Southern Ontario Sprints :::: Official Web Site

SOS Q&A with: TJ Slideways

One of the busier sprint car websites is tjslideways.com. TJ's is a national website but more or less by geographical default - his focus is a little more local (Michigan, Ontario, Ohio). We spoke to the man behind TJSlideways.com (TJ Buffenbarger) about everything from his website, his announcing duties with the Sprints On Dirt to why it is it rains every time he comes to Canada.

1. Tell us about TJSlideways.com - number of hits, is it a big revenue generator or a labor of love, how long have you been on the net, what got you started, how much time do you spend on the site etc. etc.

I went online in late 1995 when a local dial-up number was established in hometown of Charlotte, Michigan. I was commuting back and forth to Lansing for college at the time and spent quite a bit of time looking up sprint car information on the web. There wasn’t a presence for this area in 1996, so I decided to learn how to write html code literally in one night and created TJ Slideways Michigan Sprint Car Page in 1996 and started posting results in the Michigan area. In 1997 I purchased the domain name TJSlideways.com and the site expanded to cover the entire Midwest. Then around the turn of the millennium we expanded Nation and Worldwide coverage.

I do not put much stock in the term “hits”. I try and measure a few different statistics on my website. First and foremost we measure unique visitors to the site and where they are coming from. I have not finished averaging 2007 yet, but I do know we are up from our 5,000 unique visitors per day in 2006. Then I have a formula that adds up what stories are people reading from which series and how many times the schedule has been viewed to come up with what our focus is.

The revenue it creates is pretty much dumped right back into the site. It’s become my race car. The costs of the virtual server, maintaining and updating computer equipment, and just getting to the race track starts adding up in a hurry. I wish I could do the site without any kind of advertising, but it’s just not feasible to produce the product I want without some financial assistance. That’s where sponsors like Mopar, Maxim Chassis, Advanced Racing Suspensions, Super Shox, and other great supporters come in. They let me do as I please and support our method of reporting for open wheel racing. Its great to have people that share our vision.

I cannot begin to add up the time spent doing this site for 12 years. Probably the most accurate statement to measure the time is that the site is my race car.

2. Besides your website, what else keeps you busy in the sport?

In 1999 I tried announcing for the first time in Canada at South Buxton during an ASCS Sprints on Dirt event. I always wanted to try it, and I figured going to be another country to make my debut would keep me under the radar. After doing some hit and miss gigs announcing I am starting my third season calling the action on the entire Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by Victor Reinz. I’m also just a huge race fan. I still go the races a few times a year without a notepad, camera, get a ticket, and hang out with everyone.

3. What is your personal history with the sport - what started your love affair with the sport in general and sprint cars in particular?

I’m a third generation race fan. My Grandfather took my Dad to the races and my father took me. I cannot recall the first race I went to, I just have always gone. I have been obsessed with it from day one, and not just with the actual racing. The have always found the people, history, trade papers, promoting, and the mechanical side of the sport fascinating.

4. Two part question:

a: What is general state of all racing in the state of Michigan?

b: What is the state of sprint car racing in Michigan?

Winged/non-wing/pavement/asphalt/360/410?

A: The dirt tracks seem to be on the upside and the pavement side is very fragmented. It really varies from promoter to promoter. The promoters that are innovative and run good programs are doing well and the promoters that don’t are struggling.

B: As a whole locally the open wheel racing is doing very well. ASCS SOD has a very strong schedule, the Wolverine Outlaw Midget Series has a very enthusiastic leader that seems to be making headway, and Butler’s new promotion group seems to have some people excited. Michigan Traditional Sprints had more success with car count that I counted on. The pavement side struggled with car count some of the year, but seemed to finish the year strong. So my outlook on everything in 2008 is optimistic at this point.

5. What is the 2008 outlook for the Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt presented by Victor Reinz?

The schedule is spectacular. I’m as excited about this year as I ever have been for this group. The mix of new and old venues along with new races is wonderful. The series will be on some very large stages this coming year. Now we just have to make sure we put on the same quality program or better than we did towards the end of last year. I look forward to being a part of it.

6. Has the internet helped or hurt the sport? For extra bonus marks explain your answer.

As a whole I think the Internet has managed to do both. I still feel the Internet is a tool we have not learned to properly harness to promote the sport. The tools such as web pages, blogs, and multimedia all have to be presented effectively to work or else the web presence is just another bad website.

My personal theory is the internet is not likely to bring a new fan in the door. What internet can do for us is keep existing fans, connect with people that have become disconnected with the sport, and help fans just discovering sprint car racing more information. When it comes to new fans to the sport telling me how they found the site its been pretty much the same story. Someone brought them to the race track (friend, nascar driver at their local speedway, etc) and they loved it. So they went to the internet to find more information about the sport. Then they find track sites, series, and sites like mine that tell them where to find more racing like this.

7. What can sprint car racing do to make itself grow?

I could write pages on this topic, but I’ll narrow it down a bit. This is not the job of just one segment of our sport. I find lately the blame gets put squarely on the promoter, but everyone has a role in making the sport grow.

I’ve taken new fans to the race track at least once a year for the past three or four years. I choose a nice facility that has an efficient program. Get to the track before practice and get a pit pass to meet the drivers and teams. Then the person will have someone to connect with and cheer for. As a die hard fan explain to the people with you what is going on at a real high level. Don’t explain in detail what other groups or tracks do, focus on what is happening that night. After the races head back to the pit area if it is not too late and go out to dinner after the race and discuss what happened. Every person I’ve done this with has managed to go back again the next year. Imagine if every die hard racing fan did this once a year?

Running a good racing program is not rocket science. The program has to be run efficiently and professionally, the facilities have to be clean (Clean Restrooms!!!), and drivers and teams have to be accessible to fans to create heroes and villains. Die hard fans need to take new people to the track and create a good experience for them. Series need to work with tracks to make the above mentioned formula happen. There are many other factors in this, but I believe these are the building blocks of any good racing program.

8. If you are trying to entice your Canadian friends over the border - What race track in Michigan would you recommend? Based on - good surface, good racing, good food?

This is difficult because every track in Michigan has such different qualities and strengths I cannot really single out one that is the “total package”. On dirt I would have to say Merritt Speedway has a great program, best food, and racing surface (and clean restrooms). On pavement I would send someone to Berlin Raceway. The place oozes with history, yet has a tremendous facility. The ISMA/AVSS/Midget triple header at the end of the year at Berlin is a slobber-knockering good show.

9. What are your annual, personal "must see" races? You can name one pavement and one dirt.

The next race I’m supposed to attend...

If I had to pick one of each it would be an Eldora race in April or September. Eldora sees its best racing in front of its smallest crowds. The big shows are great, but nothing beats Eldora early or late in the year. Just make sure to get a pit pass and stand on the infield fence for hot laps in turn one or turn three. On pavement it would be USAC sprint cars at Winchester tied with the Little 500 at Anderson Speedway. Both are absolutely insane in their own ways.

10. How come, whenever you come to Canada it rains cats and dogs?

I’ve been pondering that myself. I have been to Canada and not been rained out or had rain the night before the race to turn everything into a quagmire. Maybe I’ll make a surprise trip to Canada on a sunny day to see a race.