Karen Bailey-Chapman: Inside SEMA and PRI: Protecting Tracks, Growing Access, Elevating Women

Karen Bailey-Chapman, Senior VP of Public & Government Affairs for SEMA and PRI, joins Melinda to talk about the “Right to Race” campaign, protecting local racetracks from nuisance laws, tax policy impacting track operators, and why grassroots motorsports still has a bright future. From Washington D.C. to King of the Hammers, this episode explores the intersection of policy, passion, and racing.

Transcript

Meet Karen Bailey Chapman

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to the Women's Motorsports Network Podcast, the show that puts the spotlight on the incredible women who fuel the world of motorsports. From drivers to crew members, engineers to fans, and everyone in between, we're here to celebrate the trailbizers, dreamers, and doers shaping the sport we love. Each episode, we share inspiring stories of females of all ages from every corner of the motorsports universe, past, present, and future. It's a journey through the seasons of life filled with heartfelt moments, laughter, and a whole lot of horsepower. So whether you're a lifelong fan, a racer yourself, or simply curious about the extraordinary women behind the wheel, settle in, relax, and enjoy a fun and uplifting ride with us. This is the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, connecting and celebrating women in motorsports one story at a time. Let's hit the track. Hello everyone. This is Melinda Russell with the Women's Motorsports Network Podcast. And it's my honor today to have Karen Bailey Chapman as my guest. Karen, I want to welcome you to the show. And would you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Sure. Well, thanks for having me, Melinda. It's a pleasure to be here. Yeah, I mean, I think I'll start from where we are right now. I serve as the senior vice president of public and government affairs for both CEMA and PRI. So the the larger specialty aftermarket as well as our racing segment of the industry, which is is both are very exciting and big parts of my personal life. So yeah, so that's that's me. My profession is not in motorsports, although it is now because of my role with SEMA. It's actually been my passion. I'm I'm actually in my recreational time, I am an off-roader, but my profession is basically taking care of and overseeing the legislative and government affairs team here in Washington, D.C. on behalf of the industry. So we've got a pretty big, pretty big team here that represents the industry in all of the different segments that we represent. And uh not only are we here in Washington, D.C., we also travel all over the country dealing with issues related to our industry in state capitals and local governments as well.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Okay, so you would travel to Michigan where I live if there was something going on there that you felt needed to be, you know, taken care of or talk to legislators or whatever, that would be kind of your role. For instance, we have MIS, you know, right here.

Career Roots In Politics

SPEAKER_00 2:34

So okay. So what actually my team does, and our team's actually spent quite a bit of time in Michigan lately. So we've got a lot going on there, actually, for for on behalf of the industry.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Oh, really? So that's good, that's interesting to know. I wasn't aware of that, but probably most of us are not unless we're involved in it, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

