthy Youth Coalition (HYC) at the University of Wisconsin Marinette Center on life choices such as drug use and it’s effect on future life choices.

    The HYC mission statement offers the following description of their purpose and goals.

    The mission of the Healthy Youth Coalition of Marinette & Menominee Counties is a commitment to promote healthy Lifestyles and choices throughout our communities to benefit our youth and their families. We do this by increasing community awareness and knowledge of risk and protective factors, reducing youth and community risk factors and building protective factors which impact risky behaviors such as problem alcohol use, illicit drug use, and violence, promoting healthy youth activities, and by empowering our youth to identify and develop their own responses to barriers in our communities which impede the building of protective factors.

    Bobby will join Chris Brown and Ryan Moran in bringing his story and information to the Coalition. Bobby will participate in 3 break out sessions with 30 – 40 teens in each session, as well as addressing the monthly meeting the following day.

    Bobby Dale Earnhardt is the oldest grandson of seven time Nascar Champion Dale Earnhardt. He will offer his story of recovery from a dangerous addiction. Bobby Dale stated, “I want to do this to show other teens that even celebrities and their families have these problems and that they are not the only ones… I want to share what I went through and what I’ve done to get over it and what I’ve missed or would have accomplished if I hadn’t done it and what I’ve done (such as my racing) since I’ve decided to get away from that”.

    Bobby is now seeking to make his way in the sport of auto racing on his own terms. Bobby is currently in negotiations to secure a full time Nascar K&N East Series ride, hopes to shine a light on life’s roads for today’s youth to help them avoid the same pit falls and dangers he faced.

  • NASCAR’s Digital Fan Clubs Who is best? Who is biggest? Who has the best value?

    NASCAR’s Digital Fan Clubs Who is best? Who is biggest? Who has the best value?

    In this digital age NASCAR and its drivers have begun to reach out to their fan bases via the internet. Fan based websites have gotten bigger and better every year with fan clubs going completely electronic in place of the old school paper newsletter that came through the mail.

    This is the time of year that hosts the launch of most of the new fan clubs and their websites. Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Dale Jr, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and others all either have or will soon launch their new fan clubs and in some case’s their websites. So the Fourth Turn ventured out to see what was out there. The results might surprise you.

    The biggest site is not the best site. The best is not whose you might think. The most well known is light years behind and disappointing. And by the replies from the organizations combined with their sites the drivers who are most committed to their fans would perhaps surprise you. But the biggest surprise is who has the biggest and most loyal following behind them.

    [media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”180″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson’s fan club takes a very fresh approach towards his fan club. Their club is free and powered by Lowes. They offer perspectives from Chad Knaus and Earl Barban, in car audio, as well updates from Jimmie. A quick registration process has you ready to be in the middle of the quest for the 6-Pack.

    Their store is powered by Sports Today and offers a variety of merchandise and team 48 encrested items. Although they do offer a live race day chat and live in car audio, I was not able to find a message board or an actual chat room. The site is however, packed with information and fun things for fans of all ages. It is definitely the championship contender of the free sites. Lowes has left no corner unturned to bring the 48 fans in close to their team. Their approach is very reminiscent of Football’s extra man. By educating and illustrating they eliminate the unproductive fuss seen in many places.

    Kyle Busch does not offer a fan club dedicated website. His communications director Ryan Kingsbury stated, “I really see no value in an exclusive website for fan club members, we have a very powerful online presence for all our fans via our websites and social media assets. (KyleBusch.com, Twitter.com/KyleBusch, Facebook.com/KyleBusch) We offer an exclusive e-newsletter to the Fan Club members that we give them special offers, giveaways, first details on appearances, etc…In fact we will be giving away tickets to Daytona to a couple lucky Fan Club members in the coming weeks. Aside for the items they receive in the kit, Fan Club members receive a 10% discount on all purchases at our online store (RowdyBusch.com). We will also have an autograph session at KBM in May, Fan Club members will be able to RSVP and be assured an autograph, as well as an invitation to an exclusive Fan Club meeting in October at KBM. (Which will be well worth the price of the membership) Our Fan Club numbers are up 80% over last year already, for a once a year price of $35 it’s a great value.”

