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\u201cWe want to be a force for good,\u201d says Brad Peck, founder of the Gasroots Project, a non-profit that\u2019s aimed at promoting local short track racing.\u00a0Brad is from Wisconsin and grew up around racing. \u201cDad was drag racing before I was born. He wrenched at a speed shop where they built NASCAR Grand National engines.\u00a0I watched (NASCAR Champion) Matt Kenseth race when he was a kid and Bobby Labonte (another NASCAR Champion) used their engines.\u201d<\/p>\n
While life found Brad in the world of graphic design, he never lost sight of racing.\u00a0In 2013, he picked up a camera for the first time.\u00a0\u201cIt was a natural progression from graphic design,\u201d and the short track racing scene became the target for his lens. \u201cIt\u2019s a VERY passionate group. A large group too: there are deep family roots.\u00a0People grow up in the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, all is not well on this side of motorsports.\u00a0Racing is expensive, even for guys at the local short tracks. Brad points out that \u201csome areas have multiple tracks within a handful of miles, making it tough for fans (and racers) to pick where to go.\u201d\u00a0It\u2019s challenging for track operators too; vying for eyeballs in our increasingly digital world means doing business the old way simply won\u2019t work anymore.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when Brad decided to do something about it. People love to see their cars on track, but traditional track photography was a saturated market and he wanted to move the needle for the sport he\u2019s so passionate about. \u201cI started by shadowing teams as a photojournalist,\u201d he says, adding that it quickly grew from there.\u00a0The photography and videography have a gritty side appeal, showing the passion and sacrifice drivers, families and teams make to feed their passion. If you\u2019ve ever looked at Petrolicious, you\u2019ll know what I mean; Brad\u2019s work has that high-end feel about it that you wouldn\u2019t normally equate with a dusty track near farm fields better known for dairy cows than horsepower.<\/p>\n
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Those photos and videos are online at GasrootsProject.com<\/a> and on their Facebook page<\/a>. With this exposure, the project forms partnerships, promotes events and sells merchandise to generate funds they then use to give back to the racing world. \u201cWe sponsored a Late Model division at our local short track. Lots of fan giveaways.\u00a0We sell some apparel and that money is invested back into the project,\u201d says Brad.\u00a0\u201cWe know it\u2019s a big challenge. There have been a few tracks that closed, but we\u2019ve had some impact.\u00a0We have encouraged some folks to do more, to keep racing.\u00a0It\u2019s hard to not want to keep doing it when you see the impact.\u201d<\/p>\n And while the project is based in the Midwest, I asked Brad what he\u2019d like to see folks do to help the sport survive and even grow. \u201cGet out and support a track that you can call home,” he says.\u00a0“Find a series that connects with you and start to root for them. Every sport has a hero and there\u2019s no difference in short track racing.\u201d<\/p>\n If you do what I did, you\u2019ll spend time clicking on all the photos and videos on the Gasroots Project website. It\u2019s great storytelling and even if you\u2019re not a gearhead, you\u2019ll recognize the determination and passion that drives the people in Brad\u2019s stories.\u00a0Once you\u2019re there, you\u2019ll understand why the project exists. You may want to buy a T-shirt or some decals. Brad says, \u201cWe now have a full-fledged online store and that revenue generates opportunities for us to give back to the sport.\u201d\u00a0But I don\u2019t want you to think that this is a money-maker. Like the grassroots racing he loves, Gasroots Project is hardly self-funding.\u00a0It\u2019s an idea of passion to support others\u2019 passion.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to be a force for good,\u201d says Brad Peck, founder of the Gasroots Project, a non-profit that\u2019s aimed at promoting local short track racing.\u00a0Brad is from Wisconsin and grew up around racing. \u201cDad was drag racing before I was born. He wrenched at a speed shop where they built NASCAR Grand National engines.\u00a0I watched (NASCAR Champion) Matt Kenseth race when he was a kid and Bobby Labonte (another NASCAR Champion) used their engines.\u201d While life found Brad in the world of graphic design, he never lost sight of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":20409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[638],"tags":[943],"class_list":["post-20337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-showcase","tag-restoration"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/feature-19.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20337"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35014,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20337\/revisions\/35014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/A-Force-For-Good_IMG002.jpg\")
\u201cNow that I\u2019ve made it a ‘thing’, I\u2019m being held accountable,” Brad says. “There\u2019s always a fear that it could add pressure to my life, but it\u2019s been such a fun ride.\u00a0Got to keep it original, local, in it\u2019s pureness… grassroots.\u00a0Is sponsorship a potential?\u00a0I\u2019m certainly open to it. If a team is struggling, ready to fold… what can we do to help them find a means to get money? At the end of the day, racing isn\u2019t cheap.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/A-Force-For-Good_IMG003-262x327.jpg\")
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