This week on LIVING IT LOUD: STEVE EARWOOD  Outside of the sport’s founding fathers, few individuals have had a bigger impact on drag racing than Steve Earwood.  Although he has distinguished himself the last 30 years as the owner/operator of Rockingham Dragway, Earwood already had Hall of Fame credentials when he purchased the track in the Carolina sandhills in 1992.  As the first National Media Relations Director for the National Hot Rod Association, Earwood was as responsible as anyone else for helping the sport shed its black leather jacket image and attain mainstream acceptance.  He developed personal relationships with prominent writers and broadcasters including legendary columnists like Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times, convinced them of drag racing’s viability and then connected them with the sport’s stars: Don Garlits, Don Prudhomme, Shirley Muldowney and others. Those efforts led to feature stories on a host of individual racers and, ultimately, to coverage of the sport in publications that never before had even acknowledged its existence including the New York Times, the aforementioned LA Times and Sports Illustrated.  In 1986, Earwood was tapped to handle the public relations and marketing challenges of Billy Meyer’s newly constructed Texas Motorplex outside Dallas which, largely through his efforts as VP of Marketing, drew what at the time was the second largest one-day crowd in NHRA history for its opening event.  From Texas, he returned to his native Georgia as General Manager of Atlanta Dragway which, during his tenure, underwent a $3.5 million total makeover that redefined it as one of the sport’s marquee facilities.  He also promoted IMSA road races, the SCCA National Runoffs, selected SCCA Trans Am events and served as Public Relations consultant to the late Raymond Beadle’s Charlotte-based “Blue Max” NASCAR team when it won the Winston Cup championship in 1989 with driver Rusty Wallace.  His move to Rockingham in 1992 enabled him to realize a lifelong dream of singularly owning and operating his own track using all the information gleaned from working within the industry for more than 20 years.  

Tune in live each week at 8am MST on Wednesdays (re-air at 6pm MST on Fridays) on AM 1220 KLDC for new interviews with amazing guests from across the country as they share their unique stories because…….EVERYONE has a story!

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