From the new owners: An open letter regarding MotorsportReg

David S.
By David S. Wallens
Nov 7, 2024 | MotorsportReg

Photography Credit: Colin Wood

If you participate in motorsports, you likely have passed through the MotorsportReg web portal. It has simply become the go-to site for motorsports event registration: autocross, road racing, events even hosted by Grassroots Motorsports.

Earlier this year, Hagerty sold MotorsportReg to Parella Motorsports Holdings, already owner of several motorsports properties including the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association and the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli.

On November 7, Tony Parella released this public letter to the MotorsportReg community explaining the acquisition:

Dear MotorsportReg Community,

I am thrilled to have this opportunity to introduce myself as the new owner of MotorsportReg. For those of you who may not have seen the press release, I was fortunate to acquire MSR from Hagerty a few months back. My name is Tony Parella, and as the CEO of Parella Motorsports Holdings, I have spent my career working to grow and nurture grassroots motorsports. Parella Motorsports was built by racers and for racers, and I am proud to continue that mission with MotorsportReg.

First and foremost, I want to reassure you that MotorsportReg’s core principles will remain unchanged. The data privacy policy, along with all user and organizer terms and conditions, will stay exactly as they are aside from changes to the legal entity name. We are committed to maintaining your trust by ensuring that event organizers continue to own their organization’s data. This data arrangement has been a core value of MotorsportReg, and I will make sure it remains so under my leadership.

My goal with this acquisition is simple: to do whatever I can to support and grow motorsports and provide technology to support the incredible community of event organizers, clubs, and sanctioning bodies that make it possible. I want to ensure that every club, organizer, and participant has the tools they need to succeed now and into the future to sustain this community that has meant so much to me. Before I was old enough to drive, I was racing a Camaro stock car on the dirt ovals of Weedsport Speedway in upstate New York. Born out of this racing was the desire to share the passion and grow the sport.

MotorsportReg has been an integral part of the motorsport community for 20+ years, and my mission is to expand its capabilities while respecting the foundation that has already been built. To this end, I am also proud to share that the entire MotorsportReg team that you’ve come to know and trust over the years has been retained as part of the acquisition. I am honored and energized to be working alongside such a talented and passionate group, and I am committed to doing everything in my power to enable them to continue providing the high level of service you’ve come to expect while also furnishing them with the necessary resources to grow and improve the platform. 

I look forward to working with you all to support the continued growth and success of our beloved motorsports community, and I welcome your thoughts, ideas, and feedback. If you would like to share anything now, I’d welcome it. Just click here to share any thoughts you may have - I assure you I’ll read them all! 

Thank you for your continued support of MotorsportReg. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Warm regards,

Tony Parella

 

 

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Comments
Andy Hollis
Andy Hollis
11/7/24 10:36 a.m.

Want my support?  Get rid of the $2 fee.

It's especially annoying when you are signing up for a charity dinner (TT Nats) and they add $2 to a $15 donation.  And that event was designated as a charity within their system.

Greed is not good.

Coniglio Rampante
Coniglio Rampante GRM+ Memberand Reader
11/7/24 10:53 a.m.

A life of observation and direct experience has taught me to be skeptical of corporatespeak statements like this:

"First and foremost, I want to reassure you that MotorsportReg’s core principles will remain unchanged...."

I'll hope for the best, but ....

codrus (Forum Supporter)
codrus (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
11/7/24 11:04 a.m.
Andy Hollis said:

Want my support?  Get rid of the $2 fee.

I wholeheartedly agree.  Tacking on unadvertised $2 fees at the end smacks too much of TicketMaster's behaviour.

If they want/need more revenue, the right way to do it is to raise the rates charged to the track day providers so that they can build it into the overall event cost in a consistent fashion.

 

Tom1200
Tom1200 PowerDork
11/7/24 11:05 a.m.

In reply to Coniglio Rampante :

As someone who deals with this professionally it also gives me pause.

Time will tell.

CrashDummy
CrashDummy Reader
11/7/24 11:32 a.m.

I feel like Hagerty just bought MSReg like 10 minutes ago...

pinchvalve (Forum Supporter)
pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
11/7/24 12:45 p.m.

" I am also proud to share that the entire MotorsportReg team that you’ve come to know and trust over the years has been retained as part of the acquisition." If that's true, that's exceedingly rare and a very good sign. 

CrustyRedXpress
CrustyRedXpress GRM+ Memberand Dork
11/7/24 12:48 p.m.

In a former life I dealt a lot with mid-size tech CEOs and watched them buy and sell their companies. I like that Tony has a track record in the technology space and seems very focused on company culture and leadership. I'm not delighted to see that he has venture capital backing, but we'll see what he does with it.

The team staying is always a good sign, but we'll see how long it lasts.

The man: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Parella

A book he published previously: https://www.amazon.com/Fractured-Fortune-Tony-Parella/dp/0615222102

theruleslawyer
theruleslawyer Reader
11/7/24 12:50 p.m.
codrus (Forum Supporter) said:
Andy Hollis said:

Want my support?  Get rid of the $2 fee.

I wholeheartedly agree.  Tacking on unadvertised $2 fees at the end smacks too much of TicketMaster's behaviour.

If they want/need more revenue, the right way to do it is to raise the rates charged to the track day providers so that they can build it into the overall event cost in a consistent fashion.

 

I mostly agree, I want to see it in the top line price, but I also want it broken out. That way if they decide to tack on $40 you don't go blame your organizer. You can see where the culprit is.

 

jwasilko
jwasilko GRM+ Memberand New Reader
11/7/24 1:38 p.m.

In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :

Except that Brian Ghidinelli retired.

JVB
JVB GRM+ Memberand New Reader
11/7/24 2:04 p.m.

As someone who has had to admin MSR for almost seven years, I just hope they invest in backend development and ux.  

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