The New Look Of Short Track News
By: Steve Bechtel
If you are reading this then you know Short Track News has a little different look to it and a whole bunch of new items to look at. I wanted to take this opportunity for new viewers and old viewers alike to see what direction we are going with the site.
This website (in one capacity or another) has been around since 1998. It became Short Track News in 2001. Every year our visitors and page views have continued to grow. I wanted to take this to a new level though. Below is an example of what you will get. I’ll go in order by the way the buttons are on the home page of the website.
Steve’s Two Cents:
Anyone that knows me knows I’ve been a racing fan since the mid 70’s at Raceway Park. I’ve seen it all and have an opinion on a lot of things when it comes to local racing. Here is where I will write some columns and give my take on things. Hopefully at least 2-3 times a month.
www.RaceDriverCards.com
A link to another site I have. I do hero/driver cards and have been doing so for 5 years now. We also do business cards, websites, t-shirts, crew shirts, temporary tattoos, window decals and vinyl graphics. If you need any of this stuff, please stop by.
www.RacewayParkHistory.com
Also a link to another site I have. Not a real lot on it info wise (which I hope to change soon) but you will find links to a few interesting Raceway Park items as well as links to numerous photo galleries. At last count I had over 4,000 racing photos posted. Many of them are old Raceway Park photos. If you want to share any old photos from your collection, I would be more then happy to host the photos on my site. E-mail me for more information. I also have a list of old Raceway Park footage on VHS and DVD that I will be listing soon.
Oval Engineering Classifieds:
FREE classifieds section for people to buy and sell used race cars, parts, trailers, haulers and racing memorabilia. To cut down on SPAM comments this may go to a password protected site in the future. If you’re just looking you won’t need an account. However, you will have to make a user name if you want to post or reply to stuff.
STN Photo Albums:
Links to photo albums that contain pictures we have taken or had people to send to use since we started the website in 2001. In 2008 there will be a new folder for those pictures as well as a folder of photos 2001-2007.
Racing Videos:
With popular sites like You Tube there is a bunch of neat racing videos online and this is the place we will share some of them with you. All you do is click the screen and the video shows up on the page. It could be a local race such as Illiana or Grundy or stuff from across the USA. It could be a great race, close finish, unbelievable crash footage or the occasional short track fight between 2 drivers. We will change these every few weeks. As an example the 4 videos we have posted for the re-launch of STN is 1981 ARCA 200 crash footage from Daytona with Bob Dotter and son Bobby both wrecking on the first lap. Last lap of the 1979 Daytona 500 where Donnie & Cale wreck and end up fighting in the infield after the race is over. An open wheel modified crash where the two drivers have words afterwards and the one driver jumps on the other car only to have the driver take a full lap around the track with the driver on top of the car and Danica Patrick missing the safety truck by inches after she blows a tire under caution.
Racing Links:
Links to driver websites, local tracks and other cool racing websites.
Driver Interviews:
We did a few of these in the past with former drivers and got away from it. Now we are back full time doing it. This page has the questions listed for you. All you have to do is fill in the boxes and hit send. We will update as often as we have to. For starters we will limit this to current Grundy and Illiana drivers as well as former Grundy, Illiana and Raceway Park drivers. If the response is big enough we will expand it. Any local driver (Late Model all the way down to Pure Stock) is eligible to fill this out.
Racin Station Radio:
I’m in talks right now to co-host an internet radio station that will focus on covering local auto racing in the Chicago area. Stay tuned for more info.
Remember When???:
Just another way for fans to check out older photos we have posted in the photo gallery. If you want to back in time and see some great photos from the 50’s, 60’s 70’s and 80’s then go here and follow the links.
Custom Model Cars:
A lot of people I know build model cars and custom die-cast. I wanted to give them a page to showcase some of their items. Follow the links to see some awesome looking cars.
Advertise With Us:
The “dreaded” help us out button. Actually we aren’t looking for handouts. We feel advertising on a website like ours gets you much more exposure then advertising in a track program or by buying a billboard or even sponsoring a car. Why settle for exposure for your business 20 nights a season we can reach just as many as a race track does and we do it for 24/7 and 365 days a year. Help keep this site up and running, any support is appreciated.
Need a website:
If you need one let STN build it for you. Affordable rates and we can do more then just racing sites.
Contact Us:
Get in touch with the guy who keeps the site running smooth.
STN Forum Board:
A discussion board where fans can come voice their opinion on local racing. Always lots going on here so check it our daily and make a FREE account so you can voice your opinion.
Track Info & Weather:
Here is where you can see the local weather for the track you are planning on visit. There is also links to each track website.
Featured Tracks:
At this time we plan on covering Illiana Speedway, Plymouth Speedway, Grundy County Speedway and Rockford Speedway. Dells Raceway Park will probably be the 5th and final track we cover. Final track will be finalized soon.
Featured Series:
At this time we plan on covering ASA Midwest, CRA, Mid Am Stock Car Series, Big 8 Series, ASA Late Model (Challenge and North) along with some NASCAR news.
Featured Sites:
A list of 10 sites I find interesting and would like to share with the STN viewers. Some links may change from time to time so if you have a site worthy of going there let me know.
New Stuff On Home Page:
We will have a new Video of the Week, Remember When??? photo and Local Driver Spotlight photo updated every week. We will also be accepting Birthday wishes again. Just E-mail me the info as well as your name and I will post it. There is a “Donate” button on the top of the page and it’s linked through Paypal. Now you can help support the site by sending in donations. I love doing the site but unfortunately it’s not free to do and takes up a lot of my time. If you enjoy coming here on daily basis please show us some support. I’m a verified Paypal member so it’s secure to send money. If you don’t have a Paypal account you can still send a donation using your Visa or Mastercard.
Special Offers to STN Fans:
We also partnered up with Google Ads and a few other companies to bring you special offers. Get racing magazine subscriptions for only $10 a year through STN. Or if you are looking to build a website of your own go through the Homestead banners you see on the site. Homestead is very easy to use and very affordable. Click on the links for a FREE 1 month trial period to see if you like it. All our Google ads are tailored to the racing scene click on them if you see something you are in interested in.
Thanks for all your support over the years,
Steve Bechtel
