By: Kevin Ramsell
PORTAGE, WI (Saturday, January 10, 2009) - The well known racing website www.racingonline.com was sold to ROL Marketing Partners, LLC on Wednesday, January 7, 2009. The website was previously owned by its creator Jeffrey Sachse.
Sachse created the website in the mid 1990s as a central location for the racing community to be linked to a majority of Wisconsin racetracks. As a one man operation, Sachse created the first websites for many of the tracks. Today, each racetrack, not only in Wisconsin but across the world, values the internet as a key marketing tool in promoting their track. The new owner, ROL Marketing Partners, LLC, plans to continue with what Sachse has created and enhance the site in many areas. The group plans to add more local, regional and national race stories, have feature columnists to provide their unique prospective of the local and regional racing scene, video highlights from local tracks and series, and enhance the popular forum message board under the motto, “Reinventing the way tracks, teams, sponsors and fans communicate.”
Denny Bandt, a former racer and magazine owner, will be the Managing Director of the website. Bandt spearheaded this operation by putting together an investment group and staff to buy and operate the website.
Scott Lofquist will serve as the technical director of racingonline.com. His company speedXdesign, Inc. has created and maintained websites for the ASA Midwest Tour, ASA Late Model Series North & South divisions, Midwest Racing Connection, Oktoberfest Race Weekend, along with many other track and racing related sites.
Chris Tully will serve as the Director of Sales for the ROL Marketing Partners, LLC. Chris brings in over 20 years of experience in advertising sales, and will play a major role in developing and selling advertising packages.
Kevin Ramsell will serve as the Content Director and will also be one of the many columnists for the site. Along with his racingonline.com duties, he also serves as the Public Relations Director for the ASA Midwest Tour, Dells Raceway Park and RK Race Promotions. His columns and stories have appeared in many racing magazines, newspapers and websites.
“I haven’t been this excited in a long time,” Bandt recently stated. “I could not have asked for a better group of people to work with. Scott, Chris and Kevin each have the enthusiasm and knowledge necessary to create a great product for the racing community.”
Bandt also stated that there will be some noticeable changes besides the look of the website that will debut on Tuesday, January 13, “Our goal is to become the premiere information source for race fans. We’ll provide local, regional, and national news with a strong focus on highlighting local stars,” Bandt stated. “Working together and promoting this sport in a positive manner will help everyone grow. Jeff Sachse had a great vision and we are looking forward to building on that vision and provide a great product for the fans.”
Tracks and series are invited to send their stories, releases, links and photos to press@racingonline.com for immediate posting on the main site. “We have learned that fresh stories daily will produce more traffic. We are encouraging tracks and series to send their stories to us,” Ramsell stated. “Our goal is simple, let racingonline.com be your starting point to get the latest stories from local track and series’, just like getting the morning newspaper.”
Over the next few months, visitors to the site will see many enhancements and new features including a new forum message board. “The forum is what made racingonline.com famous,” Bandt stated. “We want to continue to have a place for the racing community to share their thoughts and ideas with others. This is a great place for fans to talk about the local racing action, post classified ads and make new friends. Its like having modern day pen pals. Adding links to myspace, youtube, Facebook and Twitter will complete the circle.”
The site will relaunch on Tuesday, January 13. “We welcome everyone to visit the site and share their thoughts with us,” Bandt stated. “This site is for the racing community and we have an open door policy on ideas and suggestions.”
ROL MARKETING PARTNERS, LLC
Denny Bandt, Managing Director (denny@racingonline.com)
Chris Tully, Director of Sales (sales@racingonline.com)
Scott Lofquist, Technical Director (scott@autoracingtracks.com)
Kevin Ramsell, Content Director (press@racingonline.com)
