As a longtime brand executive in the racing world, Mark Beatty has been to all kinds of motorsports events across the country. The brand director for Red Line Oil has yet to experience a PDRA event, but that will change this weekend when he heads to Darlington Dragway for the PDRA Red Line Oil Carolina Nationals, Sept. 14-16.
“I’m beyond excited,” Beatty said. “I obviously follow along with all of the racing in Drag Illustrated, and I feel like I already know all the major players because I’ve read so much about them. To have the chance to walk the staging lanes and the pit area and actually shake hands and meet some of the folks is awesome. I’m really excited about it.”
Beatty, who joined Red Line Oil in 2021, has spent the last few years continuing to build the Red Line brand, specifically in the motorsports world. He mainly provides support for Red Line customers and sponsored drivers and organizations from the company’s home base in Texas, but he also makes a point to attend various events throughout the year. The PDRA Carolina Nationals went to the top of his must-attend list early in the season.
“I think it’s important for us to try to have a presence at all the things Red Line does, but my philosophy has a couple different facets,” Beatty said. “As a sponsor, I don’t ever want to go to so many races and so many places that I become a burden on the race teams. I want them to know that we support them and we support what’s going on, but I don’t want them to ever feel that they have to babysit me or us.
“On the other side of the coin, I spend what feels like 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the racing industry, but I’m a one-man band and I am so busy that, to be honest, this is the first race I’ve been to since the World Series of Pro Mod in March. I’m just too busy. I can’t get away. But when we’re forming a new partnership with the PDRA and it’s the Red Line Oil race, it’s like, ‘Well, if this isn’t the right time and place to invest some of your time and energy, nothing is.’ I’ve gotta go, plain and simple.”
Beatty sees this weekend as an opportunity to better get to know the PDRA team and the racers who compete within the series, which is celebrating its 10th season this year. It’s a chance to continue building a relationship that began when Beatty met the Franklin family and PDRA marketing director Will Smith at the 2022 PRI Show in Indianapolis.
“I know what type of people they are – they’re phenomenal people,” Beatty said. “It’s going to help me get a feel for the environment of a PDRA race and to confirm what I believe is already a perfect fit. It’s just going to be nice to see it and feel it and experience it for myself.”
Beatty isn’t just going for the networking in the pits, though. He’s also looking forward to taking in side-by-side 3.60-second Pro Mod action and the PDRA’s ultra-competitive sportsman racing.
“At the end of the day, I’m a diehard race fan. Bottom line, I just can’t wait to watch some killer racing.”
This story was originally published on September 13, 2023. 
