Latest / The Racer on Demand Show / Episode 19 | Small Talk, Big Impact

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Episode 19 | Small Talk, Big Impact · The Racer on Demand Show

• Amanda Van Den Elzen: Hello and welcome again to the Racer On Demand show. I'm Amanda Vanden Elzen and I am joined by my co-host, Megan Meyer. Hello. ⁓ are talking today about the power of your network and how that translates into you building your race program, building your fan base, and ultimately putting more money in your pocket. ⁓ Megan: Hello. Amanda Van Den Elzen: before we dive in though. It's been a hot minute since we checked in. We've done some racing, Megan's done some racing. I think we need to just check in and see how that all went. Megan: Yeah. Share share our race results. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes, yes. So Megan, you were out of the driver's seat for like ever, basically. Megan: Yeah, quite a while. Yeah, this ⁓ like first half of the the year has been really slow for me for ⁓ racing season, which I mean it's been good 'cause I've been able to, you know, go do some other stuff. We did quite a few trips to the sand dunes, which is always so much fun. ⁓ but yeah, it's usually I'll have, I don't know, half a dozen races and by the time we get to June, ⁓ but not this year. So it's been, you know, yeah, it's been different. ⁓ there's also been a ton of of work to get done at home, especially like working on the farm, which the house part of it, the living quarters that we've done an addition to onto the barn is still not finished. So I think maybe maybe three more weeks. We'll see. Cause we I hope not. ⁓ my gosh. ⁓ but yeah, we should be getting the bathroom vanity in this week because for some reason I don't know Amanda Van Den Elzen: Still? They were going to say years. Just a couple more years. Megan: the process, but they needed the vanity in before they could do the toilet or any of the other plumbing. And so that was on back order. So anyways. but yeah, racing wise. So I did a drag race for the first time this year. and the we were supposed to have one Memorial Day weekend, but it got rained out. So ⁓ this was my first one and it is the IHRA triple crown, which is something brand new. Nobody's done anything like this before, so it's really cool. And you're basically just competing for money. There's no points involved. ⁓ it is high prize money, and then there's an added bonus, but it's only for like the the five pro classes. And so we're technically not a pro class, so we are not eligible for it. But there is a million dollar bonus to someone who wins all three of the races. I know I'm just like when I heard that last year, because they didn't. specifically say who was eligible for that. So I was like, ⁓ I'm definitely going to all those races. And then it wasn't until maybe like two months ago we found out that we were not eligible for that. But there is still the the bigger prize money. And so to win a race, you get 15 grand, which is a lot of money. That's like double what you could get winning an NHRA race. so definitely, you know, still sa a bonus there. But ⁓ Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Yeah. Megan: We went there, so it was my first race, but I did race against my sister, and she has done three or four drag races already this year. So she's got a lot more under her belt. and we had quite a bit of trouble getting to the track. So we we drove ⁓ from Kansas City to Columbus, and it was like a Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. ⁓ no. Megan: 10 hour drive on Google. ⁓ and so we left late Wednesday night after work because I wanted to get there Thursday so I could do a test run. Cause again, I've never I haven't been in the car at all this year. ⁓ we get about two hours away from home. We have a flat tire on the motorhome. We have no spare. We have no tools to even change this tire. And so it's already like nine o'clock, or it was like, Amanda Van Den Elzen: ⁓ ⁓ no. Megan: past nine o'clock, but like all the tire shops, you know, were closed. and the big like twenty-four hour semi truck shops, you know, didn't have anything that small. So we had to stay the night, ⁓ got to a tire shop first thing Thursday morning, but we still had two hours to go before we went to St. Louis to pick up my sister and her whole family. So there's about nine of us in Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. ⁓ my god. Megan: a motorhome, which you know, it's not like a huge motorhome that we have. ⁓ so we were pretty cramped there. ⁓ and then from there, I think it was like an eight hour drive to Columbus, but we had a ton of traffic. Like we were like sitting still on the highway for at least two hours, like not moving at all, ⁓ cause of construction And there might have been an accident as well. So we didn't actually get to the racetrack until like 9 30 Thursday night. So completely missed testing. They also did this really cool ⁓ like fan fest. ⁓ missed that. And so ⁓ so yeah, so we get there and my first run is our our first qualifying pass. And everyone's like, Okay, make sure like you remember what to do because you only got two qualifying sessions and Amanda Van Den Elzen: No. Megan: is only an eight-car field. And if I remember right, there was 10 cars there. So where's there was a chance that, you know, we wouldn't make the field. So they're like, please don't mess up. Like, remember what to do. Because everyone gives me grief about it because ⁓ a race that I did like two years ago, it was my first time back. Like it had been over a year since being in the car. And I had forgot to turn the fuel on. So whenever we Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan: Like we pre-stage, so we turn the top yellow bulbs on. And then before we stage, which is where we turn on the bottom yellow, there's a procedure where we let off of the clutch ⁓ and then we turn the fuel all the way on. Cause before that it's only at maybe like 20%. ⁓ and so I had instead of turning it on, I had turned it off all the way. So it killed the car. And there's absolutely nothing you can do to like restart it. Like you have to take it back to the pits. Amanda Van Den Elzen: ⁓ no. Megan: and like still tear the car down like as if you did a full run. So everyone's like, please just turn the fuel on. Don't make a mistake. Like remember what to do. And like I but I felt like really like just calm and comfortable and like confident when as soon as I got into the car. And then ⁓ with like our procedure ⁓ whenever, you know, before we even go up to pre stage, ⁓ because as soon as you do that, no one is allowed to touch the car. And Amanda Van Den Elzen: Hmm. Megan: ⁓ but before that, it's usually like my dad or whoever's like the car chief is ⁓ you'll see them like just touching stuff on the motor. They're usually just like adjusting the idle, the air gap or whatever it is, because I've never done it before. So I don't know, but they're like, you know, moving all these knobs and they they look at the dash, it's like, okay, now move it this way and then look at the dash. So they're always like checking stuff. So but as soon as as soon as you go up to pre-stage, like nobody can touch the car. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah Yeah. Megan: And so like he's doing his stuff and then like he points inside. He he goes like this, tells me to roll up to pre-stage. And then then he goes and touches the fuel lever. And so that kind of messed me up because that got me out of my routine. ⁓ so then I was like, like I had I I felt like I wasn't gonna make any mistakes. Like I like just felt like I picked up right where I left off. ⁓ but then that kind of threw me off. And so, but then like I still remembered what to do. I didn't mess up. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Hahaha Megan: ⁓ but just like another reminder of like, hey, don't F this up. ⁓ yeah, so we qualified good. ⁓ I ended up number three, Rachel ended up number two, and we were one and two. ⁓ but then someone did ⁓ in the second qualifying session, 'cause then that was like middle of the day. So it's really hot out. We really can't make more power. Typically you don't run faster in the middle of the day, but Amanda Van Den Elzen: Sure. Megan: One of the other teams, they figured it out, and I think they might have been like their career best that they ran. ⁓ so they stepped up to number one, which hurt us because then on the ladder, number two and number three are on the same side. And if we would have stayed one and two or one and three, we would have been on opposite sides. So then we could meet in the finals. But ⁓ that didn't happen. So we both won first round and then we had to race each other in the semis. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Dang. Megan: ⁓ but it did we also got a rain delay ⁓ during the race. So I think we ran first round at like 11 o'clock in the morning. And then again, it wasn't till like nine o'clock at night that we ran second round. So we're just like waiting around all day. You know, you just like lose your momentum and focus, and you're just like, I just want to go to bed now. Like I don't even want to race. but so yeah, so she beat me ⁓ my car, smoked the tires, which Amanda Van Den Elzen: ⁓ my God. Yes. Megan: As a driver, like there's nothing you can do to recover that. So I just have to coast and watch her cross the finish line. ⁓ and then so that guy that was number one qualifier is who she had a race in the finals, and he had run faster than her in the semis. So he had lane choice, and Rachel actually had some problems on the track. So she slowed down a ton in her run against me. So then Because it was so late, we only had like less than an hour for turnaround to go up to the finals. And they find an issue in the clutch. They find a ignition issue, like something with the wires got messed up. And so then they're like the whole team is the thrashing to tear this apart, figure out what is this like electrical issue that we're having. