The continued support I receive from my existing sponsors and supporters is wonderful, and we have some opportunities to include others into this program.If you want to be a part of this feel free to send me a note at jim@jimobalek.com and we can discuss the opportunities available, and how they can be custom tailored.

In the meantime, over the coming months besides creating and finalizing details for marketing programs I will have the car in the shop freshening it up for next season and tweaking the controls to fit me perfectly. I’ll post some photos of the work as it progresses.

Not just any old nitro car though, but the best known and currently one of the world’s quickest Nostalgia Nitro Funny Cars!

I am very proud to say that Twig Zeigler has chosen me to wheel his Funny Car for the 2012 season.

This is a wonderful opportunity for me as a driver, everything is right about this program; the car is beautiful and very high profile, it has only the best parts, with plenty of spares, the car performs at the top of it’s class, and Twig is a true gentleman with 42 years of nitro racing experience to draw upon. It doesn’t get any better.

I encourage you to venture over to the Twig Zeigler Website and have a look around to learn more about the history of this fabulous car and team owner.

Our 2012 schedule is still being finalized, but the plan is to start our Northwest tour with the NAPA Auto Parts Ignitor in Boise Idaho at the end of April. From there we intend to visit Mission BC, Edmonton Alberta, Spokane, and Yakima Washington, Woodburn Oregon, and closing the season in Bakersfield for the California Hot Rod Reunion in October.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tom and Debby Cook, of CV Transport. Their support over the years has made it possible for me to be in this position to drive such a high quality race car, at such a high level of competition. As I have always said about my sponsors, it is about building the relationship for the long term, and my relationship with Tom and Debby of CV Transport is a perfect example of this. This past season has seen Tom evolve into a racer in his own right, and Debby has also won some rounds, I am proud to have been a part of their successes, and we’ve had some great times at the track this year. I look forward to continuing our relationship, and having many more great times with them for many years to come.

Check back here often over the winter while I keep everyone updated on the preparations for the coming season of excitement!

I am honoured and excited to be a member of the Rapid Time News team. The quality of the writers is very high, and I encourage you to have a look at the site to read not only my articles but if you are in business, or even interested in business there will be plenty to interest you there.

As well as great articles, Rapid Time News has the most comprehensive calendar of events in Vancouver, if you are looking for something to do check out the calendar here. If you have an event coming up you would like to promote, it is free to post your event on their calendar.

So to those of you who have been following my articles on sponsorship, you can continue reading them on Rapid Time News. This blog will continue with my usual random and sometimes inconsistent, (sorry about that things get busy at times) postings on drag racing and whatever else pops into my head.

One of the reasons I have not updated my blog recently has been the latest project I have been working on in the shop. Not the usual highly specialized race car development I usually do around here, but an equally exciting racing machine all the same.

Snow Skis, well, not exactly, Sit-skis is more accurate, for a couple Paraplegic Olympic skiers. They brought me their medal winning sit-skis and asked me if I could improve on the design. I reverse engineered the sample skis they provided me, then re-engineered them into a prototype. They are are very exciting piece of engineering, with complex geometry in their suspension to allow for not only control of the ski, but the rider also has to get on a chair lift. This has been an incredibly fun project, I can’t wait for some snow now so we can test the prototype! (that’s the only reason I am impatient for the snow)

Would you ride this?

A popular statement these days amongst racers is how difficult it is to secure sponsorship. I’m likely going to ruffle some feathers here, but the truth is you guys have made it difficult on yourselves, and everyone who is trying to secure sponsorship. You have made it difficult because many, and I will venture to say most, motorsports sponsorship programs fail to provide the required return on investment for the sponsor. The fact that you own a race car does not give you any of the skills required to put together an effective sponsorship program, and it shows. Let me tell you something you do not want to hear, that spot on the side of your car that you are trying to “sell” to a sponsor to put his name on is worth a whole lot less than you think it is.

