Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum AND Knoxville Nationals

Amazing! The Sprint Car Hall of Fame (HOF) & Museum were very kind to the "One Dream: Dirt Track Racing" crew present at Knoxville Nationals in Knoxville, Iowa (Dr. Jenkins, Kyle Luetters, Jenyann Roig, and myself [Alexis N. Del Ciello]). In addition to complimentary club level passes for viewing Nationals (given by the Sprint Car National Hall of Fame and Museum), complimentary pit passes by Bill Klingbeil (Donny Schatz's Public Relations Director from True Speed Communications & Tony Stewart Racing), and the well received showing of the documentary at the Sprint Car HOF and Museum, the weekend began on an unexpected foot. Dr. Jenkins and the "One Dream: Dirt Track Racing" crew were given a trophy in recognition of shining light on the world of dirt track racing by the Sprint Car HOF and Museum...check out the photos at http://onedreamracing.com/photos/. A trophy was given on behalf of the Sprint Car HOF and Museum to Kyle Luetters to honor him in undertaking and contributing to the much deserved sport of dirt track racing.

This has been an amazing trip to Knoxville Nationals. The crew and myself are greatly appreciative of the hospitality and are humbled by the response of fans and drivers alike to "One Dream." (Even though Nationals rained out and the B and A main are to run Sunday, August 16, 2009 at 7 p.m. at Knoxville Raceway. :( We will miss the ending; we are due back in Lawton, Oklahoma Sunday evening.) The drivers and crews will be greatly missed, but always in our hearts and a television remote button away from Speed Channel reruns. 

Signing off because my adrenaline has finally died down enough to get some rest before hitting the road again in a few hours,

Alexis

And thats a wrap..........for now

Well it's been about 24 hours since the premiere kicked off amid great fan fare and anticipation. When the documentary finally rolled, I must say, it was a surreal experience. Having almost 500 people attend a premiere for a project you had a hand in is something special. I can't thank everyone enough who came out and I hope you enjoyed it. Want to thank the crew for all they did for the premiere and the entire summer as well. You guys all came together and helped make a dream come true for me. To the Horns and Joe Bob Lee, I hope you guys enjoyed the screening and that we did you, your families, and the sport justice. There is so much more I'd like to say but just am too tired to type it all out. In closing, THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AYCARAMBA!

Ready for another full night of editing and preparing for the premiere on Thursday: The "One Dream" crew has once again taken over the Communication Building at Cameron University. Tonight and tomorrow night we may tag team naps in between sifting through B-roll (camera shots over voiceovers), editing, and more last minute touches that will make this documentary one of, if not the best, documentaries Cameron University has seen.

You may ask why is this blog titled "AYCARAMBA"?...we aren't in Mexico! To answer your question, we have been chowing down on Los Tres Amigos Mexican food (they sponsor a driver in the documentary) for the last two hours. We have been stuffing our faces with chips, queso, quesadillas, rice and beans. Hey, we need a few extra carbohydrates to keep our energy up as we slide into the wee hours of the night!

Time to Wrap it up!

Tonight we are hibernating in the Communication building at Cameron University. Some of the crew members are here editing, blogging, and of course in true college student fashion, facebooking here and there! Kyle is editing the introduction and conclusion while Cecilio and Jason are adding the wonderful narrations of David Crawford. Alexis took a break to prepare the premiere picture book, to create a Pandora playlist for a little soothing background music, and is now working on the premiere schedule card. Jenyann is typing up the credits for the premiere and I am taking care of the blogging, hopefully a webisode as well! I imagine Dr. Jenkins will pop up at some point and join in the fun. There are only three days, yes three days, until the big day! Everyone is working dilligently toward preparing for the premiere of "One Dream: Dirt Track Racing." We've been working non-stop for thirteen weeks and are ready to get this show on the road...no pun intended!!

Hospitable Kansas!