    Kevin Harvick’s club offers a great exclusive membership package that features lots of sponsorship involvement in the form of coupons that are included in the package sent to members. According to Fan Club President Tyler Patterson, the kit includes, a t-shirt, membership card, merchandise discount card, Kevin Harvick autograph card, decal, keychain, ink pen and mouse pad that is also a calendar complete with race dates.

    Patterson added, ”Each fall, we host an open house where fan club members can come and have the opportunity to meet Kevin and get a photo/autograph and tour the race shop. This year we have decided to take our fan club event on the road and will host gatherings at Martinsville in April and Phoenix in November.”

    Fan Central is an extension of KevinHarvick.com and is a basic social network site that allows fans to interact with one another. Kevin “really only uses his Twitter to interact with the fans now,” According to Patterson.

     You can also follow Kevin and Delana on Twitter. Their adventures with Mother Function and Lo are definitely not only entertaining but Delana offers Question and Answer on Race Day most weekends.

    Ryan Newman will also be launching a new fan club based web site that will celebrate their 10th year of operation. They will be doing so with an entirely new concept for fan clubs. Their new site will be a micro social network. The social network style will be the first of its kind in regards to NASCAR based fan clubs.

    By utilizing all of the best things about Facebook along with the NASCAR/Ryan Newman theme and connection, they hope to improve their fan experience several fold. It will work very similar to Facebook, with profiles, post interactions like Facebook and like buttons that will be race points. The race points will be used in a leader board style to allow recognition to the fan club members that post the most participated in conversations and the most well liked pictures and videos.

    Ryan Newman himself will also have a profile allowing him to participate as a part of the fan club. As a part of the group he can interact with the group as a member of the fan club family rather than as an outside object of conversation. The new site will allow Ryan  more transparency and proximity to his fan base.

    The site boasts bright colors and ease of use as well as its revolutionary concept. The site offers a live chat capability for its members based on events such as the Daytona 500 or news events that are taking place within the network itself. The site will be very much picture driven and allows I-Phone and I-Pad access.

    The site, scheduled to launch before the Daytona 500, will seamlessly integrate the old site and its members into the new one. New members will have instant access once the new site has launched.

    Four time Champion Jeff Gordon’s fan site has multiple levels. He has a pay site that features chats with Jeff and his wife. Contests and features like message boards and 24 hour chat. But he also offers a basic package that does not require a financial investment but offers family photos messages from Jeff and video’s of “Network” meetings.

    His general site gives a glimpse into the world of Jeff Gordon, with information about everything from his racing and foundation to his winery and their offerings. Gordon also has launched a Hologram program to protect all of his fans from fake autographs and he allows you to enter the number from your hologram to see if yours is real.

    Jeff’s commitment to his fans appears to be all year long as there were holiday messages found in archives from the last several years. Though Gordon’s blog appears to be more video in nature he keeps touch with scheduled regularity and offers a very close up view of his thoughts, his life, and his career.

    The shining star of the new stars that we checked out is just getting started. His name is familiar but his face will surprise you. Bobby Dale Earnhardt’s fan commitment is second to none. His website is just forming but his internet presence is growing on a daily basis. Between Twitter and Facebook, Team Earnhardt is turning heads. Bobby isn’t just the object of this effort. Bobby is a part of this effort.

    Bobby is Dale Earnhardt’s oldest grand child. He is the oldest son of Kerry Earnhardt. He is choosing to make his own way in the racing world without relying on his family or his family name although obviously he can not change that.  He is determined to make his way the old fashioned way, the way his Grandfather did, on his own. It may seem a lonely way to get there but Bobby is gathering a great many fans to walk the road with him and maybe have a good time with it too.

