NASCAR.com wins for Kropp team

Edited by H. Jay Burns and Doug Hubley

“Drive fast and turn left.” That’s how Jonathan Kropp ’93, a Turner Sports Interactive executive, once described NASCAR until he drove a racecar on an empty track a few years ago. “I topped out at about 150 mph,” he says. The 10-minute experience left him weak-kneed and addled. “It gave me instant respect for the sport.”

The experience helped Kropp get up to speed on a what was then a new TSI project: producing the NASCAR.com Web site.

Three years later, Kropp and colleagues can claim victory for their work. In October 2003, the site won an Emmy in a new advanced media technology category for “the enhancement of original television content.”

Specifically, the Emmy was for “Trackpass with PitCommand,” the NASCAR.com premium subscription service. Developed with Sportvision Inc., the application gives racing enthusiasts everything but dipstick readings, including live audio between drivers and teams, and braking and throttle action.

Kropp, TSI senior director of strategy and business development, calls the Emmy the ultimate validation of the TSI strategy.

“We never felt we were entering the Internet business. We believed that our television business was evolving to an integrated media business.”