There was a time, many years ago, when having a sponsor’s name on the side of a car was of value to the sponsor. Fans, and spectators and the general public took notice of the name, and were influenced in their purchasing decisions by the presence of that name on the side of a car. Unfortunately that is not the case in today’s market. In today’s market the fans, and spectators, and the general public are inundated with so much advertising and so many brands being flashed in front of them that they have become blind to them. For a motorsports sponsorship to work, to provide a return on investment for the sponsor, you have to offer much more than simple signage space on the side of the car.

Ok, that is not totally true, there are a few sponsors out there that will quantify their ROI as the pleasure they receive from seeing their name on the side of the race car, or for the good feeling they receive by helping the racer to succeed, but those sponsors are few and far between. In today’s business climate businesses are forced to ensure a return on every dollar invested. Budgets are squeezed tighter and tighter every year.

How then does a racer provide a ROI for the sponsorship dollars invested? It is actually pretty simple, the first thing you need to do is know what the return is that the sponsor is looking for from their sponsorship. How do you find out? Ask them.

Ask your sponsor, or potential sponsor what they hope to achieve through this sponsorship. What are their marketing objectives, future plans for expansion, new products in the pipeline? Do they want to sell more product, or boost productivity from their staff? Maybe they are hoping to land a new contract, or break into a new market? You need to know these things before you can possibly begin to provide a solution through sponsorship. The only way you will truly know the answers is to ask. Do not assume you know their business objectives, you cannot answer these questions by researching the company on the internet, you can certainly find out background info, but the only way to get the answers you require to put together a proper sponsorship plan is to ask the questions directly.

The track is spectacular. Have a look at this wonderful video put together by Randy Smith, thank you Randy. The mountain at the end of the track is the first feature that cannot be missed, but one also has to appreciate the setting in general in amongst the trees.

During my road trip to and from Alaska, with my daughter Casey, I finally got to see my first ever moose, we had to drive 2300 kms before I finally saw one, but after that I saw five or six, even a cow with her baby. The wildlife was everywhere, cariboo, porcupines, elk, deer, black and brown bears, no grizzlies.

Check out Randy’s video to see my parachute come out at about half track and get burnt off, never a good thing. But no problem, there was plenty of shutdown area and I was able to get the car stopped just fine. A big thank you to the safety crew for following me down though. Those guys do a great job and it is always comforting knowing they are there waiting for me in the event of a problem.

I leave today for Alaska to run the Jet Cars in Anchorage on the Fourth of July long weekend. My trip is a little broken up, stopping in Ashcroft over night for a dinner this evening, then tomorrow we head to Drayton Valley, just outside Edmonton, to pick up the truck and trailer to tow all the way to Alaska.

This will be my first time ever in Alaska and I can say I am very excited. I love a road trip and this is a road trip plus! My camera and iPhone will always be handy for photos, so I will keep regular updates flowing through Twitter, and  Facebook.

We would love to hear your suggestions for things we must see or do or places to eat along the way, or in Anchorage on our day off there. Leave a comment, or send me a note or message on Twitter of Facebook. I love to hear from you.

This event is great not only for the beautiful hot rods that come out, but the race at Eagle Motorplex is held in conjunction with the city of Ashcroft and Cache Creek “Graffiti Days” with a wonderful variety of 50′s themed fun things to do all weekend.

Some of the things you will want to check out over the weekend are the Huge Show and Shine and Parade of the cars through Ashcroft and on into Cache Creek. There is also a Sock Hop on the Saturday night, a burnout competition, (always fun to watch), and Barbeque.

While you are in Ashcroft I encourage you to check out the best place to eat in the whole area: Chris’s Under the Bridge. It is tucked away under the bridge on the way into Ashcroft at the River Inn Hotel. I truly wish I had discovered this place much earlier than I did. The service and quality of food is exceptional. There is no way you can have a meal there without the staff putting a smile on your face and making you feel like you are the most important person they have ever served.

In my 30 years of racing I have heard this statement countless times.  My standard response is: “no you wouldn’t, otherwise you would be doing it”

I have given anything to be doing what I am doing. I have been willing, since I was five years old really, to give whatever I need to give to be the best race car driver I can possibly be.

