Permatex Sponsors Follow A Dream Race Team For 13th Straight NHRA Racing Season

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Permatex Sponsors Follow A Dream Race Team For 13th Straight NHRA Racing Season

The team is eager to improve on 2nd place finish in the 2016 Eastern Region.

Counterman Staff
By Counterman Staff
Published:

HARTFORD, Conn. — Permatex, a leading innovator in chemical technology for automotive maintenance and repair, will continue its perennial sponsorship of the Follow A Dream Race Team as the team’s corporate sponsor for the 2017 NHRA Championship Top Alcohol Funny Car Series. This year marks the 13th consecutive season that Permatex has partnered with Jay Blake and his Follow A Dream Race Team in the NHRA series. As the Follow A Dream team enters the new season on the heels of a 2nd place finish in the Eastern Region in 2016, the team hopes to parley the positive side of ‘lucky 13’ with some solid car preparation and teamwork throughout the 2017 challenge.

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“We have been working hard over the winter on the Permatex Camaro and can’t wait to get to Florida with the Permatex Follow A Dream Team and get things started,” said team owner Jay Blake on the upcoming season. “The entire team is excited to start the new season and to build on what we learned last year.” Over the past seven years, the Permatex Follow A Dream Race Team has been nationally ranked in the NHRA Top 10 four times.

The Permatex Follow A Dream Race Team will compete in the 2017 NHRA series with veteran driver Phil Burkart behind the wheel. Burkart joined the Follow A Dream team as the full time driver in 2016. He will help the team compete in 14 races this year, across the United States.

Veteran, Anthony Terenzio, will also continue as the team’s tuner. Terenzio joined the team in 2016 season after the retirement of long time tuner Tom Howell.

Information and season updates on the Permatex Follow A Dream Team can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FollowADreamRacing and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jayfollowadream

About Follow A Dream

Follow A Dream Race Team is a remarkable story in itself, and winning at the national level is only part of it. Follow A Dream’s owner and crew chief, Jay Blake, is totally blind. Jay lost his eyesight in a tire explosion over 20 years ago, but he did not lose his positive attitude on life, nor his desire to pursue his dreams. Jay had always wanted to form his own race team, and in spite of his serious setback, he continued to focus on his goals. Through years of incredible determination and perseverance, he was able to realize his dream and founded Follow A Dream Racing. Since then, the team has worked its way up the rankings to become one of the top Funny Car teams in the world.

Jay Blake’s mission to motivate others

While he has worked incredibly hard to build his team, Jay Blake has also worked to encourage others to overcome adversity. He has toured the country as a motivational speaker at community schools, vocational institutes, corporate events, social club gatherings and hospitals, encouraging people to believe that they can rise above adversity and achieve their life’s goals.

Permatex is a leading manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of premium chemical products to the automotive maintenance and repair markets. Since 1909, Permatex has been an acknowledged leader in the development of innovative new products and services for the automotive aftermarket. Permatex markets a wide range of products under well-known ITW brand names such as Permatex, Fast Orange, Spray Nine, the Right Stuff, Gel Twist, Ultra Bond and Dr. Bond, Ultra Cherry, and Grez-Off.

Permatex currently operates in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the U.K. and exports products to more than 85 countries around the world. North American operations include Permatex’s headquarters in Hartford, CT and a state-of-the-art manufacturing, distribution and technical center located in Solon, OH.

Permatex is a division of ITW (Illinois Tool Works Inc.), a US based, NYSE listed corporation, founded in 1912. ITW is a Fortune 200 diversified manufacturing company.

2017 Permatex/Follow A Dream Race Schedule*

March 9-12  Gainseville Points Race    Gainseville, FL

March 16-19  Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gator Nationals   Gainseville, FL

April 21-22  Virginia Points Race     Richmond, VA

April 28-30  Four-Wide Nationals     Charlotte, NC

May 26-27  Maple Grove Points Race     Reading, PA

June 22-25  Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals  Norwalk, OH

June 30-31  Lebanon Valley Points Race    W. Lebanon, NY

July 6-9  Route 66 NHRA Nationals     Chicago, IL

July 21-22  New England Dragway     Epping, NH

August 4-5  Atco Dragway      Atco, NJ

August 18-19  Cecil County Dragway    Cecil County, MD

August 30-Sept. 4 Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals   Indianapolis, IN

September 15-17 NHRA Carolina Nationals     Charlotte, NC

September 22-24 NHRA Keystone Nationals     Reading, PA

*Schedule is tentative and subject to change.

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Customer Service: How It’s Done

Customer service should be your number one priority, and it all starts with the greeting.

Eric Garbe
By Eric Garbe
Eric Garbe is a graduate of Columbus State Community College with a degree in Automotive Maintenance Technology. He has extensive independent and dealership field experience as a technician and shop owner and is an ASE Certified Master Technician and former Adjunct Automotive Professor. He has been professionally writing automotive technical articles and documents for many years and in his free time enjoys restoring old cars and creating custom interiors and upholstery.
Published:

This is always an important topic to discuss, because I consider excellent customer service one of the most important tools you can have to earn trust, respect and repeat business from the customers that come through your door. Whether that customer is do-it-yourselfer from across town or the professional repair shop across the street, your business depends on a solid relationship.It’s a subject that I am passionate about, and it’s one that many people are losing touch with. Whether you are communicating to someone in person, on the phone or using some type of social media, good customer service and bad can both exist. You can’t afford the latter, so this is the first in a series of topics which can and should be shared from the front of the shop to the back. No matter which role you hold, you represent the shop and yourself. Customer service should be your number one priority.First on the list is the greeting. From the second a customer walks in the door, they need to know you appreciate them coming in and how important they are to your business. First impressions are everything and here’s the correct way to do it each and every time: look them directly in the eye, smile and say hello!Of course, you can say “Good morning” or “Welcome to Joe’s Autocare,” but it should be a formal greeting and the most important thing is that you have smiled, looked them in the eye and recognized that they have walked through the door.You should always retain a formal greeting until you are on a first-name basis with a customer. Only once you have established that level of relationship is it OK to use the less formal greeting of “Hi,” followed by the person’s name.This greeting does more than just indicate respect and appreciation for someone walking through the door. Most likely there are customers both new and old who are in earshot of your conversation. For newer customers, this continues to build rapport and reinforce their positive view of your shop; they see that you demonstrate respect and treat everyone in the same manner. For repeat customers, even ones that have been coming for years, the greeting is important because the way you treat them is the reason they continue to come.And when a long-time customer comes in and you greet them with “Hi [First Name],” this indicates your appreciation for them and that you’re glad to see them as a person, more than just a customer. New customers that witness this will see that your repeat customers are comfortable enough to be on a first-name basis, another indication of the trust they have in you.

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