After months of planning and preparing, five Central Michigan University students’ saw the fruits of their labor fulfilled Saturday night in Mt. Pleasant at the "NASCAR at Night: The Block Party."
Held outside CMU’s Kelly/Shorts Stadium, the event was hosted by five CMU students who were a part of the NASCAR Kinetics: Marketing in Motion" program.
Judged on the attendance at the viewing party, along with how well the students completed their seven assigned case studies, CMU is competing against Clark Atlanta University, Howard University, the University of Texas Pan-American and Winston-Salem University with the winning school receiving an all-expenses paid trip to the May 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star race in Charlotte, N.C.
"I think our team did great," said Tara Grace Hanner, CMU NASCAR Kinetics team member. "I had a permanent grin during the entire event. I am very proud of everyone."
Along with Hanner, other CMU team members included Andrew Bohannon, Sara Kirkland, Erica Lemm and Kelly Morse.
The party, which followed the CMU football team's spring practice game, included a live viewing of the Subway Fit Fresh 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix, Ariz. on the stadium jumbotron with sound provided by 98.5 FM WUPS. Giveaways included gas cards, Celebration Cinema gift cards, Michigan International Speedway tickets, NASCAR T-shirts, and free food provided by Subway.
"Everyone seemed to love it (party)," Hanner said. "We had a lot of compliments and the main question was ‘Are you going to have this again next year?" "It really was great getting the community and students together."
Hanner said her group counted 824 people who came through the gates at their party.
"It was more than expected, especially since the weather turned (cold and windy) at 8:30 p.m.," Hanner said.
Activities at the party included a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing simulator, bean bag toss and a selection of Mt. Pleasant Speedway racecars on display including the Miller Lite UMP Late Models of No. X1 Justin Robinson, No. 18 Alvie Haynes, No. 22 Greg DeLisle and No. 91 Adam Thrush; Chuck’s Discount Foods UMP Modifieds of No. 19 Cody Bauer, No. 21 Steven Hilliker, No. 42 Craig Vance, No. 43 Kevin Miller, and No. 95 Chuck Powell; Smokers Club Street Stock of No. 87 David Mielke; and a Sprints on Dirt car of No. 27 Ryan Ruhl, a CMU student who made the journey back to Mt. Pleasant after racing in Lima, Ohio the night before.
"I think the show went well," Vance said. "We had a lot of fun talking with all the people. I talked to quite a few college kids who didn’t even know the track was there (in Mt. Pleasant), so I think it will bring some more fans early this season."
Karen Fussman, wife of Mt. Pleasant Speedway Smokers Club Street Stock No. 12 Jeff Fussman, said it was a fun event.
"Overall I thought the event was fantastic," Fussman said. "It was a great community event to help bring awareness of not only NASCAR, but local racing and CMU. I was extremely proud of the CMU students and how they pulled everything together. Everyone working was very friendly and outgoing. I really hope the CMU students win the competition because they went to a lot of work to pull this event together."
Contacted by the CMU students about the possibility of joining the event, Bill Long, Mt. Pleasant Speedway promotional director, said they jumped at the opportunity to market their product (local auto racing) to the students.
"We knew this would be a great location to tell people about our college (grandstand) pass rate of four students for $20 and this was Mt. Pleasant Speedway’s chance to showcase their great looking racecars to the community," Long said. "When the drivers fired up their cars, it definitely drew more people around the cars and is sure to bring many new fans to the Mt. Pleasant Speedway."
Mt. Pleasant Speedway owner Betty Crook also said she appreciated the chance to be a part of the event.
"The Mt. Pleasant Speedway would like to thank Tara (Grace Hanner) and the CMU group for allowing us to take part in their activities," Crook said. "It let us show many people our racecars and we hope we’re able to let people know there is a racetrack in Mt. Pleasant."
Long echoed those sentiments.
"Thank you to CMU, the NASCAR Kinetics team, and all the teams for taking the time needed to help promote your sport of dirt racing," Long said. "Many 2009 schedules were handed out so now it’s time to go racing on May 1."
Starting planning for the block party in January, Hanner said now that it’s all over she thinks the program was very rewarding.
"It taught us many things," she said. "It is all about networking and knowing the right people, organization, publicity and volunteers. Without the help of volunteers, and those who brought the attractions, the party would not have been as successful as it was. We found ourselves doing lots of research about the community, where to find the fans and how to recruit more people into being fans. The program is very challenging and I think that made it so beneficial in the end."
To make such a successful event happen in only a four-month period took a great deal of teamwork.
"Communication was definitely our strength as a group," Hanner said. "We may have driven each other nuts with hundreds of phone calls and e-mails, but I have no doubt in my mind that is what kept everything together for success."
The experience brought on from this event also was satisfying for Hanner and the other CMU students.
"It wasn’t easy," Hanner said. "We had to do a lot of mental and physical work to make it all happen, but it was so worth it. It was a great hands on real world experience and I am very proud of it."
