Recently I was contacted by a friend of mine, Caleb Holder, regarding a new app that he had designed. I, being the skeptic that I am was curious if it was just another app in drag racing that was cumbersome and filled will ad’s. I asked him to send me a write up in his words regarding the app and outlining its uses. This is what Caleb had to say…

I’m long-winded on this, I know, but I am very passionate about it and want to try and emphasize as many of the features and usefulness of the app as possible.

My background: Some know this, some don’t. I am actually a Computer Engineer for the Dept of Defense in my full-time job. I have been writing software for about 20 years. Most of that time has been spent in the aviation logistics area and more specifically helping to automate various manual processes. We take things that used to be done on paper forms and create a software package to make that process as efficient as possible.

We actually started Lock It In Nation with the intent of eventually creating and releasing software for the drag racing community. We created it as a brand that could give us a platform to represent everything we were wanting to do. We have full-time jobs and run Lock It In Nation in our “free” time. Somewhere in between family, full time jobs, and running Lock It In Nation, I continued to work on the idea I had.

On our original Lock It In Nation website, I created a page that I called Trackside Live where I scoured FB groups and pages and created a “master list” of upcoming events. That was actually the most visited page on our original website. But was the biggest pain in the ass to put together because there was no one place where people were putting events.

The idea for Racemaster Live actually came from being at races and feeling like there needed to be a more efficient way to get round pairings and winners in each class at any given event out to the racing community in near real-time. Everyone has smart phones and tablets. So I have been working through the idea of how to put those results in the hands of anyone and everyone that is interested, without the need to know the right person/page/group on social media to get see them.

While I was coming up with the solution to that problem, we needed some work done on our HVAC unit and some electrical work here at the house and knew I had friends in the racing community with HVAC businesses and Electrical businesses but had no easy way to find them.

So to combine the two into a useful tool, the idea of making it location based and including a business directory along with giving track owners and promoters the ability to create pages for their events and a way to streamline the round pairings and winners process was born.

Week in and week out on FB in various groups, I saw people asking what races were coming up, what was the best chassis shop in their area, who won each round of a NPK race, what drag and drive events were coming up, people posting round pairings, etc.

From being at the track for various types of events, I wanted to roll all types of businesses and events into a single interface.

Racemaster Live is the result.

When I use apps on my phone, I 100% DESPISE advertisements. I wanted to release an app that was 100% ad-free. Most apps use ads for revenue and charge for a “premium” version that is ad free. I didn’t want them in there at all. I also did not want to allow any 3rd party access to the data inside the app for the users/events/businesses. I originally wanted to allow facebook login access, but after reading through all the accesses and data you have to allow FB to access, I chose not to go that route. You can log in with Google and Apple, but that is because the app is distributed through the app stores so they will have the information any way. What most don’t realize is user information from apps like FB and IG is used to tailor the app experience and ad’s they see both while on the app and while they are using other apps on their phone. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible and create a purpose-built experience and environment that wasn’t filled with a bunch of ads and 3rd party junk. 

We handled the development and release of the app and will also manage it and maintain the app, server, and data storage.  No user data is used or sold to any third party software. We will actually be using the user email addresses to send out discount codes to app users for our merch that can be used on the Lock It In Nation website.

The app doesn’t save user locations. When the app is launched, it uses the location of the smart phone/tablet to retrieve the data for businesses/events closest to the device location. The user can change it from the home screen and see wherever they want.

Now let’s break down the app into the parts and pieces that users will utilize the most with some screenshots and descriptions:

The subscription screen is the first screen users will see when they download the app and create an account. It is pictured below. The subscription is managed by the app store for the device. The plan is to send out a discount code each month to users for the amount of the subscription that is valid on the Lock It In Nation website. They can use this discount when they purchase our Merch. And we’ll do it on the website or in person at the races if they can show us it is installed! We don’t have access to their subscription payment information. We do have access to their user information they use to create their account in the Racemaster Live app. This will only be used by us to send out updates or discount codes.

The price is per month. So if you break it down per week, it’s stupid cheap, even if you are a promoter/track owner and creating events and adding results. For a track or promoter doing multiple races a month, this eliminates the need for the paper pairing sheets and the possibility of them getting lost because someone took them. We also do not delete the data. So you can always go back and look at your old events if needed.

Once a user gets logged in to the app what they will see the home screen below. The top is the location of the device and will drive the sorts and what distances you see on each of the events. The top half has different categories for businesses and is how the business directory is accessed. You can select any of the categories and it will show all entries for that category that have been created, or you can select view all and see all businesses. You can also type keywords in the search bar and it will return relevant search results on the screen.

Underneath the Categories section you will see Upcoming Events. I loaded several into the app that I was able to find results for. As a event date passes it will be dropped off the main screen. But you will still be able to access and see all events by selecting view all in this section.

Under each event name, you will see a mileage. We use the device location and the event location to show how far from the even you are at.