So, how long have you been doing this, Karen? Well, I've been with CMONPRI for about three and a half years now. But I've I've had a career in politics and policy for the past, I hate saying this number, but 25 years professionally. But I actually started in politics as a little kid because of my dad and and my parents' involvement in in our local community where I grew up. And so so politics has always been part of part of my life, but I've I've gotten to do that professionally for the past 25 years, you know, representing various industries, doing a lot of different cool things over the course of my career. But definitely the most most fun is SEMA and PRI.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Yeah, and just because the people are so fun, people in most fun. Come on. Absolutely. It's interesting, Karen, because I too was involved in politics in a former life. Okay. I grew up in West Central Illinois, and I lived there until 1999 with my first husband, and that's where all my children were born. I have four children, and he he ran for the city council, and it was a little tiny town, and so he ran for city council. Well, he got on city council, and we lived right next to the Mississippi River, and they were having an issue with the boat launch. And of course, that went from local to state to who knows where it went. It went to the uh oh federal, whoever takes care of that, but can't think of it now. Anyway, so he got connected with our state senator. They had just done redistricting, which I'm sure you're very familiar with. Yeah, and and there's a lot of that in the news lately, too. And and so he got connected with her, and she was new to our area, so she was looking for you know, connections and people, and she and I just hit it off. And so my youngest two daughters, who are now 40 and 38, were just little tiny girls at the time, and and so we did a lot of parades, and I would drive her to events so that she didn't have to go alone, all kinds of stuff, Karen. Oh, yeah. I did a I did a lot in politics for about 10 years, and uh so isn't that interesting? That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Yeah, that's awesome. I started, yeah. Well, I was like like your daughters, I was the little kid. I was four years old when my dad first ran for our city council. And so my mom and I used to go knocking on doors, and as a four-year-old, I thought it was cool. And I mean, who's gonna shut the door on a four-year-old, right? Um, although, you know, I think politics was probably a little kinder back then. But uh yeah. Yeah, I I mean I have, and it's it's tough, it's really tough, and it depends. Well, uh all different parts of the country are different in the tactics and everything that people use. But yeah, I started when I was four and I kind of caught the bug. And, you know, I think also I learned at an early age the the volunteerism and and how important that is, whether you're volunteering time for someone who's running for office or working on behalf of an advocacy for an issue that you care about. So in our case, motorsports, we have a ton of volunteers throughout our community that do a lot of work in our space that help our office out and help us do our job. So, yeah, I mean, the volunteer aspect of it is so importantly critical.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

It is, you know, of course, volunteerism is important in so many ways, but the politics part of it is probably where I spent most of my time as a volunteer. I was the treasurer for the Illinois. Now you're not gonna hang up on me, I hope. I was the treasurer for the Illinois Federation of Republican Women. Okay, great. And then I was the newsletter editor for six years.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Oh, that's fantastic. That's fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

Yeah, and so what fun it was to go to conventions and meet women from all over the United States, you know, and that were interested in politics. And now I do the same kind of thing, women that are interested in motorsports.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Exactly, exactly. No, it's it's a lot of fun, and you know, even though I do you know politics and policy for a living, I still do a ton of volunteering in my where I live now. And uh and you know, I I you know run members' campaigns, you know, members of the of my state's house of delegates and state senate races, and worked on governor's races and do a lot within the community in in that respect. Um, so yeah, it's even though I do it professionally, I also seem to always get roped in on the volunteer side too.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

I'm I'm sure that's true. It it kind of gets in your blood, doesn't it? And I mean, politics and motorsports, a lot of those kinds of things that you find that you have a passion about, they get in your blood. And whether you work all day at it, volunteering's different.

Why Advocacy Matters In Racing

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Exactly. Exactly. And for me, I'm a bit of a policy nerd. So, and I've worked in a lot of different areas of policy, again, both professionally, but also personally. I have you know, personal passion issues like you know, education and education choice and tax reform and tax policy, which I know is probably not the sexiest cocktail party conversation. But you know, when you look at lawmakers, so these are you know, these are issues that are are beyond, again, my daily job, but you know, lawmakers that come in, especially at the state level, because you know, the most state most state governments are are part-time. So the people that are serving in those roles, they have day jobs, they have families, they have day jobs, they maybe run businesses. So they may know sort of certain pieces of issue areas or something that got them involved, you know, in politics in the first place, but they don't, you know, by no stretch are they up and up on every single issue that comes down the pike. And you know, you can only imagine what that looks like. And so so I do I do spend a lot of time just talking through policy areas that you know lawmakers may not be familiar with. And if I don't know the answer, I don't sort of know a current answer or I don't have the you know the expertise, I'll pass I usually know somebody that does, so I'll usually get them in in touch with the right people.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

So, what would be some examples, maybe if you're able to share some examples of some of the the things that currently are things that you're working on as far as in the motorsports industry?

