PARTNER PROFILE
MOTOR SPORTS
INNOVATIONS
BY NATE VAN WAGNEN
A
s a sportsman racer with 30
years of experience in the corporate
IT world, it was a natural fit for
Greg Kelley to start a small busi-
ness selling data loggers to racers.
It’s worked out very well for Kelley,
whose Motor Sports Innovations business oper-
ates today as a Racepak dealer with the coveted
Elite status.
“I started out actually selling brands of data
loggers that competed with Racepak, the stuff
lower on the food chain, smaller systems,” Kelley
says. “Between the IT background and working
with other data systems, when the opportunity
arose to be a Racepak dealer, it was an easy de-
cision. And I had a built-in customer base, so it
went pretty good that way.”
Kelley’s experience in the IT world has certain-
ly played a role in his success, but his experience
at the racetrack has also been a major factor. His
website proudly displays his time slips from icon-
ic East Coast tracks like Atco and Englishtown
from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. The New Jersey
native has raced in a range of classes, like Super
Street, Super Comp, local bracket racing and,
today, NHRA and PDRA Top Dragster.
That experience helps Kelley in his business,
whether he’s helping a current customer diagnose
an issue or attempting to sell a potential customer
on the benefits of a Racepak data system.
“I kind of have to be a jack of all trades to be
successful,” Kelley says. “Whether you’re talking
an NHRA Stock Eliminator car or a PDRA Pro
Nitrous car, you need to know what those guys
need. Even Bonneville guys, tractor pullers,
you’ve gotta know what they need. You want to
know the sweet spot of all these different cars
and classes.”
Kelley, who is proud of his Christian faith and
incorporates it into his business ethics, travels to
races up and down the East Coast to both race
and serve his customers. He stocks his trailer
with Racepak components that can be put into
use at NHRA national events, divisional races
and a few PDRA races.
“I do a fair amount of on-track support at
NHRA races where I run the Top Dragster, and
some PDRA races,” Kelley says. “That’s an ele-
ment of what I do, so I bring a ton of stuff with
me to support the guys in that way at those races.”
Motor Sports Innovations’ reputation for qual-
ity customer support helped the business earn
its Elite status as a Racepak dealer in 2015. As
Kelley explains, Racepak was once “anti-dealer,
so to speak,” before it started recognizing dealers
who not only sold its products, but also provid-
ed customers with valuable support after their
purchase.
“A lot of the race industry is you go buy a rela-
tively small amount of product and you become a
dealer, then the manufacturer has all the support
headaches,” Kelley starts. “And with something
like data loggers, there is a lot of support because
you’re helping the guys with their laptops, then
there’s interpretation of the data. So you just
spend a ton of time on the phone.”
“They finally changed their tune about dealers
several years ago,” Kelley continues. “For those
dealers who did a great job with tech support –
and had significant volume – they did special
training at the Racepak site and you got this
Elite status.”
As a Racepak dealer, Motor Sports Innovations
also offers related products from companies un-
der the Holley Performance Products umbrella.
That includes MSD Ignition products and Holley
EFI accessories. Kelley also carries EGT sensor
kits and various generic sensors.
Motor Sports Innovations offers a wide variety
of its products on its online store at www.Motor-
SportsInnovations.com. To order through Kelley
directly, call 609-265-2110 or send an email to
sales@motorsportsinnovations.com.
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64 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
Issue 154