KEARBY: It's 11 concerts with an option for 23. Local bands might play. Slur will be headlining the (concert) event. Friday night they'll go on around 10 p.m.. Saturday night they'll go on around 5 or 6. Sunday they'll go on around 4 or 5.

DRO: So let me make sure I understand this . . . You have completed a deal with NHRA?

KEARBY: This is fresh. It's a done deal.

DRO: How long did it take to put this deal together?

KEARBY: A couple of months.

DRO: Was it an on-again, off-again thing?

KEARBY: Yes, it was.

DRO: Did you meet in Dallas during the O'Reilly Fall Nationals?

KEARBY: Yes.

DRO: I understand you left Dallas thinking you had a gentlemen's agreement but by Thursday --

KEARBY: It blew up.

DRO: What transpired between Dallas and that following Thursday?

KEARBY: It really came down to NHRA wanting to get sponsorship for the Pro Mod class. [Referring to AMS Staff Leasing, he continues.] Because we are the sponsors for the Pro Mod class, they would give us access to do the concert series. So the negotiations for the Pro Mod class had to get done first. We actually didn't finish that until sometime late last night. There were some things that needed to be accomplished at negotiations. Drivers wanted a 16-car field and they couldn't get it right now. They have an eight-car field. That was a big contingency. So we have an eight-car field and everybody's happy about it. This year. Next year we're all anxiously awaiting a 16-car field. But we're patient and when NHRA makes that available, we'll be all over it.

DRO: What was the deal with the emphasis on "exit strategy"?

KEARBY: The sponsorship can be delicate. You have to be with a sponsor who is financially stable. They want to make sure the sponsorship was going to be solid. DRO: So back to the concert series . . .

KEARBY: The concert series is bringing in all sorts of sponsors that NHRA never could attract. Nobody is signed up yet, but the sponsors looking at the deal are really cool. That part of the event is going to attract sponsors that are broader (in appeal) than NHRA was attracting.

DRO: So you're talking out-of-the-box marketing, non-traditional associates.

KEARBY: It's going to bring a completely different crowd to the races.

DRO: Is this your kind of demographic?

CALL AND KEARBY [in unison and without hesitation]: Absolutely!

DRO: What age group do you appeal to?

CALL: Young teenagers, even earlier than that, all the way up to the 50s.

KEARBY: Our demographics are very broad.

DRO: Do you think young people will know Slur is going to perform at the NHRA races and will come out in droves?

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