I thought I would share some information about a group of us that started up when twitter first came alive into the NHRA. John Force Racing was the first to my knowledge to have the link to Twitter on his web site. That is when I joined the fast growing community of the Social Media World. It was back in March of 2009 when I started chatting with a bunch of NHRA Teams and fans, and it grew from there.
Our first NTG tweet up was in Las Vegas in October of 2009 at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals where Jeni and I picked up Corinna, @corinnamakeup, at the Las Vegas airport. We were invited to attend Don Schumacher Racing Hospitality from Will Truitt of DSR from Twitter. We had been tweeting with DSR and helping with retweets, helping to get their name out on twitter. We were so excited to attend, and DSR showed us the best time ever. It was an experience we'd never forget.
Our second Twitter get together was in January of 2010 where we all met up at the NHRA Test & Tune in Chandler AZ at Firebird Raceway. It was such a great experience meeting everyone that I have been talking to on twitter in Person. I met Greg @NHRAChat, Lynn @PapaNitroSTL, Lisa @NHRAchik67 and her son Ty, Corinna @corinnamakeup, Kathy @KataMcB, and her husband Randy @NitroHi. I picked up Lynn and Greg at the Airport and from there the rest is history. We all met for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel by the track before we commenced in the thrills of Nitro Testing! We hung out the whole weekend together at the track and then we all had Dinner at Black Bear Cafe. Where we celebrated Ty's Birthday! It was so much fun and looking forward to someday, the whole gang meeting up.
Also, a bunch of us met up in Concord, NC for the 4-Wide NHRA Nationals, and had a great time. It is so fun meeting up with new Twitter fans of the NHRA. We had our first Tweetup where Terry McMillen showed up and hung out with the Group at Dave & Busters signing autographs and sharing stories. It was the Best time ever. Another GREAT Ford Driver Bob Tasca III has also opened his hospitality to the #NTG. We would like to thank Joe Ryan of @quick_lane for his part in helping the #NTG in this glorious meeting. In Charlotte he took members into his pit area, signing autographs, taking pictures, and talking with us on his teams performances and updates. He has joined the #NTG Facebook page and tweets to members on twitter. Bob and Joe have been a big inspiration to us all. Update as of July 18, 2011, Bob Tasca III will be adding the #NTG Decal to his Quicklane Ford Mustang in the near future. His car has already left for the Western Swing, so on return to the shop, they will then add it on he Ford Mustang Funny Car! Bob Tasca III has been a great Icon within the #NTG and we are so pleased to hear this news.
We have received a lot of support from some of the NHRA teams, drivers, and sponsors. The cars that have our #NTG decal are, Terry McMillen, Jeff Arend, Doug Kalitta, David Grubnic, Bob Benza and Vincent Nobile. Team McMillen welcomes the NTG into his Pit Area to get up close and personal with the team, with thanks to Jim Walczak and Cori Wickler. Kalitta Motorsports, thanks to Todd Myers is also a big supporter of the NTG, and has done a lot to welcome us into their hospitality to take pictures of the cars and drivers. Nancy and Bob Benza also have been a great help to the #NTG with their great hospitality to our members and always there to help us in anyway! They have all contributed to the success of the #NTG, and we appreciate all that they have done with supporting our goals. We'd also like to thank Vincent Noble, who could become the Rookie of the Year, for allowing our decal on his Pro Stock Car. Last but not least is Zizzo Racing, who interacts with the #NTG on twitter along with PR Brandon Mudd.
Steve Emerson, @sremerson, has been very instrumental with the growth of #NTG. he has a big passion for the NHRA and is there to help in any way. He heads the #NTG Facebook page, and does an awesome job keeping it current. We really appreciate all he does. Steve also has a NHRA blog that is very good, and you can follow the link on my blog to reach his.
The Members have been growing since then, and below are a list of the members to date:
John Amorosano - @NitroJohn
Jeni Amorosano - @nitrojeni
Greg Stephenson - @NHRAChat
Lynn Casper - @PapaNitroSTL
Lisa Purcell - @NHRAchik67
Corinna BertramCooke _ @corinnamakeup
Kathy McBride - @kataMcB
Randy McBride - @NitroHi
Chris Hobson - @NitroChrisUK
Dina Roberts Wakulczyk - @indydina
Angela Bland - @Angietigerfan
Mitzi - @Gottagoracing
Joe Ryan - @J88Ryan
Jenifer Nuest - @Jenimo3022
Steve Emerson - @sremerson
Vivian Grantz - @jvgrantz
Kelly - @KellyNorCal
Nancy Benza - @NancyBenza
Laura Contrera-Rust - @LDCRust
Todd Long - @lindas1200cc
Linker Mills - @linkerm
Margie Freedle - @margiefreedle
Chris Freedle - @Cfreedle73
Walt Walker - @Nine4127
Vivian Miliken - @nitrodoll
Nitro Nate - @nitronate1320
Alan Perchalski - @SFCSKI
Sharyn Legg - @surfin37
Toyse Woody Jr - @Photos_By_Toyse
Sean Bowe - @SeanBoweAtSix
Jim Walczak - @JimWalczak
Geff Whitt - @gwhitt1
Kristin Long - @Kristin0822
Sarah - @mommisadie2
Josh - @newholla
Mustangs Kids - @Mustangskids
Dean Hillestad - @MustangMatters
Mary Lola Gouge - @marylolagouge
Carrie - @Caarriieeeeeeee
Drivers
Terry McMillen - @TerryMcMillen
Kelsey Lay - @Kelsey Lay
Peggy Llewellyn - @PeggyLlewellyn
Andrew Parise - @PariseRacing
Bob Tasca III - @Tasca3
Vincent Nobile - @Vincent154
Jeff Arend - @JeffArend
Kalitta Motorsports - @Team Kalitta
Bob Benza - @BobBenza
NHRA Sponsors:
Castrol - @CastrolUSA
Quick Lane - @Quick_Lane
MotorCraft - @MQL_Racing