    Although nearly every driver’s fan club was contacted, only a handful responded. These are the most dynamic and the best of the offerings sampled. It is interesting to note, that in a time when NASCAR is suffering from a lack of people in the seats and on the couch, the common course in regards to its fan clubs is distant anonymity. The drivers who seem to be making the efforts to remain accountable to the fans and to stay close to their fan base are the drivers we see time after time rise to the top of the popularity charts and on the race track as well.

    It is amazing that people have missed one of the greatest stories of the off season, that of the fans of Richard Petty. The king has been off the track for quite some time as a driver but his dedication and loyalty to his fans has never changed. That dedication and loyalty was returned when the King of stock car racing entered a different kind of race one to regain control of his name, it was his faithful following that provided the muscle to make that happen. Is there a lesson to be learned in that, most definitely. Will it be embraced? Only time will tell. But it is interesting to note that the largest fan base in all of NASCAR belongs to a man who hasn’t turned the wheel of a stock car since 1992.

  • Kyle Fowler Holds Best Time of ARCA Test Single Car Runs for Venturini Motorsports

    Teammate Hal Martin made of had the quickest time for Thursday morning’s session, however Kyle Fowler holds serve of being the quickest car on the property for single car runs.

    Martin drove the No. 55 Toyota to a best lap of 48.815 seconds (184.37 mph) to lead the Thursday morning session. That lap ranks fifth-best over the single-car runs only for the entire test session. Overall, the lap ranks 16th-best of the test week as Benny Gordon’s 48.414-second effort holds the top from the drafting session.  

    “It’s windier today, that’s for sure,” Martin told the ARCA Racing Network. “We had a little bit of a headwind going down the backstretch, which slowed us down a little bit. Other than that, our cars are quick. The Venturini guys put in a heck of a lot of work coming in and leading into this week and this test session, and the cars are all fast. The cars are performing like they should be.”

    Fowler ranked second on Thursday’s board with a lap of 48.943 seconds (183.887 mph), though holds first on the board for the entire test in single-car runs with a time of 48.668-seconds in the No. 15 Chevrolet.

    For Thursday’s board, teammates Steve Arpin and Mark Thomspon followed behind Martin and Fowler in third and forth.  Arpin drove the No. 25 Toyota to a lap of 48.978 seconds (183.756 mph), and Thompson drove his best lap in 49.208 seconds (182.897 mph). 

    Venturini Motorsports officials said that they have elected not to run the afternoon session as they’ve accomplished their goals. 

    “We had a game plan coming into this test session,” Martin said. “We were able to run through our list of things we wanted to try and see what benefited the car and what hampered our performance. We got our checklist done and completed, so we’re done.”

    Finishing out the top 10 for Day three was Brian Rose, Bobby Gerhart, Randy Renfrow, Patrick Sheltra, Grant Enfinger, and Jason Bowles. A number of teams, including Richard Childress Racing, Kimmel Racing, and Enfinger Motorsports, chose not to participate in the final day of testing.

    ARCA Racing Series testing at Daytona will conclude this afternoon with a drafting session, scheduled for 1-5 p.m.

    Gordon, who led yesterday’s drafting session, does not plan on running this afternoon.

    “I think we’re done,” Gordon said. “We were only planning on two days. (The team) has some stuff they want to do back at the shop, so I think we’re going to get out of here and pack it up, let them do their work, and see if they can’t make it better for when it comes back.”

    Meanwhile, Bobby Dale Earnhardt, son of Kerrry Earnhardt, is looking to use these three days as a learning experience.

    “It means a lot coming here,” the 23-year old said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for this track. With everything that’s happened here, it’s really awesome being here.

    “I’m just hoping to learn a lot. They say this track is pretty much in my DNA, but I guess we’ll find that out.” 