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Oof. Megan: And the guys like with IHRA are they're just like at the trailer, like, Hey, like you guys ready, you gotta go. Like the other cars up there waiting for you, like you gotta go now. And so thankfully they did like a quick warm up, like figured out, okay, you know, whatever it was, they fixed it. ⁓ and then hurried up there to the starting line for the final round. ⁓ and thankfully the other team waited for us because they technically don't have to. ⁓ but you know, thank thank goodness they did. But then ⁓ Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan: their driver, I think because I it might have been their first final. I know it's a team that doesn't race very often. and so the driver might have been just like super excited, maybe nervous, like in the finals because he had stepped on the gas and left, like right after, you know, like staging. He had left ⁓ and completely did not get a green light. So left before the tree came down. So that's an automatic disqualification. Rachel you know, immediately wins the race before she even has to go down the track, but she still makes a full poll is a good run. ⁓ and it more just to make sure, like, yeah, they fixed the car. ⁓ so it was really cool that she got to win because yeah, our whole family was there. It was my niece's second birthday. And ⁓ so we had a lot of other family members there as well. and it was her first win of the year. ⁓ our team's first IHRA win for this year. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan: And so, like I said, that one doesn't count for points, so that doesn't help her to try to chase the championship, but she got a good payday at the end of the day. So Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. It's still good confidence boost too. Megan: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And so then ⁓ in two weeks is our next IHRA race. And ⁓ that one is a just regular points race. So I will be competing there as well. It's one that I wasn't originally planning on going to, but we ⁓ will have some of our sponsors and employees come and hanging out. And so ⁓ you know, it's just it should be. I need to go there to represent the team and ⁓ you know, hang out with all the people, network with them. ⁓ but I will be missing Adam's Ultra Four race. So another one I'm missing, but I'll be hopefully, you know, helping us out on the drag racing side. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Man. Yeah, where is that race? Megan: That will be in up by Detroit. That's in Michigan. Yeah. And that's when I raced there last year and I did really bad. So I was really not looking forward to going back there. But now I'm like, okay, I'll just, you know, different mindset this year. I think it'll be better. But the team, ⁓ yeah, for sure. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Okay. Hahaha some redemption. Megan: Yeah, because the team actually raced this past weekend in Norwalk. And it's ⁓ the the gunk car is one that I share ⁓ with someone else. His name's Matt. And Matt won the race ⁓ this last weekend in Norwalk. So that also like makes me feel really good. It's like we've got a good car. So ⁓ hopefully there's no issues with smoking the tires or anything like that. But you know, no two tracks are the same. So ⁓ but yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Megan: So we've got some good momentum. We've got two wins now back to back. And ⁓ that'll be our next race. So we've got ⁓ this weekend offer fourth of July, and then we'll be heading back to the track. Amanda Van Den Elzen: ⁓ how exciting. I feel like you're racing like the same weekends that we are right now, because that'll be ERX for us too. Megan: Yeah. Yeah. I know. Yeah. Well and it's funny because ⁓ like I was trying to get John to come to more of our races to get content for us and yeah, like most of them do not work 'cause they are the same weekend as champ races and that is his priority, which I totally understand. Amanda Van Den Elzen: You Yes, yeah, we had him out. So he, he was supposed to come out the Wednesday before Crandon, because we left on Thursday morning to get out to Crandon. And he was supposed to come in and hang out with us on Wednesday while we were getting ready and stuff. And then we were gonna ⁓ give him one of our cars and he could drive up to Crandon and whatnot and just use our car instead of a rental since He was going to be staying with us after Crandon because he didn't go home in between our race and then the one out in Ohio that he went out to for you guys' team. So that was kind of cool to have him around for that, but he ended up so delayed. He got stuck in Chicago overnight before he was supposed to come in and we were supposed to leave, you know, Thursday morning, like pretty early Thursday morning because load-in's at eight. We had to go meet. our semi driver at the shop and then go up and it's about an hour and a half drive from the shop. So, you we had a two hour drive from home with that. So we had to leave the house by like six ish, you know, and and he wasn't coming in until way after that. we're like, crud, he already canceled his rental car. How are we going to figure this out? And so I ended up staying back. Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Chris took the RV and the animals and everything up to Crandon and then I stayed back and he was delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed. I think we finally got up there like around noon or something. yeah, then we had our race weekend and then he hung out with us for a couple of days. then ⁓ Chris's birthday was this Thursday, this last Thursday. And that's the day John went home. So we got to kind of celebrate Chris's birthday while he was here. Megan: Okay. Yeah. Cheese. Yeah, that's right. Amanda Van Den Elzen: And by home, mean actually out to you guys as race, but just not not our house anymore. Yeah, but it was so cool having him around and just, don't know, like we see him at the track. He's part of our race family. So was kind of like taking somebody outside of the context that we normally see them, you know. Megan: Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah. So whose idea was it for the retire video? Cause that was like genius. Amanda Van Den Elzen: That was me. So when we were on our way out to Wheatland, I think the first time when we went out for you guys' race, when we were driving through Missouri somewhere out in the boonies, there was a big billboard and it said ready to retire and it had pictures of tires on it and it was for a tire shop. And I was like, ⁓ my God, Chris, I have an idea. Megan: Okay. Yeah. Yes. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I was like, it's gonna take getting some people pulled together because I feel like the only way to really make this impactful is if we get the champ production crew in on it too. Megan: Yeah, for sure. Yeah, that was so cool that they did that. Cause like it it was so like realistic too. Like they did a great job of acting. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Yes. ⁓ it was so good. And everybody that I talked to, like because we know Shane and Brent really well, like we have a pretty constant group chat with them. And for those people who are listening that haven't seen the video, basically one of the crew guys for our friends team rolls up behind Chris, who is talking to one of our crew guys. And he says, you know, I think after this race, I'm going to retire. And the guy who overhears this goes flying back to the pits that he works in. says, Ryan, you're never going to believe what I heard. Chris is retiring after this race. then there's this game of telephone that ends up with the announcers getting called and they call the trackside reporter and Haley comes to our pits and she goes, Chris, we heard you are retiring. What? Why now? And ⁓ Chris goes, well, Megan: Ha ha ha. Yeah. ⁓ Amanda Van Den Elzen: The tires typically wear down a little bit during the race. So yeah, I tend to retire after every race. And then Haley goes, she goes, ⁓ she like thanks him. Then she walks away and talks to her earpiece. She goes, guys, Chris is retiring after this race, but it's not what we thought. everybody like, it was so great. Everybody I pitched it to, like I, Megan: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ man. That's genius. I love that you were able to get them involved. Amanda Van Den Elzen: In our group chat, was like, hey, Shane and Brent, I have this idea. I want you guys in on it. They were just immediately in. And then at Anigo, where we recorded this, I saw Haley and one of the other production guys, Ted, they were walking past the pits. And we know Haley decently well. I was going to shoot her a text message, but I didn't have to because she was walking past the pits. And I run up to her. was like, Haley, I have this idea. Do you want in on this? Megan: Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: And she was like, 100%, I want in, like name the place, name the time. And they each like brought their own little piece to it. Like they ad-libbed quite a bit of it. The whole like her talking to the like production team after that was Haley's idea. know, Shane putting in the little bit about like, he's trying to win a championship this year. He just bought a new truck. Like that was all him. It was great. Everybody's personality just shined through so well. Megan: Awesome. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's so cool. ⁓ yeah, I think it turned out really well. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes, yes. And it got decent views on social too. I know, ⁓ we know the production manager, I guess he is. I don't know who he leads the production team at Champ. We know him pretty well. And he unabashedly has a huge crush on me and will tell me at every point in time. His name is Joe. If you've ever seen videos of ⁓ somebody playing a harmonica in our pits, that's producer Joe. But Megan: Ha ha ha. Okay. Amanda Van Den Elzen: But he is in our pits often because J. Will shares media with him that he can then use on the Fox Sports broadcasts. So he always comes over, hey, can you get me some GoPro shots of qualifying or whatever? And so I was telling him, was like, Joe, I want to make this video. And he's like, make it, and I'll put it on the live stream. So we'll see if that goes up. I don't think it was up at Crandon, but I haven't really watched the whole live stream either. Megan: Nice. Awesome. