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GURSS: A New Way To Watch The Races
Written by: Jade Gurss   
07/07/2009
Mooresville, NC
 
With the internet, race fans can get up-to-the-minute reports from nearly every major series around the world like never before. For the top-flight categories, such as Sprint Cup, Formula One or Indycar, live timing and scoring plus a variety of audio and video streams are available. However, the most fun recent innovation for following racing news around the clock is Twitter.
Faster. Louder. The weekly column on SPEEDtv.com by Jade Gurss. (Harold Hinson Photo) ยป More Photos

While I initially struggled to understand how messages of 140 characters or less would serve a useful purpose in the sport, it has since become an integral part of following the race events. Twitter offers two-way interaction, especially with many of the top journalists and reporters who cover the events. They supply breaking news in real time, ranging from driver quotes to in-race updates on strategy and radio chatter – much more diverse information than a TV or radio network can provide.

Last week alone, I first learned the results of Jeremy Mayfield’s injunction in federal court on Twitter. On a fun level, many updates flowed before, during and after the wild Daytona race from those who were at the event. I was especially relieved to learn via Twitter that all drivers involved in the massive last-lap crash were unhurt and released from the infield care center long before it was ever mentioned on the national broadcast.

Nearly of the national sanctioning bodies have Twitter accounts. Some provide a good stream of information - mostly updates on the standings or results at any given moment. For example, NASCAR’s Twitter feeds provide updates in the case of weather delays plus stats and web links to stories. The Indycar official feed updates the race as caution flags or significant events happen.

So, if you’ve never Twittered, how do you start? It’s easy.

First, sign up for a free Twitter account.

The second step is to visit the Twitter Motorsports Wiki at: http://twittermotorsports.com. It has become the best place to start your search for what you’re interested in. From the main page, select from the many racing series you enjoy. You will find many, many listings for the leading journalists and personalities in each category. You can choose to “follow” as many as you like. As soon as they update their account, the “tweets” appears instantly on your Twitter homepage like your very own news feed or personalized newscast.

You might also choose to download a program that automatically checks for updates. (It can get tedious to frequently “refresh” the standard Twitter web page while watching a race.) For example, I use a program called “TweetDeck.” It’s a free download – and it works with Mac, Windows and even the iPhone. It’s easy to use and understand and it will help make your Twitter experience easier and more interactive, including making it much easier to post your own photos and weblinks.

If you want to follow the inside info on your favorite drivers,
there are a growing number that are ‘tweeting’ their every move. Some use their PR staff to update, while others are actually doing it themselves. If you follow former driver Kyle Petty, be ready for a dazzling barrage of his whereabouts, including many photos and even updates during the race broadcast. Others to follow include Max Papis, Danica Patrick, Graham Rahal and Michael McDowell. It seems more of the Indycar drivers are doing their own updates, and perhaps the NASCAR boys will follow in the near future.

To get the latest from SPEEDtv.com, the official feed is @speedtweets http://twitter.com/speedtweets. It has updates on the latest news stories on the site – and it’s how I first learned Helio Castroneves had been acquitted of his tax evasion charges.

So, if you crave more information and crave it sooner than ever, sign up for a Twitter account and be in the know.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Jade Gurss is the owner of fingerprint, inc., a sports publicity company. He has written two New York Times Best Sellers, including what is believed to be the biggest-selling motorsports book in American publishing history (Driver #8 with Dale Earnhardt Jr.). His two decades of publicity and marketing experience involves nearly every category of motorsports, including nine innovative seasons as NASCAR publicist for the Budweiser brand and Earnhardt Jr. His blog can be seen at: http://fingerprint.typepad.com

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