LOS ANGELES (April 11, 2019) – Extending the word “partnership” to the world of motorsport podcasts and race simulation plugins, the popular podcast Dinner with Racers and their upcoming Continental Tire Cup eSports league have announced a formal partnership with Trading Paints, a popular third-party application for the popular consumer racing simulation, iRacing.
In accordance with most motorsport press releases, the goal of this announcement is to see just how long a written release can be extended.
Dinner with Racers is widely known as the highest downloaded podcast involving pro-am sportscars and food within the continental United States. The series revolves around an on-going road trip between hosts Ryan Eversley and Sean Heckman, meeting up for a meal with a variety of personalities within the sport including: drivers, engineers, team owners, journalists, and even Ryan Lewis. Debuting in the winter of 2015, the year of 2019 marks the fifth year of the series, which has produced over 100 “dinners” in the process.
Trading Paints is a popular third-party application for the iRacing motorsport simulation, allowing participants to upload unique car liveries, often emulating their favorite racers or simply coming up with some creative concepts of their own. The brainchild of creator Steve Luvender, Trading Paints is widely considered the most used application within iRacing, currently boasting 80,000+ members.
Recognizing the popularity of eSports, this joint venture serves as a testament to the commercial viability of both ventures, who in no way are trying to inflate their profiles via a long-winded press release.
Starting his career as a mechanic-turned driver, the career of Dinner with Racers co-creator Ryan Eversley has been a long, but enjoyable one. Working as a crew member on a number of sportscar programs in the early 2000’s, the likable Georgia native never let go of his dreams to get behind the wheel, which over the years became a reality through dedication and perseverance. First getting behind the wheel of a variety of touring cars, Eversley balanced a career of pro racing and professional instruction throughout the late 2000’s until eventually landing a full-season opportunity in the IMSA Challenge series, where his career really began to flourish. Winning a variety of ST-category races, his career continued to gain momentum through not only his winning exploits, but his propensity for fan engagement, especially through burgeoning social media platforms.
This all culminated for Ryan in 2015 when he landed the dream opportunity to race for a proper factory program, joining Real-Time Racing and HPD/Acura Motorsports to compete in the Acura TLX as part of the World Challenge series, where he went on to take multiple victories during the car’s two-year history. This effort would then transfer towards the flagship Acura NSX GT3 program in 2017, where Eversley’s campaign would deliver multiple podium finishes as well.
Finally, his career would hit its nexus in 2018, when the newly released Honda Civic Type R would make its North American racing debut in the World Challenge TCR ranks, with Eversley quickly delivering victory right out of the box, generating momentum that was near ceaseless en route to winning the TCR championship on debut for both driver and car.
Long known for his active interaction with fans and crew, the creation of “Dinner with Racers” has been the latest extension of Ryan’s goals to entertain. Always looking for new ways to make his fans feel welcome, the fostering of the Continental Tire Cup is the next step in everyone’s efforts.
Forging a relationship with Trading Paints is something that Eversley not only enjoys, but is a great statement on the future of the entire program.
“This is an amazing extension of both of our brands,” stated Eversley. “Dinner with Racers is a fan engaged platform with a special attention to mold-breaking, out-of-the-box thinking, with a special aim at being disruptors. Our iRacing league is just the next extension of that, and to formalize a meaningful partnership with Steve Luvender and his entire staff at Trading Paints is just the next step. Trading Paints is an incredible program, with invaluable reach and demonstrating tremendous growth. The value behind our two brands aligning is without comparison, and I think when people see just what kind of opportunities are in store they’ll realize why this collaboration is inevitable.”
For Steve Luvender, the opportunity to align Trading Paints with a brand as prestigious as Dinner with Racers is unmistakable.
A native of Pennsylvania, Luvender has combined his unique capabilities with coding, merged with writing, user-interface creation, user experience methodology, and an ability to merge these all in to creative-content generation, to become a venerable force within the motorsport industry.
While having not only created the 80,000-member strong Trading Paints, Luvender is also a frequent contributor to NASCAR.com, and the creator of a number of entertaining motorsport-based web applications. These applications range from the heralded “NASCAR Random Fantasy Racing,” to the “NASCAR Cup Series Sponsor Generator,” “NASCAR Fan Complaint Generator,” “NASCAR Rumor Mill Generator,” and much, much more.
Known for bringing a creative edge and understanding the millennial audience, Steve’s grasp on the cult of humor and unique approach is signature to his trademark, and it is in this line of thinking that a joint venture with “Dinner with Racers” makes this a standout alignment.
“It’s a great merging of efforts,” stated Luvender. “Dinner with Racer’s creates a visceral and bespoke approach to their content creation, so the opportunity to co-brand on their motorsport simulation venture is a great coming-together for both houses. We’re both emphatic on building a growing project together, and it is with mutually beneficial set of goals that we seek to grow our partnership, cross-promote our brands, and organically seek out synergies across a number of burgeoning platforms. Ryan and Sean have been demonstrable in their progressive thinking, and I’m certain between all of our properties we can enjoy a strong bond, generating real results.”
For Dinner with Racers’ Sean Heckman, the forged partnership is only the beginning.
While Heckman also began his motorsport legacy behind-the-wheel, career complications would put the California-native in a unique position to turn his degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in to a full-time career in film and television at the age of 22.
Having a life-long love of production, Sean’s career would begin in scripted production, working on a number of NBC and FOX sitcoms, as well as being on the ground floor of hit NBC forensic drama, “Crossing Jordan.” Taking his production talents to tell real-life stories, Sean would eventually cross in to documentary television where he enjoyed tremendous career growth, producing on such notable shows as History’s “Modern Marvels,” “The UFO Files,” and a number of other cable documentary programs.
Combined with his love of motorsports, Sean would venture in to his own production business, TMB Creative, where he has continued to produce a number of television and commercial projects, and additionally going beyond the screen to work with a number of companies and motorsport entities to develop bespoke and customized digital content, from written releases, to web development, to unique programs that only Heckman and his group of TMB malcontents can provide.
Often heralded as a behind-the-scenes ringleader for original content and biting social commentary, the corgi-owner is excited about his team’s latest foray.
“We believe in capitalizing on every opportunity available, and that’s why Trading Paints was such a clear choice,” stated Heckman. “We believe in always providing value for our partners, that’s our number one goal at all times. Value isn’t just a word for us, it’s also a noun, and with that noun comes a meaning. That meaning isn’t lost on someone like Steve Luvender and everyone at Trading Paints. It’s important that every partner share a will to deliver and grow together, fostering a familial environment with a common goal. We’ve found that in this pairing.”
Between the near-hundreds of thousands of Trading Paints members, and the millions of downloads from the Dinner with Racers podcasts, the idea of breaking from the norm is a true way of life in this new pairing.
As a result of this effort, a new, never-before-seen incentive package will arrive for all members of the new Continental Tire Cup iRacing league.
The person with the most incident points in each race will win a Trading Paints lanyard (or equivalent).