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I haven't seen it in the replay I've been watching. But yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Okay, okay. I'm guessing because he didn't have it downloaded yet at Crandon. I sent him the link and he was like, I haven't downloaded it yet. but yeah, he was like, send it to me and we will run it. Yes. Megan: Mm, okay. Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, Chris had a really good outing at Crandon. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. So ⁓ he won on Sunday. That was his first win of the season, which is super exciting. ⁓ It really closely mirrors last year as well. That was his first win was at the Sunday of Spring Crandon last year. And then we know how the rest of that season went. He led in points, you know, for most of the season in the second half up until the last weekend. Megan: ⁓ okay. Amanda Van Den Elzen: where it was down to just a couple of points for that championship. But ⁓ Saturday we had a little bit of, like, I don't want to say drama, but it was a little, I don't know, like tumultuous, I guess, at podium. So because there was rain delay on Saturday, everything got pushed back and the podiums were all done at once for like ProBuggy. Megan: ⁓ okay. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Pro spec, pro stock. I think they did like three or four podiums all at once. So they had all of the race vehicles kind of stacking up outside the barn turn out by podium and all of the people waiting to do their podiums sitting like at the podium just waiting for the next race to finish, then the next race to finish, right? So Chris's race, he was running in... ⁓ second going for first, he would have had it, but he clipped a blue wall, he got a flat tire on his left front on the last lap. And so he just kept pushing it. ⁓ Second place went past him. And then on the last corner of the last lap, there was a caution. And so Robert's on the radio because of course, I'm always listening to the spotter channel. Robert's on the radio and he says, you've got this, there's a yellow upcoming, just slow down as you come over the Polaris jump because it's yellow in the last corner and then you'll just file through since you can't pass under a caution, right? And so Chris is going full speed. out of the second to corner. And like I said, he's fighting left front flat ⁓ and he's coming up over the jump. ⁓ And then there's the caution, safety guys waving yellow flags. Chris down, but the guy that was in place doesn't. And he. kind of kamikazes past him, hits Chris in the side. For those people who are listening and not watching, I'm totally doing race car hands right now. So he hits Chris in the side, passes him, and goes across the line in third. And then Chris crosses in fourth. And so we're sitting here like, well, he got passed under a caution that's not legal. so Robert is on the ⁓ spotter stand with race control. Megan: Yeah. ⁓ yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: And he's telling Chris, he's like, I'm gonna figure this out. Just go up to podium anyway. Just go up anyway. I'm gonna figure this out. And I don't know exactly what happened up on the spotters tower or talking to race control, but ultimately race control decided that that was not a pass under caution and that Chris deserved the fourth place, which ⁓ was radically different from what we saw and from what we. Megan: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: thought happened. So we were prepared to kind of appeal that. But Chris was sitting up at podium and they wouldn't even let him through the gate to come up off the racetrack at this point. And he's talking to the safety guys and the safety guy said, sorry, I like, can't let you up there. Like you didn't, you didn't get the spot. And so like Chris kind of put his head down and walked back towards his car. And then no more than a couple of seconds later, like they were gonna change the tire out on the track so that he could drive back to to tech and then to the pits. ⁓ But no more than just a couple of seconds later, the safety guy goes, wait, actually come back. And they brought him up. They said, we're giving you third because the guy who came in fourth now, ⁓ he didn't slow for the caution. So it wasn't because they passed him on a caution. They said they were just black flagging him for not slowing down through the caution, which ultimately gave Chris the third spot. And so we had this emotional roller coaster leading up to this podium. And they were doing pro buggy podiums during this point in time when we're trying to figure out, we even going on the podium or not? And so it was immediately, it was. Megan: Yeah. Cheese. Amanda Van Den Elzen: from go back to your truck, we're not even gonna let you up here, to get up on the podium and give a speech. So, like I don't know if you watched the podium speech at all for that race yet, but Chris is trying so hard to stay positive and like excited about the podium. And ultimately it was a really good points day for him. This whole weekend was a really good points weekend, but. Megan: Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: The speech you can tell, he actually says, he's like, I'm just going to focus on the positives here. I had a fun race. was great chasing him down. ⁓ Things happened that were outside of my control because ultimately he didn't make any of those decisions. He wasn't out there yelling at people to say, hey, I deserved that spot. He was just kind of along for the ride at that point. Megan: Mm. Wow. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I have pictures of him on the podium and most of them are like this face that probably shouldn't be in podium pictures. Megan: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ I can imagine. Amanda Van Den Elzen: It was just a wild ride, but then to have that kind of renewed confidence of finally getting that win the next day, like he would have had it if he hadn't have gotten that flat tire the first day, but no, some driver error in catching the wall with a tire. Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Man, that's that's a roller coaster. Amanda Van Den Elzen: It was wild. It was really wild. you know, I think kind of like all the things that we're talking about, whether we're talking about, you know, the retirement video or even like the relationship that we have with the safety crew and them, them vouching for him and, you know, really being his advocates, even when they told him to go back to the pits. One of the safety guys told our spotter later, he said, Chris was the most professional person I've ever seen take a no and be told that no, he's not going on podium. said he took it so well. But you know, like the respect that we have from the production team, the relationships that we have with the safety crew, they're all results of this network that we've built. And I'm excited to kind of talk about what Megan: Mm. Amanda Van Den Elzen: what those networks mean, how they come into play, when you can leverage them. Megan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Well, because I think like networking usually you think of like going to the trade shows or going to conferences and like just searching for sponsors. And I mean, yeah, that is part of it, but there is still like the other part. And I'm glad you brought that up of like networking with the people that are at the track and like running the events. because I feel like that that can help, especially in situations ⁓ like that. And I think I've might have shared this before on the podcast. But when I was doing full-time NHRA, my dad like had ⁓ not like but he ⁓ like just his actions and his ⁓ relationships that had with the people that were operating the track, whether it was from parking to the safety safari ⁓ Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Megan: to the people higher up, you know, and even on like the corporate side of NHRA. just yeah, having those relationships and friendships with them and ⁓ and yeah, also the media too, because that I feel like ⁓ set a good example for me when I was the one to kind of fill his shoes as a driver. And you know, like people kind of knew who I was just cause my sister and I were like always around. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Megan: always in the pits. ⁓ but then, you know, some of them we've never like really interacted with before, like the ones that do the interviews, ⁓ because they usually do that like on the top end and never really had met those people before anything. ⁓ but we were fortunate that my dad had a good relationship with people. So then it did help kind of open the doors for my sister and I when it was our turn. ⁓ and with me like loving media. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan: and all that type of stuff. Like I was really drawn to the people that were doing the productions ⁓ or the interviews and stuff. And I would always ask them like, Hey, can you send me the file and then I'll share it on my socials and all that. And they were just like, Yeah, we'd love to. Like nobody ever asks for this. And I'm just like, well it's it's just another thing that I can post or like something I don't have to recreate because you know you guys already did it. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Yes. Megan: ⁓ yeah, like we have we always have had such good relationships with those people. And I think it always did kind of help us. ⁓ you know, maybe we kind of got another interview or something more than someone else did because we, you know, not only were we like, I guess, pretty good or okay on camera, ⁓ but we also like we were friends with them. So it's like, yeah, like come over to the pits anytime. Like we'd love to do anything with you guys. And ⁓ Amanda Van Den Elzen: You Megan: There was even some times where whenever they would have, you know, local media come out to the track, they would always try to send them over to our pits too. And it was so cool to kind of get that extra airtime and we'd have them, you know, the anchor or whoever throw them in the car and do a warm-up. ⁓ and I still remember doing that stuff. There's actually one time where somehow we forgot to put oil back in the car and we did a warm-up. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Ha ha ha. Megan: And we all just see like, you know, the oil light like comes on as soon as the car runs, but they're filming for it. So we're just like, Okay, we'll run it for ten seconds and then we're like, We gotta shut this down. Like we don't wanna blow this up in the pits. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: That would make for one heck of a filming though. I love that you're talking about relationships with media people because when we think about building good relationships and building a solid network, think the thing that we sometimes immediately think of is how can this person help me? And then we kind of forget the how can I help this person? But when we're talking about having really positive relationships with media people, like media people and racers have such mutually, ⁓ my gosh, such mutually aligned goals that they want their stuff seen, we want our stuff seen. So by collaborating, by being able to get engaging media, like a lot of times media people are really struggling to get a good story or get a racer on camera talking about their vulnerable state or you know what is hard to get people to talk about sometimes. So if you can be the person that can get them a good story or get them a new audience, like a lot of times you will end up with more visibility for your own program as well. I think about our relationship with the Impulse Media guys. They were on our show just a couple of episodes ago. We have no formal relationship with them. We've hired them once for a standalone project, but at the track, they're not our media people. But you best believe that we collaborate with them in as many ways as we can think about because we have a story that they can capitalize on and they have an audience that benefits us. by bringing them onto our podcast or by showing up on their podcast or by doing, you know, fun little videos with them here or there when they are just walking the pits doing stuff with racers. having that relationship benefits everybody. And that's part of having a a strong relationship with media people in general, not just the people you're hiring. Megan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I remember, wasn't it there was one of the characters that they did, it was like about cooking or like the food. Yeah, yeah. Frying teen. Yeah. Didn't you do that at Wheatland? Yeah, that was funny. Yeah. They're very creative. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Fry and deegan? Yes. Yeah, what's funny is Tito told me about that, but I forgot to tell Chris about that. ⁓ So when he showed up, that was a complete surprise to Chris that Fry and Deegan was interviewing him. Megan: ⁓ my gosh, that's so funny. ⁓ wow. ⁓ that's funny. Cause didn't Chris say like the pork tenderlin or something? Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes, but that's a great example of like, you know, they're just doing this. Yes, okay, which networking wise, we met the pork tenderloin guy. I can't talk. We met the pork tenderloin guy when we were out for your race and they were set up for that. And he saw our bright purple panels on our truck and his colors were bright pink. So he stopped over just to see what the truck was. And we ended up talking to him for like an hour. And like when we were Megan: ⁓ okay. Okay. Nice. Amanda Van Den Elzen: there for our Wheatland race, we went back over to say, hey, you know, we're still here. You know, thanks again for talking to us. We said we'd pop by when, you know, we were back and we did. And, know, just simple little things like that. And then, you know, if we can send businesses away, why wouldn't we? You know, he was super nice and we learned a lot about him and his family and, you know, why they do what they do. like it didn't benefit us anything immediately, but who knows, maybe. Megan: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: next time we're at Wheatland, we'll get a pork tenderloin out of it or something. I don't know. It doesn't matter. Megan: Right. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Well, and that's like, yeah, to go back, like networking, like it's not always something where you're gonna get like that immediate return. whether that is a sponsorship or a a seat to drive for or any type of partnership, like it could be a year or five years down the road. And actually we had ⁓ we'd made a Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Yes. Megan: connection too with one of the food vendors there. So ⁓ the coffee truck guy. he actually I didn't know that he was doing a coffee truck now, but it was someone that we met years ago and his son used to race like the modifies or whatever at the dirt oval there. And the dad was one of the safety members at the track. And I think he said he worked there for like fifteen or eighteen years and just recently stepped away from doing that to do the coffee truck full time. And so, but it was someone that kind of like he's local. He ⁓ had done some like safety stuff at the drag races. So had met my dad and my sister and I. ⁓ I didn't like quite remember who he was from that back then. But then Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan: I would say like six, seven years ago, my sister went, she got inducted into like the Missouri racing hall of fame and ⁓ had met him there as well. And he had his car on or his son's car on display and all this stuff. And so we just kinda like became friends on Facebook since then, like just kind of stay in touch. and but yeah, so I didn't know he was gonna be there. I didn't know he was doing this coffee truck, but then He shoots me a message and was just like, Hey, if you're at Wheatland, make sure you stop by. so we went over there and I had this one that had like dark chocolate and hazelnut. Like it was so good. And so I was just like, Hey, do you have any gift cards or like coupons? And ⁓ he was like, Well, I've got a like a punch card to where like, you know, you buy 10, get Get one free. And so he just like punched the 10. And so I was like, get like, I'll pay for these gift cards. Give me 10 gift cards and I'll go and pass them out to people at the track. And so that way I was able to like, yeah, help drive business to him. Cause you know, that if they order one, they might order one for a friend or a crew guy, or they might come back, which your guy, ⁓ I don't remember his name. ⁓ yeah, Jason, he was like. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Jason. Megan: went there five times a day. Like he already was a regular, like Robert knew him by first name, knew his order as soon as he saw his face. Like it is so funny how he was Yeah, like such a a regular there over like what three days. So ⁓ but it was funny 'cause yeah, he was up there one time getting his order. and I tried to give him one of the gift cards, but he was like, No, no, no. I'm gonna pay for my coffee. ⁓ but yeah, so like I went to ⁓ 'cause like we've Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes, he loved that. Yeah, his iced coffee every day. Mm-hmm. Megan: worked with Rosie at Maxis, so I gave her one. ⁓ and just the people that like I have been trying to network with at the track, like other racers and stuff. Like I felt like that was a good way to just kind of get an in with them a little bit more. ⁓ just be like, hey, here's a coffee on me. Go help yourself. And yeah, I mean, we'll see. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Yes. And that cost you what? Like five dollars, right? Megan: Yeah, well it was like I think it was fifty dollars for those. ⁓ but ⁓ yeah, yeah, each person, yeah, five bucks. So yeah, so I was like, I feel like yeah, that's very little what I could do. I mean, help support a friend's business and hopefully it helps strengthen connections. I mean, I don't know right away, but we'll see what happens. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Right, but like each person was like... Yeah. Yeah, but I mean, that's such a like if you were to just, I don't know, like hand somebody five dollars, like what the heck are you doing? That's not going to go very far in strengthening a relationship, right? But for you to be able to start to like make that connection, like, hey, I'm helping support this business and I thought of you, right? Like it's more that I thought of you and like I'm invested in this relationship and I'm willing to put Megan: You're right. Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: my money where my heart is, you know, like I would like to, you know, create this gesture that reminds you that I thought of you, right? Those are the kinds of things that really do build your network faster and stronger. It's not always about just like buying something from somebody or asking them about their strategy or their job. Like sometimes it is about, not sometimes. oftentimes it's about connecting with them as a human and just like, you know, finding that common ground where you can learn about their family and find like, what better way to talk to somebody than over coffee, right? I don't even drink coffee, but I can't tell you how many networking things I do over coffee. Megan: Mm-hmm. I don't either. I know it's so funny because ⁓ yeah, like when I first heard about it, I was like, ⁓ like I don't even drink coffee. But my husband does, but he only likes it black. He doesn't like anything added to it. ⁓ and so I was like, we're really not like the best customers for this. But it was funny because he was like, ⁓ no, like you gotta try this one. Like my wife loves this one. And so I was like, Okay, I'll take a small. And then I drank it like like I said, it had a lot of chocolate. