March 05, 2019

Catalyst 317 Named Digital Content Agency for Andretti Autosport, Honda Off-Road Racing Team

March 05, 2019/ Mike Kitchel

INDIANAPOLIS (March 5, 2019) – Catalyst 317, the Indianapolis-based creative agency founded by Mike Kitchel and Christopher Cross, announced today that it has reached an agreement with Andretti Autosport and the Honda Off-Road Racing team to become their digital content provider for the 2019 race seasons. Catalyst 317 was formed in 2017 and specializes in video production, communications, graphic design, freelance writing and photography.

September 14, 2018

Catalyst 317: Five Keys to Public Relations Badassery

September 14, 2018/ Mike Kitchel

By Mike Kitchel
I learned about the public relations profession at 230 mph: Ten years with an IndyCar Series team – Panther Racing – followed by another four seasons as the director of communications at INDYCAR, the sanctioning body for the open-wheel racing series that’s highlighted by the Indianapolis 500. Now I’ve decided to take the next step with the formation of Catalyst 317 – opening our services to the masses and, hopefully along the way, creating an opportunity to help up-and-coming PR professionals grow, inspire and flourish.

With that in mind, here are our five keys to PR Badassery:

September 10, 2018

Indianapolis Pole Day Flashback: When IndyCars Were Flying Through the Air

September 10, 2018/ Mike Kitchel

By Mike Kitchel
Motorsports isn’t a world for people obsessed with sticking to a plan or those who draw comfort in the monotony of working nine-to-five. Part of what makes this business fascinating is the inevitable consistency of the unexpected. It’s remarkable, at times, to analyze just how far you deviate off the map and still manage to hit the mark. No matter how much you prepare, or how deeply in stone your original plan is etched, a time will arrive where its relevance becomes moot.

Pole Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of professional sports’ true anomalies – even within the very sport that’s made it an annual staple for over a century. Here, a collection of the world’s most brash and fearless athletes – explicitly wired to exceed speeds most humans cannot comprehend – line up to dance along both sides of the razor’s edge.

August 29, 2018

RACERSITES Evolves, Expands in Rebrand to Digital Momentum

August 29, 2018/ Mike Kitchel

DAVIDSON, N.C. – RACERSITES, a motorsports industry staple recognized the last two decades for building innovative website solutions, announced today it will rebrand to Digital Momentum. The rebrand marks strategic growth forward for the company, which is expanding its capabilities to include comprehensive digital marketing services, while continuing its expertise of creating and managing custom websites.

Digital Momentum will specialize in inbound marketing and executing a wide range of services that includes digital marketing strategy development, SEO services, social media strategy, Email marketing and additional custom solutions.

July 16, 2018

Digital Momentum: Top 10 Keys to Your Social Media Playbook

July 16, 2018/ Mike Kitchel

By Mike Kitchel
Social media has exploded – and continues to expand – as one of the most essential components of any brand’s marketing plans. Never before have you been able to engage so directly with your customers and fans. For some newcomers, social media is an intimidating world and the thought of simply getting started can be overwhelming. For others, blindly jumping into this adventure gung-ho and guns blazing can backfire and make you look like a complete novice. An effective startup plan falls somewhere in between. Sure, you need to do some homework before you dive in, but you also don’t need a PhD before you’re allowed to hit ‘send’ on a social media post.

July 09, 2018

Mason Daniel: Stock Trader by Day, Racecar Driver by Night

July 09, 2018/ Mike Kitchel

By Mike Kitchel
The life of a racecar driver is unique. Particularly for a young sprint car racer who spends a majority of his days waiting impatiently for the moment he can leave for the racetrack each night. For a typical teenager this would amount to wasting time through an effortless mix of sleeping in, playing video games and aimlessly drifting through a cell phone.

But Mason Daniel isn't your average teenage racecar driver. driver is unique. Particularly for a young sprint car racer who spends a majority of his days waiting impatiently for the moment he can leave for the racetrack each night. For a typical teenager this would amount to wasting time through an effortless mix of sleeping in, playing video games and aimlessly drifting through a cell phone.