Right To Race And Track Protections

SPEAKER_00 9:22

So, yeah, so the motorsports industry really is dominating our state legislative program. So, you know, as I mentioned before, we do both work at the federal level as well as at the state level. And so motorsports is really is really the dominant factor in in our state program this year, our state priorities this year. And that is for anybody that follows our SEMA action social media channels, we'll see our right to race campaign that we're running right now in multiple states where we're pushing legislation, hoping to pass legislation. There's got a number of states where it's in it's in the process of basically trying to protect racetracks from nuisance laws. As we all know, racetracks, a lot of racetracks in the country were built in the way outskirts of town. But as development has happened and and and houses move closer to those tracks, you know, the new neighbors don't always like the sound of racing in Saturday, on Saturday morning. I personally love it. I live about three miles as a bird flies, as a crow flies from a racetrack. And when I hear it in the summer, I'm like, that's the sound of summer, my friends. But you know, sometimes the new neighbors maybe don't realize that they've moved you know next door or they don't know what that, you know, don't know what that means. But you know, it's really unfair for a racetrack to be sort of shut down because of, you know, cranky neighbors who who who have chosen to now not want to be next to a racetrack. So it gives them a little bit of protection. It's one, you know, when we pass these laws, it's been passed in Iowa and in North Carolina so far, but it it just gives that protection to to those local racetracks, which are really important parts of our community and gives them a a little bit of protection from from neighbors that may decide that they want to change, change the landscape.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Well, and I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan. And so we had an issue a few years ago, same thing, where people built close to Kalamazoo Speedway, which is what I consider my home track. And it was it was a big it was a big deal, you know, and so agreed to, you know, not race past 11 p.m. and and some things, but I I'm you know, like you said, it was built back in the day when there was nothing there but fields, and and so it's it's very unfair to those businesses, you know. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

And then Gailsburg Speedway, you know, they have issues with their local boards about different things, and so it, you know, it's not just the big tracks that have issues, a lot of times mostly the littler tracks, exactly, because you usually see like a big speedway, those are hard to miss when you're moving into the neighborhood, and and depending on where, you know, which one I'm very familiar with Kansas Speedway. I've spent a lot of my previous career over there, and that, you know, that's multi-use entertainment district, you know. Like if you buy a condo or you know, a town townhome in that in that area, you know, you know what's going in there. It's hard to miss. But you know, a lot of these smaller, you know, drag strips, especially, you know, they may not be as prominent to to the to the casual eye of a new neighbor. And so so I think there's a way for everybody to live peaceably together, to your point. And you know, I think there's an opportunity too for racetrack owners to to reach out to their local communities and to their local neighborhoods and invite them in and and and and you know, include them in what in what in what they do and and also be responsive to to the neighbors next door as well.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Yeah, and and a lot of times those people that move in there but have probably never been to a racetrack. Yeah, and exactly if you could personally thus it goes back to that knocking on the door, you know, knock on the door, say I own Kalamazoo Speedway, and and I'd love to invite you. Here's a couple free tickets. It doesn't take much of that concept. Exactly reaching out to make good neighbors of each other.

Small Tracks, New Neighbors, Real Tensions

SPEAKER_00 13:10

Exactly. And you may even find like a new new passionate racer. I mean, I think we all have, I think most people have, maybe not 100% of the population, but there's always this sort of need for speed, or there's that something inside you that you that ignites you when you when you see a when you see the activity on the race on the racetrack. And I think also when they realize when people realize that it's not just about the pro drivers that you see in NASCAR and F line and all of that kind of stuff, is that these are your neighbors who take their you know their street vehicles or daily drivers to go test them out, or maybe they do have you know a race-only vehicle that they like to to tinker with and and you know take out to the track. And you know, they I think they kind of when you get that invitation to to be part of the racing community, it's kind of hard not to maybe want to come back and come back again and come back again.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Yeah, absolutely, for sure. So, Karen, what what what was the draw for you to go and work for SEMA PRI?