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan: And sugar and it says, like, okay, this is actually pretty yummy Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Yes, no, I love that. Okay, so speaking of Rosie from Maxis, Chris was telling me that after the rain delay, they were on the starting line and Rosie stood there and just chatted with him for like half an hour or more. you know, like, I think Rosie is kind of one of those people that is difficult to get as an audience, right? Like you really have to network in to get. Megan: Mm. Yes. Amanda Van Den Elzen: a conversation with Rosie. And I thought what was really cool is like, obviously we are not affiliated with Maxis tires. We're not trying to be affiliated with Maxis tires, but we have a lot of friends who are, know, ⁓ Keegan, who Robert also spots for is one of the Maxis athletes. Like you guys work with them. We've got quite a lot of other people that work with them. So like. Rosie knows who we are just through networking, not through business. And Chris was like, yeah, I thought it was kind of cool. She stepped over and just chatted for a while. And I was like, yeah, but you know what? She knows that you don't want anything from her. So she's going to feel more comfortable talking to somebody at the track who is not trying to get something out of her. And that's something too that I think a lot of us go into these networking relationships and we're looking for this immediate payout. Like you said earlier, right? Megan: Mm-hmm. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Like these things are not there to just have this instant gratification. You don't want to go into all these relationships expecting to get something out of them. But down the road, maybe they do turn into something. And it's not always like I'm going to need to be sponsored by Max's tires, but maybe Rosie says, hey, one of my friends at a different organization. is looking for a new partner in the Off-Road series. And I think that Chris would be a good fit. I'm going to put those two in contact, right? Like, I don't know if that'll happen. That would be really cool. like, that is how that happens. It's waiting for the right time, the right opening. Like, I'm even thinking about one of our earlier episodes when we had Josh Weeseon, right? And the company that he works for. Megan: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Right. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: does a ton of stuff on basically everything all over a vehicle. And after you introduced me to him, it was like not even time to record our episode yet. Like you had just introduced me to him and he had a question about connectors and how they would work on off-road vehicles. So Chris and I got on a call with him and the aerospace team and, you know, talked to him about connectors and it was very like, low key, we weren't expecting anything out of it. He wasn't expecting anything out of it. We were just talking about if there was application in this space for the product that they had. That's turned into now Josh and me and Chris talk pretty frequently. When we were out in Vegas, we met him in person for the first time. Then now we're talking about, do we build a cool SEMA build for 2027 or at some point beyond? Megan: Nice. Yeah. Heck yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: And that's just because you made the introduction and we brought him on here as a guest, you know, and with no, no expectations. And there's still no expectations, but heck, he's a cool guy. We get along really well. The products coincide really well. Like there is opportunity in the future. I'm sure of it, you know. Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ I love that. That'd be so cool. I hope you guys do do do do something. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Something will happen eventually, but like I said, there's really just, there's no pressure on it because it's built around a relationship, not an expectation, you know? Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, like like with Rosie, like, yeah, she's your competitor, right? But ⁓ but yeah, I mean, it could open the doors up to something that could be a mutual connection later on down the road, whether that is I mean, yeah, it could be anything in off road outside of the tires. ⁓ I mean, yeah, and it could be, you know, just because she is your competitor, like Chris could have easily like brush it off, be like, ⁓ like I don't Amanda Van Den Elzen: Right. Mm-hmm. Right. Megan: I can't run Maxis, so I'm not gonna talk to you, you know. And like he's but he's totally not the person to do that. So like yeah, he would never do that. But I mean, yeah, like you never know where anything could take you, whether it is a competitor or someone who's like in a completely different industry, like would not be relevant at all. Like it could go somewhere someday, whether that's six months or five years down the road. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. 100 % Mm-hmm. Megan: ⁓ you never know. Like there is quite a bit of turnover in like I think like just automotive and motorsports industry. So someone could switch roles and then you could be, you know, the perfect fit for him at this new company. Or they could, yeah, like have a promotion and increase a budget and they need to add someone on and they think of you. Or or I mean it could it could be anything. It doesn't have to just be a sponsor like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Yeah. Yes. Megan: I mean, yeah, like we were talking about it could be a media person. It you know, this person that's probably the lowest on the totem pole right now as far as like race operations might end up being the whole producer or manager one day. And if you're nice to ⁓ then they'll remember you. Or like someone that could be a crew guy. Like, yeah, like you never know. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Yes. Yeah, I'm even thinking about like talking about competitors. Like first off, it's really important to network with the people you're racing against too, because we have for sure been approached by Nexen in the past and they've said, is there anybody in your sport or is there anybody in export or export that you think would be a good fit for a partner, right? Holy cow, that would open big doors if an already sponsored athlete came to you and said, would you be interested in talking to my sponsor because they're looking for somebody like you? I'm also thinking about talking to competitor sponsors, right? Not only do we have a decent relationship with Rosie from Maxis, we also have a very good working relationship with the Kenda team as well. Megan: Yeah. Mm, mm. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Obviously, we would never jump ship to go to Kenda, but we know them really well. And that pays out in ways other than sponsorship too. We have some insights. We were even invited, we didn't end up going, we were invited to go see their production facilities when we were in Ohio. And I was like, I don't know how that would look. But we have that relationship, but now I get to talk to like, I know their president of automotive pretty well at this point. And he's always happy to see us. He's always happy to talk business with us too. Like, hey, this is the trends that I'm seeing in this space. This is where I'm seeing off-road come into play in our business. Like those kinds of insights are things that we can just take and pick up and put on our sponsors too. know, hey, Kenda says they're seeing this over here. Are you seeing the same thing? Maybe we can work on this, you know. Megan: Yeah, that's awesome. Amanda Van Den Elzen: that helps us deliver a better product just from knowing things. Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's so cool that he's yeah, that open with you. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah, he's a really cool guy. think he's honestly he's pretty open with anybody who he thinks isn't trying to get something out of him. So Megan: Yeah. Have you ever had any ⁓ bad ⁓ experiences networking? Amanda Van Den Elzen: I, okay, so I personally, I am a ⁓ huge introvert and I have a really hard time networking if I'm not doing it really intentionally. So I will say, like, I need to set up kind of, this is my goal for this conversation. Like, and I'm not talking like I want to walk out of here with a sponsorship. I'm talking like, Megan: Same. Yeah, same here. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I want to walk out knowing them a little bit better as a person in this way. like, these are the kinds of questions that I'm going to ask them and I'm going to make sure that it focuses on them, not on me. You know, and just like, I have to have a plan because otherwise they're all bad experiences. Megan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's good. ⁓ man. I know I am the same way. Like used to absolutely hate like going to the trade shows when I was younger with my dad, because he would just like throw me in front of someone that I've n never met before or someone that I don't know. And it was like really intimidating. ⁓ they're like, okay, ask him for a sponsor or like go get some money out of this guy. And I'd like wanna cry. It's like, I don't know how to do this, or like I know they're gonna say no, like I don't wanna do this. ⁓ and I think that's part of the reason why like my sister, like she might have just had like a bad experience the first time because she will not go. She does not go. ⁓ I think she only came to PRI like as an adult. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan: one time because ⁓ so drag illustrated which is like one of the biggest media ⁓ publications in drag racing a few years ago they started their list of like 30 under 30 and they announce who makes the list at PRI and ⁓ but you know they tell the people who win it before to make sure like hey you need to come here to get up on stage and accept your award. So she flew in, but I think she was only there for like one day just for that. And then left. ⁓ but yeah, she hates trade shows. She will not go to them. She like she does good, like if she's on a camera, like doing an interview, but she's not like gonna go out of her way to like be on camera or any other stuff. And so I'm like complete opposite. So but yeah, like I've got to be the one to like go to the shows and Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. ⁓ Yeah. Megan: meet new people and like go to other conferences and try to expand my network. And like, yeah, like I'm so introverted. Like even still to this day, like I get very uncomfortable. ⁓ yeah, like I like like you, like I need to have a plan or like I'll try to be like, okay, here's three people that I really want to meet. And if I'm able to meet with them, then I'll mark this as a successful event. And yeah, like no expectations of Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Yes. Megan: To get anything from them, but just knowing, hey, like I'm gonna just make a first impression and just get my foot in the door with them. And ⁓ so yeah, if I don't do that, then I will never like get the nerve or like the courage to like just go up and talk randomly talk to someone for the first time. Like I like I don't find that easy to do or like comfortable. Or even if it's like I know when you're like if it's another girl, like if you're standing in line for the bathroom, like that's a good chance to Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Yes. Megan: like meet the other people standing in line but I just like I just don't know how to break the ice with them and like I just I'm so bad at it. