The Scoop
MyRacePASS – THE STORY BEHIND THE POPULAR MOTORSPORTS APP
Posted on: Monday December 19, 2022
MyRacePass co-founder Josh Holt at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis in 2022.
It was in a basement in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where three college buddies and racing enthusiasts hatched a plan for what has evolved into the biggest motorsports app the country.
The popular MyRacePass app is used by most every race fan and race promoter in the United States. With more than 700 track/series promoters using it, the app connects the grass roots motorsports family from coast-to-coast.
Scorers and promoters use it to post lineups, tally point standings, post results and even host a Fantasy racing league. Race fans click on the MRP app to find out almost instantly what is going on at most any paved or dirt track in the country with a couple of quick clicks on their respective mobile devices.
So how and when did MyRacePass grow to be so popular? Three friends who all shared a passion for racing and to a greater extent, website development and a deep knowledge of modern-day mobile technology put their heads together.
“I met Ross VanEck and Zach Calmus when we were students at Dakota State University in South Dakota,” said Josh Holt, MyRacePass co-founder and Director of Sales & Marketing and Business Development. “I raced sprint cars then, and those guys had a website development company. Those guys also happened to be race fans when one day Zach suggested that we should ‘build websites for racers.’ It made sense to do that and, in the Fall of 2007, the idea for the start of MyRacePass was launched essentially.”
Field of Dreams it wasn’t. Regardless, the trio began building websites for drivers and down the road for racetracks as well. “We were based out of South Dakota and that’s where we started,” Holt explained. “I met a lot of drivers from different pockets of the country from my own racing endeavors. The size of the room where this whole plan was devised was very, very tiny.”
By 2008 the three had built and maintained a total of 15 different websites. “By the time 2011 rolled around we were starting to gain some traction and got really busy,” Holt said. “We got hooked up with the American Sprint Car Series and also the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl and Lucas Oil Tulsa Shootout and constructed their websites as well.”
Towards the tail end of 2011 Holt decided to dip his toe in the race promoting waters by buying the lease to Rock Rapids Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa. “I had my two partners there every Friday night,” Holt pointed out. “The three of us were like ‘what can we do to bring this technology to the track and make things easier for the scorers?’”
VanEck and Calmus started building what they called the track’s Race Management System. This system, which would help drivers get through the back gate with their pill draw and allowed track staff to post lineups and later results, would be the precursor to the popular MRP app currently used by over 700 promoters in the U.S. in 2022.
“The whole idea behind it really was to figure out a way so at the end of the night your head scorer can close up their laptops and have the track or series website already updated with results and points and the checks printed too,” Holt explained. “We started selling our Race Management System and truth be told; it was very inexpensive for promoters.”
What started out as building driver websites had continued to evolve into a tool to help promoters manage their racing programs. “In 2013 we started another company which was did call MyRacePass which consisted back then mainly of driver and track profiles,” Holt said. “Within two years when 2015 rolled around we were looking to make a big move as essentially it was time for us to shit or get off the pot.”
Enter the Florida-based Speednet. “That came up for sale, but we weren’t really sure if Sioux Falls was the right fit for us for what we wanted to expand to,” Holt recalled. “We had some friends in Lincoln, Nebraska which is considered the “Silicon Prairie” of the country. The reason being is there are so many tech companies out there and it is a very affordable place to live compared to the “Silicon Valley” in California.”
The move to Lincoln, Nebraska signaled the true “launch” of you will of the modern-day MRP most of us know today. “We put the word out and we were able to bring in some talent from all over the country,” Holt said. “We hired 12 people and did buy Speednet and we worked really hard to develop the current MRP app so widely used in the circle track world.”
The MRP team started what they termed a ‘soft launch’ at the 2017 WISSOTA 100 and the true ‘hard launch’ occurred at the 2018 Chili Bowl in Tulsa. “We already had built up a great relationship with the Hahn family (Chili Bowl promoters) and that really became our launching pad for the MRP app so to speak,” Holt said.
Since that ’18 Chili Bowl launch the MRP app is now used by 600 track and another 100 series promoters at the end of 2022. “It’s really evolved over the years, and we’ve added the ticket software to our app for ticket sales too,” Holt said, pointing out Lone Star Speedway was the first track the MRP team handled online ticket sales for. “Not to mention the countless fans in all 50 states and beyond who can access all the latest race news at their fingertips.”
The MRP team acquired One Motorsport and launched MRP Digital Ads – offering member tracks another source of revenue. “The tracks can sign up with our deal to become what we term a publisher,” Holt explained. “The way that works is they allow us to place ads we sell on their website with roughly half of that ad revenue going back to the tracks. It’s based simply on traffic. The more traffic you get to your site the bigger slice of the pie you receive.” According to Holt that part of MRP has grown 40 percent in 2022.
For tracks still on the fence about getting on board with MRP? According to Holt there is no bigger bang for your buck. “There are still some tracks that don’t have us yet and it costs $600 to get started with us,” Holt pointed out. “Basically, you need a good WiFi signal and we have educated the promoters to use their phones as a hot spot. There aren’t many racetracks these days that don’t have internet service.”
As the MRP team closes the books on the 2022 season they have 17 full time employees – all of whom know work remotely from home. “We closed our doors in Lincoln (NE) and currently have staff that live in Tennessee, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Washington and Massachusetts among other places,” Holt explained.
That MRP team consists of folks who’ve all worn many different hats in motorsports over the years. “We have track announcers, series directors, track promoters and track scorers,” Holt said. “Our goal is to continue to teach racetrack promoters to engage this technology. Because an engaged race fan comes back. They spend money at your racetrack. This technology is here to stay and it’s our goal to embrace it. We’ve got to learn how to use it and make it work for us.”