SPEAKER_00 14:10

So I think it was one of those rare moments of where you get to do your your passion and your profession finally meet up. When I got the call about this role, it was a new role that they were creating, one that they wanted to basically the directive I got was we want more advocacy. We were investing in the advocacy on behalf of the industry. And and so it was one of those rare moments in Washington where you get to do your, you know, both your profession and your passion. I started off roading probably probably about 2011, 2012 is when I bought my first ATV. And thankfully I've always had access to private land to to learn. And I I I hang around and am married to a family of farm boys. So they're way more skilled than I am, but certainly you've taught me how to to to get rid of my fears. But no, I've always so anyway, so I bought my first ATV back then and then graduated to my first Jeep in 2017, and then now bought bought and built my my true off-roading Jeep, which I bought a couple of years ago and is completely outfitted. So so yeah, so I definitely tend towards the off-road side of it. But you know, look, the off-road area, the off-road racing is certainly part of the motorsports racing. You know, you see, I was just out at King of the Hammers a couple of weeks ago. If you've never been, it's a it's a pretty incredible experience. And when you see what they do and you look at the unlimited series and the Mint 400 and Parker 400 and all of those races, the desert racing is really cool. I had the opportunity to go to the Rebel Rally, which is the all-female off-road rally, which one of these days, maybe when I retire, I I'll have the time to actually be able to prepare and do that event because that's that's pretty extraordinary what uh what they do. So, yeah, so it's that's how that's how I ended up at CMA and PRI.

Inviting Communities To The Track

SPEAKER_01 15:58

That's really cool. So I'm very familiar with King of the Hammers, and they also run King of the Hammers in the summer here in Michigan. There's a series of you know local tracks that do that, and I've interviewed several ladies that have done the Rebel Rally. I'll have to send you the links for those. I think you'd enjoy listening to those. Wow, I couldn't do it. First of all, I have a bad back, I just had back surgery. So um that eliminates me. But had it not been for that, I don't want to be the driver. Okay, nor do I want to be the navigator. Then that's a bad thing. And so I marvel and and admire those women that want to do those things, and it's it's so fun to listen to them talk about their experience and how fast you go. You can only go this fast and not faster, and all the different things that they have to do to navigate, you know, to get to where they need to go. And so, yeah, I'm gonna encourage you to make sure that you at least do it once because I think if you're able to, that that's something you should do.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Yeah, it's uh I think the biggest uh hurdle for me is the fact that it takes place about two weeks before the SEMA show happens. And so as as you can imagine, that tends to be a pretty a pretty tough time for us, and especially for me to disappear into the desert for 10 days. But we'll see, you know, I think as as we keep cranking on on our on our program and and as our team continues to grow and stuff. So maybe I'll be able to sneak out one of these years and and and and I actually want to be the driver. I am a I I like driving, I like off-road driving. I have done navigation. I was Army R O T C in college, so I actually had to do land navigation when I was out there last year. I realized, wow, I have forgotten like everything I was taught. Because I was like, oh, I'm really good at land nav, I'm fine. And then I was like, oh geez, I totally forgot. I've forgotten like 90% of what I was taught. So I definitely need a refresher. But Emily and the team do an incredible job with a Rebel Rally University, getting people trained up and secure. And, you know, and the fact is it's such a it's a it's a really supportive environment, you know, like you don't have to show up with your own pit crew, you know, it's it's all volunteers that help when you know stuff breaks down, which it inevitably does out in the desert. So it's it's a pretty cool, it's a pretty cool experience. I just got to come for the festivities after the finish line. But you know, like finding like I met women that had come down from I think the one lady I spent a lot of time with, she was from Seattle. She bought a Ford Bronco like a year or two prior. This was her daily driver, and she brought it down to compete in the rub in the Rebel Rally. And I'm like, wow, that's that's amazing. Cause I think again, so many people think about these events as people that are just for the pros or or people that have been doing it their entire lives. And and the reality is that it's these kinds of events that bring the curious and the adventurous into into into motorsports in whichever way, in whichever the way they want to. And I think again, the rebel rally is just such a great, great experience, a great example of that.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Well, and I would think, just from what little I know about the Rebel Rally and the people I've interviewed, it's mostly not the pros.