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. I am with you on that, or even like, how do we go from like small talk, which I suck at small talk, I'm just not good at it, and I'm learning. I am not the person who's gonna say I'm not good at it, so I'm not gonna do it, right? Like, I'm learning, but God, how do you take it from small talk to like actually building a relationship? Sometimes that little bridge is hard for me, but I think it comes with commonality, right? Megan: Ha ha ha ⁓ Yeah. Yes. Finding yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: you do enough small talk, yes. And you find like where you could build that relationship. ⁓ you're from the Midwest? I'm from the Midwest too. Where did you grow up? You know, like, ⁓ yeah, I went there once as a kid. ⁓ when I was a kid, we used to go here, you know? And it's like, then you start to actually get to know somebody as a person. Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Just trying to relate with them. That's like Yeah. I always gotta remember like, okay, ask them if they have kids or like pets or yeah, like where they're from. ⁓ cause yeah, usually there's I could find something there to connect with, but it's so funny 'cause like it's so funny 'cause like I meet people all the time. They're they're like, ⁓ I'm a dog person and all this stuff. And I'm it's so funny because I wanna be like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan: Yeah, well I'm not. Like I'm a cat person. So but I know like if I say that, then it's like, you know, then that we're not gonna have that bridge there. So I'll be like, ⁓ yeah, like I had a dog one time. This and all this stuff. So even though it's not like it's not current right now, but at one point I did have a dog. But I'm not gonna go up to people and be like, Hey, I have 12 cats Because they're gonna be like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, yes. Yeah, all right. Nice to meet you. Bye. Okay, I'm thinking too about the time. ⁓ You shared it on one of our podcasts about how you met somebody at PRI and you found out that they had gotten a new puppy. So when you got home, you followed up and you sent them treats, right? Like Megan: Okay, you're crazy. Yeah, like that's not relatable, but Yes, yes. Yes. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I'm thinking about how like a first impression is great. Meeting people when you're trying to network is great. But if you don't follow up, like, then you just completely wasted that whole effort to like Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, because I mean if you think about if it is something like a PRI show, they're probably meeting with two hundred people. So they might not remember you. Like even if you had the best conversation ever, there's still a chance that they'll they're not gonna remember it because yeah, it's just sheer volume of people they're talking to. So yeah, I agree. Like, yeah, follow up with that. and I mean it could like the easy thing is to send them an email, you know, Sunday night or Monday morning. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Yes. Megan: ⁓ but yeah, if it's someone where it's like, ⁓ like I really want to work with this brand, like I really want them to remember me, then yeah, I'll kind of go above and beyond and I'll try to like if if I don't like make notes ⁓ what we talked about, like as soon as I walk away, which I think this is something we've talked about on the show ⁓ like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Megan: making notes before you walk away and start a new conversation because you will like instantly re forget everything. So ⁓ so yeah, I'll try to remember like, okay, here's the, you know, top five things we talked about or here's like where we really connected. And ⁓ and then yeah, like trying to mention that whether it's like in the follow up email or yeah, going above and beyond a little bit and yeah, I mean sending them a gift. ⁓ Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Yes. Megan: That's like kinda yeah, what I like to do if I really wanna stay at top of mind with them. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes, I think too, like if a a lead does go cold, you know, if you get their info, you write it down, you follow up with them a couple of times right after P.R.I. and like they don't answer and you're like, and then it just goes cold. Right. Like I'm just thinking about I just ordered a new helmet because unfortunately I broke mine and where my like air inlet is, it's just not it doesn't fit well with my seat and it keeps breaking off and I've glued it on a couple times and I said, you know what, I'm gonna order a new one and I'm gonna put like the top air inlet on it instead of like, I had like a mid, mid, I don't know what they call that, but not on top. It's like off centered on the top. But Chris said it should work a lot better with my seat that when he switched his start, stopped giving him issues. But I literally have a stack of business cards and I just reached over and grabbed the one off the top because Megan: Mm. I don't know. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: ⁓ I just bought a Zamp helmet. I talked to the person at Zamp when we were at PRI and I wrote down that they were looking for marketing content, that they don't have a big team, so they need some marketing content. So it's been seven months since PRI. I reached out a couple times, I didn't hear anything back. ⁓ And then I just kind of like fizzled out, right? We got busy and there wasn't anything like immediately needed. But you best believe when that helmet gets here, I'm going to email him and be like, hey, just got my new Zamp helmet. Love it. Just reaching out to see if you are still looking for any marketing content. just, you don't need to just always be on and always looking for partnerships, but a quick little note with a little nugget of value is always going to hit well, especially in these like off times when he's not getting bombarded with followups from PRI. Megan: Yeah. That's perfect. Amanda Van Den Elzen: but I'm gonna take the time seven months later to just say, hey, you know what, this made me think of you because I just got my new Zamp helmet or even like an industry note, right? Like I'm thinking about, I don't know, like when tariffs were lifted or something, like if you had somebody who was working ⁓ in a position where they're trying to market a product that is heavily affected by tariffs that are no longer in place, like maybe shooting them over a quick note, like, hey, Megan: Mm-hmm. Amanda Van Den Elzen: This must be good news for you. Like you don't have to get something back out of it, but just staying on their radar and like, hey, this made me think of you. They're going to think of me more often if I'm thinking of them more often too. Megan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, you also come across as just more professional with something like that. Like them knowing that, hey, like yeah, you're staying up to date on current events, especially something that is relatable to them and and their business. Like that's gonna really stand out. especially if they are just bombarded from people that are just like, Hey, I want free product or I want a sponsorship. Like, yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Yes. Yes. And if you can make it like really tailored to what you guys talked about so you know it's going to hit, then that's an instant win, you know? Just, I think people just want to feel heard more often. And like if you find those connections, if you find those mutual points where like, okay, we're both dog people, you know, I'm Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I'm a crazy cat lady too, Megan. So maybe that's why you and I connect so well. but if you're like, okay, we're both dog people, like I'm going to talk about that all the time. Or like even outside of racing, right? had a, ⁓ for my AI business, I had an email come through yesterday from a guy that I had followed up with, ⁓ trying to sell him my AI training. And in his, in his email back, he said, hope the race season's going well. And it's just like little examples of like, Megan: Right, yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I heard you, I saw you, I recognized you as a person. That's what really builds relationships. Megan: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. There's this one guy. ⁓ he's older. He's retired now out of the industry. and it's someone that has worked in a handful of different companies in our industry, but he lives here in Kansas City. And ⁓ he once worked at a company that we use their products and just became good friends with him because he does live close to us. And ⁓ like all the time, like first thing out of his mouth is like, you know, how's how's your mom and dad doing? Or how's Henry doing? ⁓ and it's always like he remembers the family or like we're friends on Facebook. So if he'll see something on Facebook and then bring it up like, you know, even if it's a month later or so, but we're like in person, yeah, I'd be like, hey, like how did you do at that race? Or how was this the trip you went on? Something like that. So like I I r try it like I need a Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Megan: Remember those cues and ⁓ yeah, like try to just be like yeah, because I'm usually like when I'm following up with someone or like meeting with them, like I just want to go straight to business. But it's like, okay, we need to we need to lay out like through the small talk first, like yeah, what's something that I remember seeing about them or something personal, like, ⁓ cause like I mean it's funny cause my dad is not like that at all. Like he does not follow like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Same. Megan: I mean, he's not on social media, so he doesn't know what people do. and he only sees people at the drag strip. Like, so he sees like just the same people each time. So he doesn't have to like try to catch up with people unless it's like family really. ⁓ but so I didn't quite learn that skill like from my parents. And so whenever I see someone like him or like Alex Strailer who's really good at networking, like I love to just like follow him around and just shadow him and just be like, Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Yes. ⁓ yeah. Megan: Okay, like I like two years ago, which I'm I don't know if I've brought this story up before, but two years ago is PRI show and he had someone that he wanted to meet for the first time. He's never really had like any conversations with them other than just maybe a quick like hello on LinkedIn or something like that. ⁓ so he didn't know this person, didn't know anything about them. And so I was like shadowing him because it was Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan: Either right before or right after like a session that we did together at the show there. And ⁓ went up to this booth with him. And he's just, I mean, he is such a a relatable person. Like no matter who you are, he connects with every single person. And it was just so cool to see how ⁓ because this person was from somewhere in the UK. I don't remember where, but ⁓ like I mean, Alex I think he might still be in Germany right now, but he travels over there quite a bit because his family's from Germany. And so he just like immediately connected with them about that. Like, I mean he shared some like travel story he had from like back in the 90s. And but like they just connected on that level. And it's just so cool to be like, okay, so like, you know, it doesn't have to be something current that, you know, you can connect with. Like, yeah, it could be a story from 30 years ago. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Yeah. Yes, yes, 100%. Yeah, so when I was seven, no. Megan: If you if you're alive that long. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: ⁓ no, I love that though. I love that. it's like finding these connections. Like you mentioned, okay, somebody says like, ⁓ yeah, I love my dog. I'm a dog person. You're like, I had a dog one time, but like, okay, but you both are pet people, right? Like, ⁓ yeah, I have pets too. Like, you know, my cats are like my kids. You know, people recognize that like-mindedness. The harder you work to like draw a connection, the less authentic it will feel. Megan: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, there has been times where it's someone that like I know they're the decision maker or like, you know, so it's like, okay, there's a lot of pressure here. Like I need to really impress this person. And there was just like no connection or like it just feel like there's a wall there. And it's like, man, like I am struggling. And like I've I feel like, yeah, like I've probably have missed out on partnerships because Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Megan: You know, there just was not a connection there. And it it could have been me. It it could have been that person, like, you know, I don't I don't know, like, you know, not that it's anybody's fault, but you know, you're just you're not a fit for everybody. ⁓ just like how like with our our fans and our audience, like like you're not gonna be liked by everybody out there. And ⁓ sometimes the same thing happens with sponsors Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Yes. Yes, I'm so glad you brought that up. I am so glad you brought that up because like, you know, we're thinking about when we're looking for sponsors, we're thinking about like, is the product a fit? Is the brand a fit? You know, do our values align? Are they looking for the same demographic as me? But I think then that last piece is like, do I mesh with their team? And if you don't mesh with their team, there's not much you can do about it. It's going to be transactional. Megan: Move on to the next one. Amanda Van Den Elzen: and surface level no matter what you do about it. And it's just, that's never gonna build into a long-term fruitful partnership unless you can find a way to like truly connect with them as people. It just doesn't happen that way. Megan: Mm. Yeah, yeah, I agree. Amanda Van Den Elzen: I think that's one thing I really appreciate about our relationship with Nex and Tyre is, you know, like they're our friends and we're excited to talk to them and hang out with them. And when we go to events, like we're having fun with them as people and, you know, we, we get a care package from them that says like to Chris and Amanda XOXO marketing, you know, it's like, yeah. Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: That's not something you can find everywhere. I wish everybody the best on finding a relationship like that, because that's what real long-term partnerships are actually built off of, that connection to people. Megan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I agree. Yeah. And that's like how I feel like, you know, you know, our relationships with NGK, Sparkplugs, you know, Jackie was just our most recent guest. And ⁓ and like with Gunk too. Yeah. ⁓ yeah. Everybody loves Jackie. Like she's so fun. ⁓ and like our even like our crew guys love her, like to the point to where like they're texting with her. And it's so funny because there's our one ⁓ crew chief. Amanda Van Den Elzen: ⁓ yeah, she was easy to like. Yes! Megan: Or not sorry, crew chief, car chief. ⁓ his name's JJ, and he's been with us forever. I mean, like 15 years or something. whenever like we were ⁓ by NGK and they were bringing ton of people to the track, like what we talked about on the episode. ⁓ and there is one night where like we went back to their hotel lobby and cause they were doing like a happy hour thing. ⁓ And so we brought all of our guys. ⁓ you know, every we were just all like mingling together and like her and JJ got to know each other really well. And she I think like, you know, had given him a hug and like she didn't mean this in the bad way or anything, but she was like, ⁓ you're squishy. And so then his nickname became Squishy. And now it's like every time she s like she sees him, or like if she's talking to us, she'll be like, Hey, how's Squishy doing? And it's like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Megan: It's so it's so funny. Like it that could be you know, like I could see someone taking that the wrong way, but he's like he and he is like nothing could hurt his feelings. But ⁓ yeah, it's just funny. Like, yeah, she's just she's really cool. Everyone loves her. ⁓ yeah, and then like her boss too, he's really cool and like he loves my dad. And it's so funny because one time years ago, like we went to their Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. ⁓ I love that so much. Megan: headquarters and cause they were doing like an employee thing and so we brought the car and we did a display there at the office but her boss wasn't there that day. ⁓ he he might have been in Japan for them. And so my dad takes ⁓ you know, there's like the name tag on his office door and my dad writes Randy on top of it and then takes a picture of him sitting in his chair with his feet up on his desk. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Ha ha. Megan: And they take a picture of him and they're just like, This is Randy's office now. And it's like, like you could not do that unless you had like a really good relationship with that person. Cause you know, any like someone could see that the wrong way. Like, ⁓ you know, risk your sponsorship. Yeah. Or just like, ⁓ you know, ⁓ Brian, like he's so cool, like he's not gonna care, like he's gonna find this hilarious. So thankfully. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes, 100%, but it's so good. Yeah, he's gonna love this. Yes. ⁓ man, you know who else I think about when I think of like great relationships, super easy to talk to and build a relationship with is Sarah Odinger. She was what, our second guest I think on our podcast. And like, I mean, we don't have necessarily like a partnership with Amsoil, they're a great product, but. Megan: Yeah. Yeah, I I think so, yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Like we love Sarah and she came to us because they sponsor our series and like she showed up in our pits and we found each other on LinkedIn first and she was like, ⁓ yeah, I went from HR to marketing. I was like, ⁓ I went from HR to like, I do marketing stuff too. So like that was our connection that gave us kind of that in to start talking more personally. And then it was like, ⁓ stop by the pits when you're at the races. And she did and brought her whole family. And like, that's how we built that relationship. And again, neither of us looking for anything from each other. But like, that is somebody to have in your back pocket. Because if something comes up where like, ⁓ you know what, we need a two seater ride along, like Sarah's going to be like, ⁓ I know the VDs have one, you know, like, yeah, she's a great person, though. That's just like. Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Amanda Van Den Elzen: a great example of a relationship that's built that way. Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I think yeah, I didn't know her before PRI because Alex wanted to bring her on as one of the speakers for our panel. And then that was when you and I Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Megan: had I think we just talked about like bringing her on. So I was like able to be like, hey, I'm doing the podcast with Amanda. Like would love to, yeah, meet you and all this stuff. And yeah, she was she was really cool. I loved meeting her too. And then it's funny because now anytime like I see champ, like you see Amzoyle and I just immediately think of her. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Yes, yes, exactly. Because realistically, brands are also built off of personal connections. That's why motorsports marketing works so well is because motorsports athletes are able to build those personal connections that brands otherwise don't really have an outlet for. Megan: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah, I agree. Awesome. Well, before we wrap up, are we missing anything? Is there anything else we want to talk about on this topic? Megan: Or sure. Okay. I don't think so. ⁓ I think we did like a good variety of like not keeping it just about the sponsors. ⁓ 'cause yeah, I mean, it can help you at the track, it can help you Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan: outside of racing. and I'm thinking even like yeah. Well I'm also thinking like you can use this like these networking like tips or like skills for like really anything. Like it doesn't have to be just with racing or trying to get sponsors or partners. ⁓ like you can use it any like with your occupation or you know your job that you have. ⁓ 'cause so for us Amanda Van Den Elzen: Not at the track. Yeah. Megan: ⁓ I think I had brought this up before, but like we've got we do some rental properties and ⁓ we're not renewing with one of our tenants. and so y we're in the search for new tenants. But the ones that we do have, they've been great. Like they've been there for two years now. They were great to work with. And ⁓ but they did have a cat and we were like, Hey, like no pets allowed, you know, 'cause they just they can make a mess and destroy things. But anyways, we Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Megan: We let them have their cat. And so kind of one of the things like welcoming them whenever they had first moved in, like just had a little gift basket, you know, like here's some toilet paper and some soap, and ⁓ by the way, here's some cat treats as well. And so it's just like I think that helped us like just yeah, like have a stronger relationship with them as well, like as a tenant. And ⁓ instead of it just being like just straight transactional, like I'm your landlord, you're my tenant, you know, like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Megan: It could be a little more personal and so that way hopefully they are more comfortable to come to us when there is a an issue that comes up with the property or whatever. But but yeah, I mean like networking can go anywhere and it doesn't have to be just with racing. ⁓ yeah, you can use it in your personal life, your occupation or anything. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Yeah, what I like about that story too is that those people are going to be your biggest advocates now. So you mentioned you have an open unit. You can ask for referrals from that tenant now the same way as like, OK, we've got a good relationship with this person and this person and this person, and we're looking for a partner for this kind of a product or something. I don't know. But we can go to those people and say, hey, do you know anybody in this space who might be a good fit for us? Referrals are so powerful. And I think it's the number one way to leverage your network once you've got it built out. Megan: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. And that could be something that yeah, you can use that as an asset when you are trying to get more conversations going with potential sponsors or partners. And I wouldn't I mean it I don't know if there's like an exact way to bring that up or something. but yeah, just trying to like if you find out, hey, like we're we're looking to expand into this area, then you could be like, ⁓ well, hey, I actually do know someone who is in there who maybe we could connect with. ⁓ yeah, it's not always about just trying to get the next sponsor, the next paycheck. Like, ⁓ yeah, I mean it's it's just about relationships. Yeah. It takes a lot of time. ⁓ you know, and they don't always result in what you want, but Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Yeah, it's a long game. Yeah. Megan: I mean, like with Josh, like it had been at least five years since I've even spoken with to Josh, or like I didn't even know that we were friends on Facebook because like I never saw any of his posts. ⁓ because we've like never interacted with each other. But then after we did the podcast, like I looked him up and was like, ⁓ I'm already friends with him. Like, and I had no idea. But ⁓ Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Yeah? Megan: Yeah, like just someone that I had met years ago, ⁓ just because he asked me to be on his show and then I honestly didn't even know that he had his role or worked at where he works at, which I don't know if we're allowed to say that, but but ⁓ yeah, but but yeah, so it's not like like I d I know I just I didn't know because I never really followed up with him. But then yeah, we just happened to run in each into each other at PRI and it's like Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yeah. Yeah, I don't know either. We'll keep it under wraps, I guess. Yeah. Megan: ⁓ like you work at this company and it's like, ⁓ I think you'd be a great podcast guest and then and then yeah, one thing led to another and now you guys are connected and that's so cool. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. Yeah, it is so cool. I'm thinking too, like, like, you know, we're talking about being connected through people and you had mentioned like sometimes you don't even know like how to ask for those referrals. Well, I was thinking about and I've talked about this before about how Chris and I are really trying to get in with an OE. And, you know, like that's like one of our big goals for the next couple of years is we really want in with an OE and an OE that we feel strongly about not Megan: Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: like one that we're like, you know? But like one that would actually like fit our demographic and fit our lifestyle and all that stuff. ⁓ so we went to Nexen because we have obviously this relationship with Nexen. They have a proof of product for us. Like they know that we're here to actually deliver so they can stand behind our work when they make a referral. And we straight out said like, hey, we're trying to find a partnership with an OEM ⁓ Megan: Yeah. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Do you guys have any connections in that space? And it was a very overt ask. Like it was kind of uncomfortable for us to even go out there on a limb and ask that even though we do have this relationship with them. And that turned into them putting us in contact with their OE partnerships person, the one who determines or like tries to sell necks and tires onto OE fitments. And then got to be like decent friends with him at Mansfield. I know I talked about that as well. But now it's like he is going to bat for us with the people that he knows. And he's like, ⁓ I was playing golf with this guy from this OE. And I think this is going to be the one that we work on. Let's get you guys in contact. And it's like, don't ever get a yes if you don't ask. And the worst that can happen is people say no if you ask for that referral. So this was a surprise for us. We didn't really know if it was going to work. Megan: Yeah. ⁓ Amanda Van Den Elzen: ⁓ ever get a yes if you don't ask. ⁓ And the worst that can happen is people say no if you ask for that referral. So ⁓ this was a surprise for us. We didn't really know if it was going to work. ⁓ Megan: True. True. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Like we're actually getting the introductions that we were really hoping for. It's exciting. Megan: Yay. That's so exciting. ⁓ I love that. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Yes. We'll see. We'll see if it plays out. But you know what? Like, even if it doesn't play out now, we've got like his name's Kyle, like in our back pocket as like this really cool guy that now we're friends with, you know, we've got a cool relationship with him and know all about his like cars that he's out doing track days with and his bikes that he's got and this crazy build that he's doing, you know, and it's like there's nothing wrong with making more friends. You will never go wrong. Megan: Mm-hmm. Amanda Van Den Elzen: with that. Megan: Right. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and also even if it you do get a no or it doesn't result in anything, you still just are getting that experience and learning more about that side of it too. So that's like I always try to think, you know, like there's the sayings of like turn your losses into wins or you know, stuff like that. And so I always try to think of that too as like when I do get a know trying to work with a Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Megan: potential sponsor or ⁓ you know something like that. Like at least I got the experience. ⁓ you know, I had the courage to step out of my comfort zone to reach out to someone, especially if it was like a cold call or cold email or, you know, anything like that. And ⁓ yeah, like still learned, still like had a lesson in it, even if I didn't get what I wanted. Amanda Van Den Elzen: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes. And what's the number one piece of advice we normally get from our guests when we ask them, like, what advice would you give a grassroots racer? I would say what at least half of the people have responded like don't accept a no as a final answer. Keep going. Like, so you're right. You know, turning those losses into wins like those are not no's, they're not yet's and you're building the experience and you're building your network and you're 100 % right on. Megan: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they all say that. Yeah. Amanda Van Den Elzen: They do. I promise it's not scripted. All right. Well, as we wrap up, I do want to remind you we release a new episode every other Thursday. So we'll see you again in two weeks. But until then, we love you. Bye. Megan: Right. Bye guys.