But Mason Daniel isn't your average teenage racecar driver.

May 10, 2018

'Your Chime' Mindfulness Book and Tool for Children Making an Impact

May 10, 2018/ Mike Kitchel

INDIANAPOLIS – Successful Indianapolis business woman Olivia Roney announced today she has released Your Chime – a mindfulness book and tool for children. Targeted for children ages 3 and up, the product comes complete with a custom chime bowl and an illustrated children’s book, which provides a step-by-step guide for children and parents on how to effectively utilize the tool.

Roney, owner of Indianapolis-based Crouching Tigers – a martial arts and character building development program for kids – first implemented the chime and mindfulness into her classes to help students focus, calm down and prepare to learn. The results in her classes were so profound Roney and her team spent the last year researching and developing Your Chime, which included in-home pilot programs and consultation with childcare professionals.

June 22, 2016

Lionheart: Remembering Dan Wheldon

June 22, 2016/ Mike Kitchel

By Mike Kitchel
My youngest son is unbelievably particular. Everything must be organized perfectly or he gets irritable and restless. He’s very selective about what he wears and refuses to put on any piece of clothing he doesn’t pick out himself. His shoes, specifically, must always be immaculate. Anytime he’s in a room, he’s the center of attention with no exceptions. He’s disarmingly charming and a damn good-looking kid – which is complicated by the fact he knows it. Max Daniel is three years old.

My son’s similarities with the behavioral nuances of Dan Wheldon, while eerie, are merely a coincidence. His name is not. It serves as a constant reminder for our family to embody the distinctive qualities that made DW’s impact on us so profound. The race wins, championships and Indianapolis 500 victories made him a legend, but there is no statistic for what truly made him great. It wasn’t just the charisma, the compassion, the engaging sense of humor and the legendary practical joking. Or the relentless drive for excellence, meticulous attention-to-detail or brutal unwillingness to accept anything less than perfection.

November 11, 2013

Veterans Day Tribute: More Than Just Heroes in Uniform

November 11, 2013/ Mike Kitchel

By Mike Kitchel
I’ve been around for more than 30 Veterans Days, and probably let most of them pass without much notice. I’m sure somewhere in the back of my head I understood what Veterans Day was all about, but I never gave it the respect it has earned. This week I started thinking how much my perspective has changed – having spent a better part of the last five years working on an IndyCar dressed in camouflage, and interacting daily with people wearing the uniform that symbolizes the importance of what today really means.

The offseason in 2007 was like many in IndyCar; a year had flown by at 230 mph, another championship had been celebrated and – like a lot of teams – we’re back to wearing suits and ties in board rooms, presenting business executives with the laundry list of advantages that come with motorsports sponsorship. Somewhere along the way that offseason, the National Guard started to explore expanding their involvement in motorsports into the IndyCar Series. And by the time engines were fired on the 2008 season, our No. 4 car was painted red, white and blue and the corporate executives that once filled our hospitality area were replaced by men and women in camouflage uniforms.

March 23, 2012

A Night with Wheldon: 2011 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

March 23, 2012/ Mike Kitchel

By Mike Kitchel
It was a year ago this weekend in St. Petersburg, on the eve of the first practice day of the 2011 season, that the IndyCar Series entry list had one very notable omission. Dan Wheldon, the former series champ and Indianapolis 500 winner, was not slated to race in the season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg, his beloved adopted hometown, and the site of one of the league’s signature events.

I’d told friends that if Dan didn’t secure a full-time ride before the start of the season, there was no way you’d find him anywhere near our open-wheel circus in St. Petersburg. He hadn’t spoken a word to the media all offseason and had no intentions to until he’d scored a seat. He had been close on some deals, but with the season opener within sight nothing materialized, and the previously ridiculous notion of Dan Wheldon walking through the IndyCar paddock on a race weekend in street clothes – and not a firesuit – was about to become a reality.

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