SPEAKER_00 19:22

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, there's there's a couple of racers in there that are pretty spectacular and and and and well adorned with trophies and and and acknowledgments. But you know, again, just talking to some of these women who either just become it has become like if you will, their their annual girls trip with a a friend or two, and or like the lady from Seattle who I bought a Bronco and I wanted to do this, and so here I am doing it in a complete stock vehicle. And that's that's just that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

Oh, it's so very cool. And you know, honestly, Karen, when I started the Women's Motorsports Network in 2017, I had never heard of the Rebel Rally. I've learned so much about different kinds of motorsports that women are involved in. It's been so fun. So fun. Yeah. So now let's talk a little bit about SEMA and PRI. So, what would be your role as far as you know, preparing for SEMA, preparing for PRI? Are you? Do you do workshops? You know, you have a booth. What is it that you would be involved in?

Passion Meets Profession At SEMA PRI

King Of The Hammers And Rebelle Rally

SPEAKER_00 20:32

Sure. So, you know, it's funny, we always talk about, you know, what do we do? What does the CEMA and PRI, what do the CEMA and PRI organizations do? The other, you know, 345 days of the year, because if you do your sort of your five days of CEMA and five days of PRI, although PRI is a slightly shorter, shorter show, I'd probably be the the the poster child of what you know, one of the many things that the organizations do, the other 345 days of the year. And so our job never stops. So even as we're getting ready for for the shows, there's never a failure for something to go sideways or something to happen legislatively, or what's happened over the past couple of years is that election day has been on the first day of the SEMA show, which you know, when everyone's like saying, So what's next? I'm like, I don't know, give me about 48 hours and I'll let you know. You know, because we've certainly gotten a lot more active on the political front uh for the organization, simply because automotive policy has really been center. It was center of the 2024 election cycle and the presidential cycle. It's probably the first time in history that automotive was dead center on things, you know, everything involving vehicle choice and vehicle technology and specifically EV mandates. So that was that was I basically didn't talk to anybody the first day. Cause I'm like, I don't everyone kept asking me what's gonna happen. And I'm like, I don't know. Like if I knew, I'd be like a bajillionaire right now. But but you know, so anyway, so so for us. Our day job, if you will, doesn't go away while we're at the shows. But while we're at the shows, we do a number of different things. We participate in a number of different educational panels. So, in particularly for our CEMA side, you know, things involving emissions policy and how you can and cannot modify and what are the regulations around, you know, especially in California, but also federally. We talk a lot about other technology and regulatory, where technology and regulatory kind of come together, like safety systems, and what does that mean for the future of motorsports, especially on the grassroots side. So we do a lot of education stuff. We also have the um CEMA and PRI political action committee, which is the how we we we raise money from our members to then give to candidates that support us. So we support those that support the industry. And so we host, we host actually a reception for them to say thank you for their support. Also, if you're at a certain level of donor, we also you get private lunches, you have private dining room lunches as well as a lounge that you can do your business meetings and so forth. So we offer some of those benefits. And then quite frankly, I think most of my days, I I finished both shows and I'm like, I have no idea what I just did over the past, you know, four or five, six days because I'm literally in back-to-back meetings or I'm on the floor talking to members or touching base with folks. So it's just it's it's just an action pack day for me and the team or action pack weeks for me and the team as you know, we do things. We also host lawmakers at the show because the best way for us to tell our story is when they see and touch these shows and the manufacturers, the American manufacturers that that are present and trying to do business in in this space. So I think this year at the SEMA show, we probably had about, I don't know, 70 or 80 lawmakers come visit with us. We also had the EPA administrator stop by actually before the show opened, but had a chance to to give him a preview of what was going on and talk to some of our board members and some other manufacturers that were already on site. Let's see, we also bring this is first this year at the SEMA show, is that we actually brought a number of other organizations here in Washington, so other trade associations that are not automotive but have a connection to us. So whether they're in the energy sector, they're in the political and policy sector, whether they're in, you know, also actually our counterparts over at the OEs, they came and visited with us. So one of the things is that we really wanted to showcase to some of the folks that have common interests to our policy areas to come see the SEMA show. They get to brag to their friends, they got to go see the SEMA show, even if they maybe weren't car people to start with, they now are. So yeah, so we had a really robust, a really robust program at the shows this year, both with lawmakers as well as what we call grass tops. So sort of people that are influential in Washington and and maybe share some some some aligned policy areas. So so yeah, we we had a busy week.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

So are mostly from state state lawmakers, you know, are they senators and congressmen or is there a mixture?

