With a healthy base of motorsports enthusiasts among the Owensboro community, three friends who love racing have come together to promote the sport and its drivers.
Racing roots run deep in Daviess County, and some of the success has grown to an international level. Wanting to increase the support and spread the word about local racing, Blake Smith, Wes LuAllen and Nathan Conway have produced a radio show and a podcast.
Smith runs his own radio show that’s already allowed him to bring a professional driver to the city, while LuAllen and Conway’s podcast provides some behind-the-scenes insight not typically available to fans.
Together the men run the parent company Bluegrass Motorsports Media, and they’re hoping to encourage the community to support local racing.
HOT LAPS WITH BLAKE SMITH
Smith got his start in motorsports broadcasting and coverage at the age of 14 when he was at WBKR. While he was working part-time at the station, Smith had the opportunity to be a weekly contributor on the morning show.
That lead to being a part of “Race Talk Live,” a weekly racing show that broadcast live in Owensboro and covered local, regional and national racing. Smith even had the opportunity to be a part of the 2007 Brickyard 400 broadcast for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) Radio Network.
“I have been involved in motorsports broadcasting since then in some way shape or form, whether it be in radio or print,” he said. “A lot of work goes into it, but it is my stress relief. It is something I really enjoy doing.”
After branching out on his own, he created Hot Laps with Blake Smith, which had its inaugural episode on Nov. 3 at the Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
“Doing my own show has provided many great opportunities already, including being the host of the Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame induction ceremony and being able to bring Ben Rhodes to Owensboro,” Smith said.
Smith said he thinks the show is a positive thing for the community because it allows racers to come talk about their weekend and their season.
“At the race track, you only hear from the winners of each feature,” he said. “That is great, but there are a lot more stories than just the driver in victory lane.”
He said it also provides the drivers and track promoters to thank their sponsors.
“Sponsorship and brand recognition is big in the motorsports world,” Smith said. “It gives those folks the chance to thank and promote their sponsors.”
Another reason Smith enjoys the show is because he can help bring awareness and education about the sport to the area.
“If I can bring one first-time listener to the race track, my job is done,” he said. “It is important that we continue to inform the new generation about motorsports and it’s rich heritage around the area.”
THE BENT FENDER PODCAST
Conway and LuAllen started throwing around the idea of the podcast in January of this year, and by March they had the equipment set up in Conway’s kitchen. After what they said seemed like 2,000 takes, the duo finally had the first episode of The Bent Fenders Podcast ready to go live.
“We initially started the podcast as a method to advertise and promote Nathan’s racing program, as he is a driver on the local dirt tracks,” LuAllen said. “But after doing our second interview with a guest, we realized that was self-serving. While we do want to promote ourselves, it was our duty to make sure that we captured the essence, stories and emotions, as well as the history of this sport in our area.”
Typically, the only time the general public gets to hear anything about a driver is when they are in the top three in a race and are interviewed on the track. Even then, they are only featured for a few minutes.
With their podcast, Conway and LuAllen are able to do more long-form interviews with their guests so listeners get to hear all about the drivers from the beginning of their career to present.
Together with Smith, the three guys came up with the idea of creating an umbrella for the local media coverage of racing in the area: Bluegrass Motorsports Media.
“We didn’t just want to be stock-car specific, but to capture all the stories we can from each different form of racing,” LuAllen said. “We also cover soapbox derby, monster truck racing, drag racing and go-kart racing.”
The show is structured is to highlight the drivers’ careers.
“We also talk to them about the impact of social media on racing and what the guests feel are the most pressing issues — such as rules, classes, management, procedures and where they would like to see the sport progress in the coming years,” LuAllen said.
Along the with longform podcast, they also have a show called Quick 6 where the hosts travel to the tracks to conduct quick interview segments with the drivers while in the pit area.
