Sometimes, you just never know...
Turning back the clock a couple of weeks...
On Richmond NASCAR weekend, I was just getting checked in to my hotel at around 4:30pm on that Thursday. I plugged my laptop in and began to download my email. One was from a person I never heard of before: "Smiley Capella". In the email, "Smiley", the promoter of Twiggs/Macon Dragway in Macon Georgia, explained that the track is having a "big" two-day Pro Mod (along with other classes) event at the track on Memorial Day weekend and wondered if I was interested in announcing it! Except for the return email address, there was no other contact information in the message. DANG! So, I "googled" the name of the track and found the business number for the facility and called it. I ask to speak with "Smiley Capella" and the pleasant voice on the other end of the line said "She's not here. Sorry!" (I thought to myself "hmmm, SHE, huh?"). So I introduced myself, explained about the email I received and asked if I could leave a message. The person to whom I was speaking said she knew that "Smiley" was definitely wanting to talk to me and that she would have her call me later on. I said "Thank you very much" and I thought that was it...until....
Two hours later, I was eating dinner when the cell phone rang. It was "Smiley" and she said she was glad I called earlier. Again, she introduced herself as the promoter of Twiggs/Macon Dragway and that she wanted me to announce the upcoming Memorial Day weekend two-day Pro Mod event. I said was available and we negotiated my fee, including the normal airfare, rental car and hotel accomodations. She asked me to wait a few days so she could discuss it with other track management people. I said "Sure!"
However, I told her, one thing was buggin' me: I live in Western NY, she has a track down in Georgia. How was it that she knew me and how to get in touch with me? (I kinda figured that one of our WNY Pro Mods teams/drivers might have previously made it down to her track and raced there and that somehow, the subject of announcers came up.) She said "No, I "googled" the words "race announcer" and your "raceannouncerblog" site came up!" I was suprised, to say the least! Even better, she did call back a few days later and we cinched everything down! COOL! So, now, I get to go to another track I've never been to and I get to see and announce some outrageous drag racing machinery! I'm really stoked about going there!
One more thing: when I started this blog over 3 years ago, I just envisioned this site merely as a place for me to spout off about things I experienced or just wanted to talk about--and when I came up with the name for it, I never expected it to become another avenue to obtain announcing work!
For those of you who take the time to check in to this space every so often and actually read what's here, I want to thank you for doing so! It really means a lot!
It just proves a point: you never know who is watching or listening to you--or in this case, who is reading your blog!
Mike Paz, Motorsports Announcer