SPEAKER_00 25:09

It depends. So the majority are gonna be state lawmakers from all around the country. And then honestly, the the federal folks are dependent on what their their legislative schedules are. So if they're in session, it makes it tougher for them to stop by. Or, you know, what's been difficult the past couple of years is election day. Right. Because they, you know, especially if they're in a in a tough race, they they have got to be home to make sure they still have a job. And but you know, some will come out. So yeah, so we've had we've had senators, we've had members of Congress from all over the country come and visit the SEMA show because you know, shouldn't hopefully not surprising, but you know, we do have some car people. We do have some car people in Congress. And even if that's not what their leading, what their leading resume header is, is that we we can usually sniff them out, but you know, there's also a number of folks that that have a huge representation of our membership in those in in their districts and so forth. So so yeah, it's it's a big mix. We also have even like county commissioners that we know or gotten to know that we'll bring out because you know, it's it's not about, you know, our first introduction, our first conversation with people in in elected office shouldn't be the minute they got elected. The conversation should start well before that. And somebody that you know starts as county commissioner may become the state assemblyman or house, you know, house member who may become the governor or may become a member of Congress or whatever the case is. And so I think, you know, for us, it's important about that relationship building over the course of the career, establishing, you know, the support of each other early on so that it's not just when they show up in Congress that we're like, hey, how are you? Let's now we'll introduce ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 26:47

I was thinking that when you were talking, that building those relationships starting at the grassroots level for politics as well as motorsports is important. And then they don't feel like when you do reach out to them when they become a congressman or whatever, that it's oh, you know, who are you? It's more like, oh, Kieran, it's nice to talk to you. And you know, exactly you're way more likely to get help and interaction from somebody that has dealt with you in the past.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

So, you know, yeah, and I think, yeah, I think there's always this misnomer with especially Washington politics, is that people think like, oh, it's just cocktail parties and you just go do that thing, and it's like it's uh it's a hundred percent not that. It's relationships that have been built over many, many years, and it's trust that's been built and credibility that's been built over many, many years. And it's again showing up for them maybe when they were, you know, in a in a more, you know, if you will, junior or you know, local or state role, they do remember that. So it's not just about, hey, we're semen now, you need to listen to us, because that's actually not how politics works. It's about the relationships and understanding, yeah, understanding where even people come from and and and sort of what their what their life story is and and recognizing knowing that, finding those commonalities and developing those relationships over many, many years.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

So for people who maybe don't know the difference, and I know there's a lot of differences between CB and PRI, but what would be the what would be the you know, little little speech that you give that says SEMA is this and PRI is yeah, well, I think, yeah, I think I think SEMA represents sort of the entirety of the special, you know, is what her name is, the specialty automotive aftermarket, which includes performance, which includes that racing side. I think, and then when you look at PRI, it's specific to our racing community. So you'll see a lot of folks that attend both shows. Also, you know, a lot of the manufacturers that do these products, they actually don't just serve the racing community. You know, they have, if you will, the parts available for people that just want to modify their their street vehicles, or they have other applications like in you know, in construction and utilities or military or whatever. So, so we we focus on the stuff that you know, we focus on, you know, as enthusiasts of this is our sector. But the fact is that a lot of our companies have you know served many diverse, many diverse industries. You know, there's a there's a light manufacturer that's you know, heat they that uh they exhibit at the SEMA show. They're known in our community as a big off-road community, but they actually they're big or big uh off-road company, but they actually their bigger segment is construction and mining and you know, areas well beyond anything we think about. Oh, my my lights just went off anything that we do beyond that. So hold on, let me uh put my lights back on. I guess I'm not moving. Oh, there we go. I'm not moving around enough.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Oh, yeah, and PRI, like you said, that that is uh definitely geared towards the racing community and it and the grassroots racing community. Exactly. So for sure.

