I just recieved my new Car Craft magazine. The magazine I recieved even had the 1 month left cover on it.  I was seriously contemplating letting my subscription run out... that was until I read the new issue. It is absolutuly excellent! I am very happy with the new format and I am planning on continuing the subscription.

Lets see some early style FI in your new editions! DIY L98 stuff would be great. Keep up the good work!

I wish my car was as fast as I was reading the new revamped Car Craft mag.  It rocks!!  Keep it up.  

And why not "early" EFI tech on something people (other than street rodders on pensions) actually build, such as 5.0 SEFI Fords.

are you done preaching fords yet?  

NOPE!!!!!  

Just got my copy of the new improved CC, man it ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!! living over here in the UK its a constant battle against 4cyl... weiner mobiles! good to know I'm not the only V8 gearhead! keep it up, keep it fast & keep it LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Well I didn't know Freiburger, liked King, and definitely respect Smith's knowledge, so I didn't know what to expect when they said they were going to revamp CC.  When I got it and I started reading it, I realized it was time for a change.   Change is good.   Keep it up.   I love the new format, the the subliminal hints, and all thats new.   I feel more connected to the only mag I keep at the crapper.    Keep it up.  

I like it too....but come on guys it seems like you didn't know that GM built other cars beside camaro's..........and doesn't everyone have their 69's built yet.......I like the change tho....keep up that part....  

I love the new CC. I just graduated with a graphic design degree and want to be in on the fun! I love the new style, both the design and the writing. It matches my Camaro build up much better than all the other mags... cause I'm BROKE!  

Thanks! Spread the word.

DF

Freiburger, keep up the GREAT work on the mag! It's the best I've seen since Cruisin' USA started back in the 80's. I'm glad to see you bring it back. Our cruise (at the time) was said to be the best in the US by CC. (Mesa, AZ, Sept 1980?)

Lastly, I'm trying to get some publicity for my website (for the Nascar section) which is a non profit site, and it's all out of my own pocket. My goal is to write full-time instead of part time as I do now. Any problem with posting links in here to outside webs sites? Just in case it's OK, here's the link: www.marksrants.com

The Nascar section is obviously the reason for the link. And yes, I would even give CC the OK to link to my site if you want.

Dude, I think you're going to have to rant a lot more about NASCAR before your site is "must read." 

The guy who used to do www.motorsportstv.com was such a prolific (and entertaining) pain in the rear quarter panels with his commentary and analysis on various NASCAR television foibles that someone hired him for PR work.  But he wrote hundreds of commentaries for free before he hit the "big time."  The vast majority of  bloggers never earn a cent.

Of course as anyone reading the CC forum knows, most anybody with a six pack, a lot of spare time, and a computer can "write" (right, dr511scj? chevysxz?).  But it takes a whole lot more to become an interesting and successful professional writer.  A bushel-load of opinions and the desire to show them off just isn't enough.  You must constantly ask yourself: "why would anyone care about this?" And "how am I filling a unique and valuable market niche?"  

Jayski's long struggle is informative for would be NASCAR commentators:

"Back in August of 1996, I heard that Lake Speed was losing the Spam sponsorship  . . .  and would be sponsored by the University of Nebraska. I searched and searched and could not find a thing about it on the Internet. So I started posting things to the r.a.s.n.(Rec.Autos.Sport.NASCAR) newsgroup. The posts kept growing and was getting to difficult to do everyday. So I decided to make a little page about the Silly Season news. As time went by, I started accumulating very good sources and was able to generate news I could not find elsewhere and pool other info from other Internet sites, racing magazines and newspapers, TV shows and the races themselves. [note: a major key to Jayski's success was both developing UNIQUE CONTENT and posting deep links to other sources] The website address was very long and my local Internet at the time was slow and unresponsive to problems. I remember when I hit 100 visitors/page views on one day, I thought that was amazing (The site as a whole now does over 250,000 paghe views a day and 70,000 daily uniques). I finally decided I needed to change the website address and held a one month vote where www.jayski.com was the overwhelming choice. I hooked up with Xobyte in Tennessee where the page was kept until Feb 3rd, 1998 where it was moved to NetSource with a faster connection and server with much more bandwidth. To defray costs of maintaining the server, the additional bandwidth and updates to my system and IP, we put up 4-8 banners with paid advertising. [Note:  Jayski's second key to success was to develop a revenue stream] In 2000, I signed with Digest Giant, Racing Champions/Ertl. With their help the Jayski site has gotten bigger and better in 2000 but they decided the partnership was not working out for them and didn't renew. But I had a few interested companies in partnering up with me, I narrowed it to two and after weeks some tough thinking, I decided on Knight Ridder/That's Racin' as I felt the partnership would allow the site to grow and be seen by more people and have been with them since Jan. 2001. [Note: Jayski's third key to success was aligning with a national media company, after proving himself daily for several years.  Essential lesson: National media companies seldom, if ever, hire unproven writers. This rule also applies to racers, fabricators, and race mechanics, too!]  What happens in 2005? No idea, I am a free agent at the end of the year and now that I have bought a house and am settled, I can look out for that is best with the site and what is can do."

http://www.jayski.com/home/index.html

Of course, Jayski apparently still drives an '87 Thunderbird with about 300,000 miles, so you should infer that even successful internet commentators aren't rolling in dough.  But then Jayski ended up doing a lot better than Lake Speed did with that 1996 Cornhusker deal!

OK, so just HOW did you get into my notebook and see my game plan??

I appreciate the time you took to explain all that you did. Much of it I am aware of and have most of it written out already as to the how's, why, and WTF cares questions and sections. I have approximately 40 rants(not just on Nascar) started and in various froms of completions..(Yeah, like CC staffters project cars!) As I stated in my most recent rant, which you probably didn't get to see, I was asking all of my regular readers to help a guy out (http://www.marksrants.com/writer.html). From the emails I received and hits on the site, I understand that approximately 150 emails were sent. I've no way of verifying it yet, but I'm working on it. My resume is my site, and my site has only been online since January of this year. I only promoted the site in Nascar.com's chat room a few nights a week, and had 663 the first month, 1259 in Feb, and 2061 in March, so for a new site, with NO outside promotional help, I don't feel it did too badly. Unfortuneately, we had a family tragedy in March which has lasted through last month. (See http:// www.marksrants.html/crysta.html ) I am now in the process of trying to regroup and get writing more and finish much of what was started.

I truly  appreciate the comments and suggestions you've made. I have a professional writer helping me out with suggestions and such when he can spare the time. Because of health reasons, I have to rapidly, seriously look for a new way to make a living. Writing is something I can do and not be concerned with my health. (I've had 4 surgeries in 4 years to keep my job, not to mention the massive heart attack!)

I know this isn't going to happen overnight, but the more people I get to read it, and pass it on to a friend, the more it will grow. Also, something you touched on, but didn't elaborate on: If I received "This sucks" emails and letters, I might think that it might not be working. Out of several hundred emails I've received, only 2 have been negative, and they didn't like what I had to say about Kevin Harvick and his crew chief cheating.

I agree with your first statement. I'm going to have to rant a lot more, which is why I'm trying desperately to find the time to do it full time, AND pay the bills.

Thanks for your comments! Oh, and feel free to pass on the site to your friends! Thanks!

Mark