    Single-Car Run Speeds Combined From The Test

    1. #15 Kyle Fowler – 48.668 seconds – Wednesday Morning
    2. #55 Hal Martin – 48.697 seconds – Wednesday Morning
    3. #25 Steve Arpin – 48.796 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    4. #31 Tim George Jr. – 48.985 seconds – Wednesday Morning
    5. #66 Mark Thomson – 49.208 seconds – Thursday Morning
    6. #4 Brian Rose – 49.290 seconds – Thursday Morning
    7. #17a Chris Buescher – 49.315 seconds – Tuesday Morning
    8. #63a Milka Duno – 49.371 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    9. #41a Ty Dillon – 49.383 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    10. #22 Dakoda Armstrong – 49.438 – Wednesday Morning
    11. #42a Scott Stenzil – 49.457 – Wednesday Morning
    12. #36 Grant Enfinger – 49.486 – Tuesday Afternoon
    13. #16a Joey Coulter – 49.543 – Tuesday Afternoon
    14. #77 Joey Licata, Jr. – 49.549 – Wednesday Morning
    15. #14b John Ferrier – 49.562 – Tuesday Afternoon
    16. #18a Ryan Glenski – 49.578 – Wednesday Morning
    17. #5a Bobby Gerhart – 49.624 seconds – Thursday Morning
    18. #16 Randy Renfrow – 49.659 seconds – Thursday Morning
    19. #63 Patrick Sheltra – 49.660 seconds – Thursday Morning
    20. #75b Benny Chastain – 49.680 seconds – Tuesday Morning
    21. #10a Ed Pompa – 49.686 seconds – Wednesday Morning
    22. #6 Jason Bowles – 49.709 seconds – Wednesday Morning
    23. #18c Jeremy Frankoski – 49.714 seconds – Wednesday Morning
    24. #09 Benny Gordon – 49.743 seconds – Wednesday Morning
    25. #36b Brett Hudson – 49.804 seconds – Thursday Morning
    26. #12b Maryeve Dufault – 49.853 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    27. #12c Chase Austin – 49.925 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon 
    28. #5c Damon Lusk – 49.945 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    29. #97 Matt Lofton – 49.946 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    30. #2 Kevin Swindell – 49.949 seconds – Thursday Morning
    31. #11 Bryan Silas – 49.977 seconds – Thursday Morning
    32. #1 Chad McCumbee – 49.978 seconds – Wednesday Morning
    33. #54 Will Vaught – 50.007 seconds – Wednesday Morning
    34. #42b Joey Gaze – 50.048 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    35. #95 Tommy Joe Martins – 50.049 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    36. #68 Steve Blackburn – 50.059 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    37. #75a Hannah Baker – 50.075 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    38. #42c Ryan Lynch – 50.080 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    39. #23a Jake Crum – 50.113 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    40. #14a John Graham – 50.145 seconds – Thursday Morning
    41. #10b Rick Clifton – 50.355 seconds – Wednesday Morning
    42. #3a Bobby Dale Earnhardt – 50.477 – Thursday Morning
    43. #3 Brent Brevak – 50.540 – Thursday Morning 
    44. #18e Lelani Munter – 50.544 – Thursday Morning
    45. #44 Frank Kimmel – 50.596 seconds – Tuesday Afternoon
    46. #82 Sean Corr – 50.607 seconds – Thursday Morning 
    47. #08 James Hylton – 50.694 seconds – Thursday Morning 
    48. #80b Richard Herriman - 50.773 seconds – Thursday Morning
    49. #18d Sloan Henderson – 50.790 seconds – Thursday Morning
    50. #62 Drew Charleson – 50.821 seconds – Thursday Morning
    51. #23 Levi Youster – 50.939 seconds – Wednesday Morning
    52. #18b Tyler Speer – 50.949 seconds – Thursday Morning
    53. #58 Chad Hackenbracht – 51.244 seconds – Tuesday Morning