What The Teams Do At SEMA And PRI

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Exactly. So you know, we have an incredible program at the PRI show called the TOPS program, which is a track operators program. So it's a a specific program for networking for track operators as well as education. You know, we've done legislative briefings with them. So that's a really that's obviously unique to PRI because you know, the tracks are are focused on the racing, so the track operators are focused on the racing side. So so I look at sort of CMA as sort of the larger umbrella of all of the aftermarket and in and sort of the different segments that we serve, whereas PRI is is certainly more is definitely tailored as it is in the name to the racing, racing segment of our industry.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Right. Absolutely. So where where do you see motorsports heading from where you sit? You know, you hear that, oh, motor sports is dying, oh, this or that. What do you think from where your your position is?

SPEAKER_00 31:03

You know, I think it's you know, look, I think anytime, any day you get up in the morning, you can look at the positives or you can look at the negatives. And I think that you also have to, even when you see the negatives, you're not gonna get anywhere if you just kind of say, well, this is all the negatives, and I should just sort of go home. It's well, how do you, how do you start to, how do you start to change the course? How do you how do you course correct? And so I think, you know, with motorsports, I think we've already talked about, you know, the nuisance laws and and what we're trying to accomplish there. Because, you know, as as cities and development moves closer to those tracks, we have to certainly make sure that those track operators, especially the smaller ones, are you know, are at least trying to get some of some of the challenges out of their way. The other part is you know, just even operating a track is expensive. And so, and you know, reinvesting so that, you know, when we go and use the bathrooms that they're you know up kept and and updated and the grandstands and you know, all the facilities you know that we enjoy whenever we're at our local racetrack events. And so, you know, it's another thing that we're working on at the federal level is that you know, tracks for number well, probably about three decades almost now have had the ability to accelerate the depreciation of their investment into the track. So if they go and upgrade, you know, the parking lots, they go and upgrade whatever, it gives them an accelerated depreciation for them to write that down. That tax credit was actually expired at the end of 2025. As you saw, we had a very long shutdown of government last fall. And so our industry is not the only one that got impacted. There's a number of other stuff that another number of other industries that that's kind of that expired. So we're still continuing to work on finding the right legislative vehicle for us to get that reinstated and hopefully retroactive. So I think it's, you know, I think, you know, again, from an enthusiast perspective, people think of racetrackes as the place they get to go, enjoy time with their friends, get to go do the things that they love. But at the end of the day, motorsports is is a business. And so it's everything from making sure that trying to keep government as much out of the way as possible, just like any other business would prefer to keep government out of their business and and clearing the path for them to do it. But I think it's also accessibility, right? And and always, I think one of the things that we always have to, I think, keep in mind is is the accessibility and and encouraging newcomers or the the curious to to become part of it. You know, I it's funny, uh one of our one of our members, both a CM PRI member, does amateur race events to where you don't need a sanctioning body license. And so he was putting one on in my home state. It was helped you know facilitate sort of introductions to lawmakers to to encourage the investment in the state. And yeah, I was like, am I allowed to race? And he's like, Yeah, absolutely. You just need a helmet and you need to pass text back. And I was like, all right, like cool. So, you know, I think there's I think there's a lot for us to do as an industry, you know, both whether you're an operator or you know, an RC from a PRI standpoint, is that is that there's all these accessible opportunities for people to give it a try. And and you don't need, you know, you don't need a fancy sports car or modified, you know, race racing vehicle. You, you know, there are people out there with Miattas. Now they may have had LS swaps in them, but still a very affordable way to to go give your give it a shot, give a give a try at racing.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

