Kendra Jacobs Turns Knoxville Raceway Into Disneyland For Race Fans
Kendra Jacobs Turns Knoxville Raceway Into Disneyland For Race Fans
In order for a race to go off smoothly, there have to be talented people behind the scenes--and that is a lesson learned by Kendra Jacobs at an early age.
For the past two weeks, the sprint car world centered around the Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway, and with wins by local stars and superstars alike, no one went home unhappy.
As race fans settle back into their jobs after spending 10 days at the sprint car mecca -- the business of marketing one of the sport's biggest venues continues.
The crew that brought the magic to the showcase and seamlessly transitioned the track between 360 and 410 events has returned to doing the fairy work that made arriving at the event feel like Disneyland.
Kendra Jacobs is the marketing director at Knoxville Raceway, and as such, she's the point person to make sure the experience is as magical as possible for the thousands of sprint car fans who make the pilgrimage to Knoxville.
Jacobs is not the first or the last of her family to be involved in racing. She's part of a third generation of racers and others involved in the sport. Her dad is Kenny Jacobs, who used to take his entire family on the road each summer as he competed around Ohio and Pennsylvania and then nationally with the All Star Circuit of Champions and the World of Outlaws.
"I lived in a motor home just driving down the highway every day during the summer and I loved it," Kendra said. "I would not trade my childhood for anything. It was the best. And now my whole career is based off of what my dad did for a living, and his is based off of what his dad did for a living. It's kind of funny that this one decision that my grandfather made 80 years ago has shaped three generations and likely more than that once our kids grow up."
Each year, the Knoxville Nationals become a family reunion for Kendra. Her brother, Lee, competes as a driver. Her cousin, Cody, is the crew chief for Tim Shaffer, and her parents come now as fans. She also got the chance to see the faces of those who are not related to her by blood but rather by the love of the sport.
"Honestly, I think that the people become your family," Jacobs said, "My sister and brother are still my best friends, and I think a lot of that is because when we were kids and traveling in that motorhome we didn't really have anybody but each other. Our family is crazy close because of it."
But Jacobs knows that racing's extended family is just as important.
"On the road, our best friends were the other drivers' kids, so even now when I see them -- and sometimes it's just one week a year during the Nationals -- we all just have such great stories and memories to share with each other because we grew up together," she said. "It's fun to me when fans come back to the Nationals every year and they talk about who these people are that sit around them like, 'Oh, we've been sitting with those same people every year for 40 years. We keep in touch during the offseason. We're best friends now.' I think that's how this sport changes people."
Being the marketing director for Knoxville has been a perfect fit for Jacobs, who is about to wrap up her second season with the title. Racing is what she's always known and felt comfortable around, and she's worked hard to improve her natural gift as a leader and problem-solver.
While she was growing up and starting to wonder what her next move would be, she noticed that her eyes would drift away from the action on the track and to the action behind the scenes.
"I think it was my senior year of high school and we got tickets to the CART race in Cleveland," Jacobs said. "It was a street course in Cleveland and I was more interested in who all the people were on golf carts with headsets on behind the scene. So I remember asking people, 'So what is that job, what are those people doing?' and I think that day is what changed me, and showed me what I wanted to do. I wanted to stay involved in racing but not be a driver and not be on a crew. So I went in on the business, marketing, and PR side and I've loved every minute of it."
This week, Jacobs is enjoying some hard-earned time off before shifting gears and helping run the marketing of STP's NASCAR program at the "Track Too Tough to Tame," Darlington Speedway. She'll be back at Knoxville next month to run the Late Model Nationals program before returning to her home in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the winter.
A schedule like this would drive someone crazy without a love for the sport or a familiarity with living on the road from an early age. Both of Jacob's bosses should be grateful that she has both traits.