We just finished a great two-day shoot in Kansas at Garden City (Airport Raceway) and Hays (RPM Speedway).

We have many thanks to hand out: There was a fabulous woman and her concession assistant at Airport Raceway that treated the film crew with the BEST homemade chocolate Bundt cake with chocolate frosting, and crushed pecan topping. It was the greatest midnight snack the film crew has eaten. Thank you to Airport Raceway and RPM Speedway for allowing the crew full access to pit and grandstand action. Lastly, thank you to the race fans, drivers, crews, and track officials, for your hospitality and generosity.

The shots captured by sticky-pod cameras and corner shots were definitely worth the time and trip to Kansas. Now, we have just a few more days before heading out to film at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

So it's been awhile............

Well it has been awhile since I've blogged but the schedule has been so busy!!! We've been to the Lawton Speedway and State Fair Speedway in OKC in the past two weeks. Finally got the in car shot we were craving and it looks amazing. Editing is fully underway and its been a bear. Just trying to find the road map that will make this whole thing work. Its like sewing a quilt together, you have all the pieces and you kinda know what you want at the end, its just getting all the pieces together in the right way so that there is some flow is the tough part. Welp, back to editng, more updates later!!!!!!!!!!!!

North Dakota: That's A Wrap

The crew just finished three days of race track filming and full days of interviews. Thank you to Bill, Donny, his family, and the crew for being a great sport this week during filming.

North Dakota and its dirt track racing fans have been amazing. Savanna, Donny's daughter, helped the crew and I today with audio. She is now our honorary "audio assistant." Look for her in the documentary's end credits. :) Donny ran well this week and started his day off with another great interview with the team. His mom and sister offered great behind-the-driver stories. I cannot wait to see them in the documentary. Hint: Donny had help when training to tear off his helmet tear-offs.

Watch out for the World of Outlaws touring near you! "It's the greatest show on dirt."

**Check out more photos from North Dakota at: http://onedreamracing.com/pictures/

One of the best Father's Days

This past weekend was Fathers Day weekend. You see the dads out in full force at the race tracks. Whether taking the kids to the races or helping their kids with the cars, dad's are a staple of the racetrack scene. Due to the crew shooting in North Dakota, I couldn't be with my dad for the first time in about 20 years. So what's a kid to do when he needs to get dad something extra special? Ask a favor. We were lucky enough to get an interview with Steve Kinser. Once the interview was over, I asked if Steve could  do me a favor. I wanted him to call my dad, a race fan, and wish him a happy fathers day. He graciously agreed and what transpired after that is something truly cool. It was possibly the best gift I could've gotten him. Often times we all get caught up in what we are doing and forget about family or doing special things for them. I'm really glad I got to do this for my dad. I've met a lot of cool people and already made a lot of memories on this documentary but I think this one will stand out as the most memorable. Stay tuned for more updates!

From near the Canadian border

We've just spent our first day in North Dakota after the marathon drive yesterday. We met most of the crew and Donny today and they were just awesome. Donny did a sit down interview with us, took us out to lunch and let me ride with him up to Grand Forks for a meet and greet. Bill, PR guy extrodinare of course gave us the hook up on all of these things. Met with Kinser's crew and they are pretty cool. Can't wait for more shooting tomorrow night!!

Donny Schatz, North Dakota, Space Aliens... OH MY!

So ends the second day in North Dakota. Not much to say about yesterday we were in a van for 16 hours, but luckily Kyle, Alexis, Dr. J, and I have not gotten sick of eachother yet so the trip was enjoyable. In one, me and alexis could've sworn we saw a tornado but it was just a really weird cloud. We woke up this morning and went on over to Donny Schatz's race shop. It was very nice looking. Everyone was super nice and the interview went very well. After the interview we had lunch with Donny and the crew. Afterwards we went to a meet and greet which was very nice also. After a day like that Alexis, Dr. J, Kyle, and me decided to go to a place called the "space alien". It was like a chuck e. cheese for grown people, we had fun, i played some games, won some tickets, and got everyone these little plastic aliens. All in all it was an awesome, productive day. Tomorrow we get to shoot our first race here in North Dakota. I can't wait!