Yeah, and it, you know, you can start without spending thousands of dollars. And that's exactly that I think is something that people don't understand, especially if they're not involved in the motorsports arena. And so, you know, we want we want those people to come out and even if it's just to watch, you know, our local track has those little try-in rides for quarter midgets. Yeah, my son-in-law took my granddaughters there how many years ago, and went home to quarter midgets. They made no plan to do that, you know. Right, exactly. We've got to get those people out and involved, and and um, yeah, it's it's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 35:08

And feel invited, and feel invited, you know. Like I met somebody that walks to a track and says, like, when people start talking about the specs of their engine and whatever, I'm like, I've got too many other data points in my head. I can't, you know, I'm like, does it does it go fast? Does it handle well? And you know, can I can I can I do something with it without completely crashing and hurting myself? So you know it's so yeah, and in learning along the way, and obviously, you know, learning about things along the way and and learning from others around me and and so forth. So I think I think the accessibility and and the invitation and and people feeling like they're they're actually welcome, I think is is also really important for the future of the motorsports industry.

SPEAKER_01 35:47

Well, and even here in Kalamazoo, for people that have never been, there's people that have lived here a long time, don't even know that we have a speedway. So we have to be we have to be extending our invitation to the people that you might not think would be interested. You just never know. And and for someone to go to um an event like that at the racetrack who's never been, don't know where to park, they don't know where to sit, they don't know any of those things. And so they need they need all of those welcoming hands to make them feel like they can be part of it as well.

Lawmakers On The Show Floor

SPEAKER_00 36:24

Exactly. Yeah, so so yeah, I think there's still a very bright future. I think obviously on the pro side of of motorsports, that it certainly has helps elevate motor sports, especially, you know, with F1, both with their Netflix, you know, Netflix series, which really I think you know super boosted the the sport here in the US, but and and NASCAR, obviously, which is a long-standing American tradition, and IndyCar and so forth. So I think, you know, I think we've we've set the stage for success, but also realizing and and taking the opportunity to start to bring sort of, if you will, even the next generation. So maybe mom and dad don't want to race, but maybe maybe sister or brother want to as well, and and starting in say things like go-karting and and and so forth. So right, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 37:13

Well, Karen, this has been we could talk so much longer. We absolutely could. Schedule you again. Thank you another time because I know we both have some commitments, but thank you for giving me this much time. And then we'll have Kevin, who's our helper here, we'll have Kevin reschedule us down the road and and we can talk more about you know, something maybe that's coming up or something that's that's you know, would maybe involve women or whatever you think. But I would love to have you on the show again.

SPEAKER_00 37:48

Absolutely. It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. And I'll make sure that my team member Tira Hubbard, who's who's active on the Michigan legislation, will have I'll get you, we'll get your information from Kevin and have you connect in so at least you know what's going on in terms of the work that we're doing on behalf of racetracks and and and keep you up to date on what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 38:06

Yeah, you know, I I'm lucky. I live if you if you drew a circle within two hours, I there's probably eight or ten tracks. Oh, that's great.

SPEAKER_00 38:16

So I you're very lucky. Yeah, you are very lucky. You are very lucky.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

I'd love to know more about what's going on with those tracks. So I'll make sure you have my information.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Absolutely. Great to meet you, Melinda. Thank you so much. Karen, I've enjoyed this. Thank you for being on. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 38:32

Have a great night. You too. That's it for this episode of the Women's Motorsports Network podcast. We hope you've been inspired by the stories I shared today and feel more connected to the amazing community of women in motorsports. Remember, whether you're behind the wheel, in the pits, or cheering from the stands, your story matters. And together, we're driving change and celebrating every milestone. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who loves motorsports as much as you do. And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, behind the scenes content, and more incredible stories. So until next time, stay inspired, stay connected, and keep racing through life. This is the Women's Motorsports Network podcast where every woman's story is worth celebrating.