JW: Hi Michael! Thanks for taking the time to speak with me. I want to start our chat by discussing how the year has been going for you and the projects that you are involved with when it comes to the streaming aspect of FloRacing that you are a major part of, as there have been many moving pieces for 2024. Are you surviving with all of the major projects that you are involved with?
 
MR: Ha! Yes, we are hanging in there. I have a tendency to take on too much, which is one thing that any determined person in the world tends to do. Right now, we have struck a good balance. In the last seven to nine months, we have “right-sized” a few things in our portfolio that have allowed us to focus more. We have figured out where we need to focus our energy and press our bets. It doesn’t mean that we don’t want to get back into things that we have gotten out of from the past, but you can’t do every opportunity. We have re-focused, gotten more tunnel vision, and locked in on what we wanted to do. Answer to your question: yes, we are surviving. Yes, we are hanging in there. Yes, we feel confident going into the backend of 2024 and into 2025 because we stopped biting off more than we can chew. I, personally, believe that we will be stronger than we have ever been by next year. 
 
JW: Since the partnership that came together between Flo and the Kubota High Limit Series took place back in 2022 with Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet, I’m curious to know how the relationship has developed between both sides since the early talks took place and how involved you have been with that side of the business?
 
MR: It started with us and an agreement with Kyle as far as him promoting the Flo brand. It’s no secret that Kyle’s heart is in dirt track racing, even though he is a NASCAR driver and champion. He was looking at what we were doing with Flo Night In America and mentioned how much he loved the midweek racing. He wanted to be a part of it, and we put together an agreement to put FloRacing on the car [his late model] to run some Castrol events—a fun partnership. Brad [Sweet] loved the idea of a midweek sprint car racing from the late model side and wanted to see if you could pursue something similar on the sprint car side. I think it was inevitable that there would be another sprint car touring series on the national level; especially, when you look at how it is on the late model side. Kyle [Larson was always interested in having his own series, while Brad [Sweet] had won five World of Outlaw championships and was looking for something new to pursue. It really just evolved from Kyle [Larson] working with us on the Flo side of our agreement and Brad’s interest in pursuing a midweek sprint car tour last year, which then, in turn, moved into a national touring series.
JW: From your previous history within the sport to where you are now with Flo, I’m curious to know, what has been one of the biggest challenges you have faced in your role?
 
MR: What makes FloRacing, which is the number one vertical at Flo, that it’s different from any other vertical because there is a genre within the genre. One of the biggest challenges we have is the connective tissue between motorsports fans and how do we do that. How do we connect all of them? Even if we look back five years ago, late model fans and sprint car fans wouldn’t even talk or cross over compared to now. Deliver consistent content across all the genres of motorsports that we have and make all of the fans of these genres cross over and talk with each other. Each fan base likes a little something different.  Understanding how the different types of motorsports fans behave and act, learning that, and helping them all exist in this one vertical that is FloRacing. It’s a challenge.
 
JW: In addition to the last question, what is one of the bigger challenges you have had to face when it comes to putting together a solid product for the viewers at home; more specifically, on the streaming side of the business?
 
MR: It’s hard. We are going to do close to 2000 races this year. It’s hard to produce that many races. To find enough quality people to put out that product; especially, when it’s on a consistent basis and ongoing schedule. Our production is getting more stable and more consistent. It’s always a challenge. Things can always go wrong when doing productions. A day of my life does not go by that I do not think about the production for FloRacing. Delivering the product to the fan. We need to get better and I will be the first to admit that.
 
JW: When it comes to streaming in dirt racing, there was and has been a lot of talk about whether or not it’s good for the sport. It’s something that weighed large in the years before 2020, where after that year, a lot of those thoughts started to take a backseat. What are some of the misconceptions that fans and even promoters have about the negative aspects that streaming brings to the sport?
 
MR: I’m on every side of this topic and discussion. I’m a general manager of FloRacing, part of the ownership group of Fairbury Speedway, and part of the ownership group of the Wild West Shootout event. Streaming is an absolute tool and positive weapon that I wish more folks who had a negative perspective thought more about. Exposure helps in the long term if utilized correctly. At Fairbury Speedway, we have absolutely zero evidence that streaming impacts us negatively in any kind of way. Our big events and weekly events are consistent across the board, and that includes the Will West Shootout. The positive value you can gain from more people learning about your facility; the tool and the weapon that I’m talking about. Having a facility that looks great and a program that runs in a timely manner. If you have 10,000 people exposed to that who previously haven’t been, that’s a good thing for your racetrack and facility. I’m not saying streaming is perfect, but if more racetracks and promoters looked at it from a way of “showcasing” this place to the audience and the world - lean into it. They would see an immediate impact if they leaned into more.   
 
JW: You have discussed the aspect of promoting stars from different racing disciplines as a major priority when it comes to the dirt racing world. What are some areas that you want to explore or have already been exploring when it comes to promoting the stars across dirt racing as a whole?
 
MR: I will say that late model racing had a head start on all of this with Dirt on Dirt back in the day. We were the first people to do it on the late model side and start to promote our stars. Late model racing had at least a ten to twelve-year head start media advantage on sprint car racing. At this present time, though, I believe so strongly that someone could watch a piece of content on Corey Day and fall in love with him. That person watching Flo or sitting in the stands would have a personal connection with him, even if it’s perceived, by the connection of content produced. When you get the audience to buy into the person and not the race car driver, then it really starts to lock together. When Joe & Sue and their family go to the racetrack and see the guy on track from the piece of content they watched prior to going, they automatically have a personal interest. Personally speaking, I firmly believe short track racing has the most interesting personalities in all of sports. I believe that. Let’s tell those stories, make the audience connect to those stories, and it will keep the audience coming back. Buying more tickets, watching more races, going to more events, buying more apparel, eating more concessions; all of those things should happen if you connect with them personally. 
 
JW: For you personally and professionally, what have you enjoyed the most when it comes to working alongside FloRacing and being a major part of their present and future?
 
MR: I love being at the forefront of introducing a larger piece of the world to the thing that we love: short track racing. It’s crazy to say because I started Dirt on Dirt 17 years ago. But, I think we are at the rising stages of the world at large learning more about short track racing. I love being here for that. I love being here and seeing how the crowds and events are bigger than they have ever been. When Kyle Busch came to a late model race and jumped in the broadcast booth next to James Essex a few weeks back to call the action. I love being here at this moment of time. How lucky are we to be here when the world is learning more about us and what we are doing? I like being here for that growth stage that is building up as we speak. 
 
JW: If we fast forward five years ahead, how do you see the development of streaming and dirt track racing moving forward? Is it any different from where things have developed today? Do you see progressing even further to where we have it today? 
 
MR: I honestly think, now I’m bullish about this, the people who start to present this differently will be the next innovators. What do I mean by that… When you log into a short track stream, you know what you are going to get. I think there is a different way to do it. There is a different way to present our product to make it slicker, cleaner, and more interesting. Those are the things I have already started tackling and I’m going to tackle over the next twelve to eighteen months. Where you might tune into a High Limit sprint race in the next year and notice that there are some new features and updates that you might not have thought of being presented in dirt track streaming. In addition, we must as an industry, keep working at making the nights sped up. I want our nights to be cleaner and to be presented at a higher quality for a better experience for the fans at the track and those watching at home. To me, the next couple of years are really going to be focusing on these aspects of the overall presentation of the show.