Photo: blakekoch.com

Like many NASCAR drivers, Blake Koch has been looking for his big break. Racing since 2009, Koch got a break racing in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing where in solid equipment, made the Xfinity Playoffs, amassed five top-tens in 2016 and 2017 along with a pole at Talladega.

Unfortunately, Koch’s sponsor decided not to renew and Koch was out of a ride for 2018. It’s an unfortunate part of the sport but with sponsors being more and more valuable, drivers need to sometimes bring in their own sponsors in order to go racing. This gave Koch an idea to do something no other NASCAR driver has done.

Koch spent the past six months creating his own company as a means to someday continue his NASCAR dream. Called FilterTime, it’s a company that automatically sends you air filters for your HVAC system whenever you need them. It seems simple but changing your air filter is one of those things where you don’t think about until you need to replace it. So, like other automatic delivery systems like HP’s Instant Ink for printers, you can get a new air filter as the old one gets close to needing replaced and you don’t need to make an unnecessary trip to a home improvement store.

This kind of ingenuity is new in sports but it’s been a way for entertainers to get a foot in the door in Hollywood for years. There are so many actors looking for a big break in Hollywood but only so many roles so sometimes they need to write and create their own content and make themselves get noticed. One famous example was Matt Damon and Ben Affleck writing Good Will Hunting in order to send their acting career to the next level and become mainstream leading actors in Hollywood.

That’s what Koch is doing. Not only is he creating his own company, he’s creating his own opportunity to get back into NASCAR. And having FilterTime sponsor him, it comes full circle in that he also gets to promote his company. Koch said on FilterTime’s website that once he gets 10,000 subscribers to the service, he will be able to sponsor himself in NASCAR.

Many in NASCAR will be looking at this and supporting this venture. Maybe this is the future of driver sponsorship. When you create a company yourself and build it from the ground up, you are in control of everything. There’s no having the rug pulled out from under you and it seems like Koch is making sure his business is financially stable before getting back in the driver’s seat. And if another company would like to join in and sponsor Koch, that’s a great bonus. Now all he needs is 10,000 supporters and a ride.

[Photo: blakekoch.com]

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

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