North Dakota: Day One

Today was a great day for "One Dream: Dirt Track Racing." Following 18 hours on the road, we checked into the Fargo hotel at 2:30 a.m.. After a few hours of napping we made our way to Donny Schatz's Raceshop. The interview went really well. Bill Klingbeil is Donny's publicist; he is a great contact. He set up our three-day journey with Donny and has been more than welcoming to any questions we might have about his position with the racing team. Donny has been amazing during our team's time together...he even treated us to lunch. Thank you Donny! 

After a one-hour rest stop at the hotel we headed off to Grand Forks for a meet and greet with the World of Outlaws tour. Donny and other drivers on the tour met fans and greeted them with welcoming arms. Stay tuned for behind-the-scenes pictures from today's events...check them out at http://onedreamracing.com/pictures/

One Dream on Myspace & Facebook

Check out "One Dream: Dirt Track Racing" on

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/onedreamracing

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=91413257006&ref=nf

Add One Dream as a friend and spread the word.

Wow! What a week.

Part of the crew traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas this week to interview Kenny Wallace. Not only was he an amazing interview, but a very personable and kind personality. The roundtrip to Little Rock was a whirlwind of 21 hours straight...7+ hours on the trip up there, 2 hours shooting, and 7+ hours trip back to Lawton, Oklahoma. After a jammed tape scare it was on to a Sunday filled with interviews for the crew...

Sunday at 1 p.m. the crew interviewed Bob Horn and Joseph Horn, owners of Horn Sanitation and sponsors of the Sooner Motorplex racetrack, to glean the father/son perspective of racing. I cannot wait to see the final interview during the premiere. Bob and Joseph were phenomenal. 2:30 p.m. brought on a meeting of the Public Relations crew followed by a 4 p.m. interview with Okie Magazine. Check out the July 1 issue of Okie Magazine to get the behind-the-scenes thoughts about "One Dream: Dirt Track Racing."

Met a hero!!!!

We finally got to meet Kenny Wallace!!!!!! Due to some misunderstanding, Kenny Schrader couldn't make it but having Wallace around was fantastic. The interview went great and he was so amazing and cool!!!! Best interview by far and the trip itself wasn't bad either. On to North Dakota now!

And their off!

 The crew is out shooting tonight for the first time without me. It almost feels like sending a kid to college haha! Jenyann will do a great job tonight and everyone will be pretty supportive and help her out. I can't wait to see the footage when they get back! Next week we meet Kenny Wallace and Kenny Schrader!!!!

Kyle and Cecilio's post from WaKeeney

Kyle: Hey guys, it's Kyle the producer coming to you from the land of Kansas and WaKeeney. Wow we just finished up a shoot with Ken Lutters and John Johnston. Two great guys and Ken even let us place a camera on the wing of a sprint car. It was a great idea but a clump of mud proved to be too much for the camera and it was thrown across the track. Found the camera but the tape and battery are MIA. Still was a great night with John winning and seeing alot of family. Can't wait for the interviews tomorrow and the races tomorrow night!

Cecilio: Hey everybody, this is the director of "One Dream", yours truly, Cecilio Ramirez. We're up here in K-State enjoying some Memorial Day Weekend races. Spent all day traveling and all evening filming, sweating and getting dirty in Wakeeney. I managed to fall off a fence with Kyle's camera, but my back and rear broke the fall and saved the camera. Too bad our sticky pod couldn't save the video camera. Our great crew made my job easy with great shots and wonderful cooperation. Tomorrow's going to be the icing on the cake because we're expecting great interviews from tonight's winner John Johnston as well as Ken Lutters. Look forward to an exciting summer...