Broadcasting
In addition to his marketing and writing career in motorsport's, Chris also had a broadcast career. A past musical performer and singer from his younger days, Chris was comfortable in front of a microphone and extended his career roots into broadcasting as well.
Taking the advice of a race fan who wanted some local radio programming on motorsport's, Chris, together with his friend Chuck Sheaffer launched a corporation called Motorcom Inc. The first venture the two set out on was a weekly radio show. Through constant support from his close friend Theresa Spraque ( a local radio personality ) Chris and Chuck began airing “ Race Week ”. The show included an hour long Saturday morning edition as well as a live Tuesday evening talk show.
“ We covered all of the speedway highlights from around Michigan in addition to regional and national racing series. We were way ahead of the times with this show and sometimes it went beyond our technical capabilities.“
To aid in the flexibility of the production of the talk show, Chris purchased the needed equipment, built a studio in his home, and began mixing the Saturday show at the home studio. Drawing on their marketing careers Chuck and Chris also sold advertising , while Chuck negotiated the rights for radio stations to air the show. After a few weeks of being on the air and making guest appearances at local events, word got out and the show began to become a hit among area race fans.
Capitalizing on Chris’s motorsport's contacts, Chris and Chuck set out to conduct interviews of big name racing stars for rebroadcast on later show dates, something unheard of and out of reach for other local racing radio shows. Only large national syndicated radio shows had access at that time to the stars, so with “ Race Week” providing lengthy interviews with superstars from NASCAR, the show gained credibility with its listening audience.
Chris and Chuck continued to sell advertising for the show, producing the commercials at the home studio and carrying on with the two weekly shows. Mid way through the year, the two made a decision to drop the hour long Saturday show and go live for one hour every Tuesday. The show continued to produce great results and the quality of the show began increasing.
Later that summer, Chris and Chuck also had their first involvement in television as guest commentators for a racing event being held in a nearby town. Coming into television with their radio background helped the two step onto a TV set and give a performance that was great.
At the end of that season, and at the expiration of their contract with the broadcasting company, Chuck and Chris decided to end RaceWeek and later dissolve MotorCom Inc.
“ We were burnt out from the schedules. We were still working full time 9 to 5 jobs elsewhere in marketing at that time and the weekly hassles with radio stations was just not worth it. I guess we also lacked the big egos to sustain ourselves in broadcasting. It takes a large ego and a little insanity to stay in there and work for peanuts. ”