At times this career demands that I give a lot. From very late nights preparing cars to race, to days on the road, and one of the bigger ones that many don’t realize, because I am racing almost every weekend through the summer, I miss almost every family barbeque and get together that happens. Unlike most other racers, I don’t come from a family of racers, so they are not with me when I am racing. Except of course for my daughter, and I am so very thankful and proud to have her with me at pretty much every race, and she straps me in before every run.

Of course I wouldn’t change any of it, when I do get together with my family and friends it is that much more special, and we have many stories to share. I am living the life I have created, by giving anything to do it, sometimes we have to give a lot to get a lot. I will continue to give anything I have to to continue accomplishing the goals I have set for myself.

This idea of what are you willing to give is applicable to any endeavor that you may want to undertake, from writing a book, to sailing around the world, to the next holiday you want to take. What are you willing to give to make it happen? If you honestly answer that question you may be very surprised with what you hear.

You are capable of doing anything you set your mind to, but, and this is the point many seem to miss, you have to do it. Sounds simple, just do it, but we as humans are very good at finding reasons to not do it. I look for reasons to do it. You can too.

How bad do you want it?!

I am always proud to call Eagle my home track, the people there are all wonderful people, and always treat me very well. What is really special about Eagle Motorplex is the staff, and how hard they work at making the racing great for the racers, in particular the amount of effort they go to making sure the tack surface is at it’s absolute best.

Just two or three weeks ago they had a new surface laid to repair a couple bumps that have been getting progressively worse over the last few years. Saturday it rained pretty much all day, there was a break for a couple hours in the middle of the day, and the crew had the track almost dry when it started raining again, how frustrating that must be for them. Sunday morning there was no rain, but heavy cloud/fog cover kept the sun off the track until noon. Yet still the staff got the track dried and prepared, and on a brand new surface, still cold, they were able to get it into amazing shape.

They tell me they are using a new traction compound, I don’t know what it is but I am very impressed with how well it got a brand new surface to work.

Over the winter they also did many improvements to the facility, and wow does it look great. They have plenty more planned too.

Next weekend is the first big race of the season, The IHRA Pro-Am Tour event and I encourage any racers out there who are unsure about attending to check it out, you will find it an enjoyable experience from start to finish. And the fans want to get out there and check out a bunch of new cars, and the great improvements made at Eagle Motorplex.

On a side note to my weekend at Ashcroft, I found a great place to eat. It was a pleasure to meet Chef Chris, (who also races a street legal Dodge Stealth), and his wonderful staff on Sunday at the track. Saturday night, about nine, we were looking for something to eat for dinner and Chris’s Under The Bridge in Ashcroft was just closing, but still they very happily took our orders, and delivered it to our room with wonderful smiles, and jokes. On top of that, the food was delicious, possibly the best french fries ever. The hamburgers were actually hand made patties. My salad was fantastic. I am looking forward to eating there next weekend and every time I am racing in Ashcroft, great place. Check it out.

We will start loading the cars into the Abbotsford Tradex tomorrow afternoon, and spend Friday polishing and cleaning them up for display, but the real exciting part will be Friday Night and Saturday night.

Steve Cook flies in from Arizona tomorrow, him and I will fire up our jet cars and perform a spectacular fire show on Friday night and again on Saturday night. If you have never seen a jet car fire show you do not want to miss this, and if you have seen a jet car fire show you know what I am talking about and you will be there. You will be close enough to feel the heat off the afterburners and get a feel for 6,000 pounds of thrust, that’s the equivalent of 12,000 hp.

I will be at the show all weekend, so I encourage you to come by and say hello. I am looking forward to meeting with everyone in person. And you will be able to get up close and check out the details of our jet cars.

Everything you need to know about the show can be found here.

I will be posting updates on Twitter and Facebook throughout the weekend for everyone who is out of town, but I expect everyone within 100 miles to come by, I promise it will be worth it.