UARA to Broadcast Entire Race Schedule on Pay-Per-View

Series PR

HENDERSONVILLE, NC (March 26, 2012) — The UARA-STARS broadcast its first-ever LIVE race a week ago at Hickory Motor Speedway, an event that the series says will repeat itself at every tour stop this season. Fans can catch every lap of UARA action at MotorsportsBroadcasting.com during the 2012 season, including a free replay of the Hickory event for a limited time.

“We really want to come out of the box with a solid product for our fans,” said Kerry Bodenhamer, UARA President. “We have a lot of neat bells and whistles we want to try, but our first goal is to get the entire process working flawlessly before we introduce extras. I think Hickory went a long way to prove we could do that and ended up as a solid baseline to show what we’re capable of.”

“We had a few hiccups for our first go at one of these, but I think overall it impressed a lot of people, us included,” he continued. “We’ve been working with our providers to rectify the few issues we had at Hickory and they assure us they will be fixed for the next race in two weeks at Dillon. As if we needed any more reasons to be excited about 2012, this is another one that has our pulse pounding at the UARA office.”

The UARA broadcasts feature multiple cameras from various angles around the track in order to bring the viewer the best possible experience from their viewing location. All internet-connected computers and Flash-enabled smartphones are capable of receiving the broadcast feed anywhere in the world. As a sample, the on-demand archive of the UARA race from Hickory is available at MSB for a limited time, free of charge to those who view it.

“We have had international interest in our series for a few years now with Australian drivers like Owen Kelly, George Miedecke and Clayton Pyne competing in our series,” said Bodenhamer. “Their fans are as diehard as any others and for them to be able to see their favorites race from thousands of miles away, that’s pretty neat. As an added bonus, our domestic fans are also able to keep up on the races as they are happening.”

Fans can expect the pay-per-view rates to be no more than the price of a ticket at each event, making the MSB broadcasts a very viable option for fans on a smaller budget. Most broadcasts are scheduled to cost no more than $15, the price of a single adult ticket.

“We understand that fuel is expensive. For our fans to drive even two or three hours to a race is a $50 or $75 proposition before they even come into the gate. That’s a lot of money,” said Bodenhamer. “This way, those fans can save their money and support our series without spending large amounts of money on fuel. We still want to see everyone at the racetrack, because there’s no replacement for being at an event. But for those races that aren’t local to our fans, this is huge.”

Sponsors already see the value of the UARA broadcasts.

“One of Ben’s (Rhodes) sponsors, Alpha Mechanical in Louisville (KY), has a huge employee and customer base who is interested in how he does every week,” said Jason Buckley, the public relations representative for Ben Rhodes and the No. 9 Stanley Tools/DeWALT/Alpha Mechanical Ford. “This is huge for them. They’ve been very excited about these races and it goes to
show why UARA is the top development series in the country for drivers looking to move up to K&N and other major NASCAR series.”

“This is the future of race broadcasting,” said Bodenhamer. “The cost of a traditional broadcasting has gone so high that most weekly tracks and regional series can’t afford it. With the technology today, everyone has a computer, a large majority seems to have a smartphone of some type, and everyone wants to be able to watch things without being tied to one location.

“With this technology, we can provide that. Think about it, if you go anywhere in the world, you can watch the UARA-STARS and the future stars of tomorrow do battle at your favorite short track. Aside from us, only the premier racing series like the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Indy Cars can provide that. I think we’re in pretty good company.”

The next UARA-STARS event at Dillon Motor Speedway will be on Saturday night, April 7, and while tickets start at only $15 for adults and $25 for a family 4-pack, the race will also be broadcast on MotorsportsBroadcasting.com. Fans are encouraged to join the series at the track, but for those who choose the pay-per-view option, early registration is encouraged.

“The few issues we had at Hickory related to fans who waited to the last minute to purchase the race and had credit card validation issues,” said Bodenhamer. “We would’ve been able to work through them if we had a day or two advance notice. At race time, however, that didn’t leave us a lot of options with such a small team. We want to make sure this is a positive experience for everyone.

For more information on the UARA-STARS, visit them online at www.uara-stars.com or call (828) 692-3833. Fans are also encouraged to “like” them on Facebook under the United Auto Racing Association and follow them on Twitter @uarastars.