At the bottom of the home screen you will see 4 icons. Home, Explore, Notifications, and Profile. These will be visible while using the app. Home takes you back to this home screen. Explore will give you a google map with a listing below it of businesses and events in the area. Notifications are similar to other social media notifications where it will show you when event results are updated, events are created, etc and allow you to directly access them. Profile is where the Place and Event creation happens, you can view places or events you have added to favorites, change the app from light to dark mode, etc.

This is the Explore screen. I added some business pages to show what it looks like on this screen. Any business or event created in the app will show as a pin on the map and have an entry below the map if you are in the area and show you how far away it is from your device. 

This is the Profile screen. If the user has the correct permissions, they will have a My Places (Racers, Business Owners, Promoters, and Track Owners) & My Events (Promoters and Track Owners) show up here. This will give them the ability to add places and events. You can change from light to dark under settings, change your name, add profile pic, etc. There is also a log out that is at the bottom of the list that you can’t see on the screen.

What does it take to add a business (Place) in Racemaster Live? Less than 3 minutes start to finish. I’ve got a screen recording of this process on the Racemaster Live facebook page. Below you will see the screen for adding a place. We used place as a generic term. You put in all of your information beginning with the address. The key takeaway here is you can add multiple pictures, select the category it belongs in and put in all of your own website/FB/IG/Youtube info. This will create direct links on the detail page in the app once you submit it. So an app user will be able to access your email/phone/website/FB/IG/Youtube and launch on their device from the app. The other key take away is that it doesn’t have to be a static address. If you create a page for your race team and next week you are going to a different track, you can edit the place and change that address at the top of the screen, save it and it will show you at that new location.

Once you submit on his screen you will have what is called a Place detail page This will show your pictures address and links that you put in. So when a user pulls up your business page, they will see this. Key takeaway here is there is an option to post a review for the business/place and in the top right there is a heart where the user can add it to their favorites. Adding it to their favorites gives them quick access to it from their profile so they no longer have to search for it.

What does it take to create an event in Racemaster Live? This process is also less than 3 minutes. Below is the screen you use to create an event. There are a few key pieces on this screen. There are several event types users can choose from. Everything from class race to bracket race, to grudge race and no prep to drag and drive. Grudge and Drag and Drive have a specific type of classes you can add for those type of events. If you select Drag and Drive, you will be asked to put in each location instead of a single location.

The next key takeaway is you will add your classes here using the Add Class button. These classes will be part of the event results that are tied to this event. Add one or many classes here based on what you are having at your event. Once you name the class, it will give you the option of Drag and drive, Grudge, or shootout to describe the class. Most will use a shootout style class unless it is a specific drag and drive or grudge event.

You can also add multiple images here as well. Every event is defaulted with the check box to create the event results. If you don’t want to worry about it, uncheck it. Once you click Add Event, the event is created and accessible from the main screen of the app or your profile.

Biggest takeaway: IF YOU DON’T CREATE THE EVENT, YOU CAN’T UPDATE THE EVENT RESULTS!

Once you create your event, you can access the event results section by going to the Event Details page. This will look like the screen below. This screen will have all the information you put in when creating the event. The maps in the app are google maps and you can click on them and get the option to open in google maps to get directions from your location to the event. To access event results or update them, click the Event Results button on this screen.

Once you first get into the Event Results screen, it will be mostly black with a list of classes at the very top and an Add Racer button on the screen. All the racers will need to be added to the classes they are competing in. If an app user is a Racer, they will have the ability to add themselves as a racer in a class at an event. Otherwise, the person that created the even will need to add them into the list. The list has basic information you would find on a tech card: Car #, Driver Name, and Car. Repeat this process for all racers in the class.

You will notice button in the bottom section of the screen that says Pair Racers appear once you begin adding racers. This will let you pair the racers for the round. Once you pair the racers, you can no longer add any more racer to the class. For each round, the racers are paired and saved. You then select the winners of each race by selecting the green dot beside the name of the winner. Winners move forward for pairing. Repeat this process each round until you reach a final winner. Below is the pairings and winners for the Bowling Green NPK Invitational.

Grudge and drag and drive classes will look a little different than this style. Grudge lets you put in individual races and stipulations and still select the winners. The Drag and Drive style will still let you add racers but will put a full list of racers in the bottom of the screen. You can then select each racer to enter ET/MPH and it will sort by quickest each day of the event. It will also give you an overall average for Drag and Drive events in each class as well.

Any time an Event Result is updated, the app will send out a Push Notification to app users that will look like the picture below. Clicking on it will open the Racemaster Live app. If you then go to Notifications on the home screen, you can click on the notification and go directly to the event that was updated so you can see the updates as soon as they are put in.

No more scrolling through FB and trying to find the right place they are updated to!

Just a reminder....How do you get Racemaster Live?

Direct Links - 

• Android: Download On Android

• Apple:  Download On IOS

Using the Search in the App Store - 

1. Use your mobile device to go to your preferred App Store.

2. Search for Racemaster Live in the App Store.

3. Look for the Racemaster Live logo. It should be the first in the list of results. It will look like this:
   

4. Install the Racemaster Live App.

5. Open Racemaster Live and Create Account.