The Trep School Helps Mike Pollitt Bootstrap Germantown Raceway into a Larger Enterprise

Danville area entrepreneur and 2021 Trep OnTrack Business Bootcamp graduate Mike Pollitt has used what he learned in the two years since graduating from the course to organize and build the foundations of his business.

His company, Germantown Raceway, provides an avenue for radio-controlled (RC) car enthusiasts to explore their hobby, practice, and compete with other enthusiasts. The company gets its name from Danville’s historic Germantown area on the eastern end of Fairchild Street. Each week, RC racers gather to watch shows or participate in races–sometimes coming from hours out of state to join the fun.

“We have people come from around the Midwest to race here, as well as some local people,” Mike says. “We’re starting to get more traveling racers coming in now. We also do promotional things. We did kids racing for the Balloons Over Vermilion, a race at the county fair, and then we did another race at the airport for the car show.”

Mike says he was drawn to RC model cars after health conditions prevented him from continuing his previous hobby of racing stock cars. After realizing the nearest track was hours away, he was inspired to create an RC race track in Danville. “I used to race stock cars at Vermillion County Speedway and some other Midwest racetracks. My health deteriorated to the point where I couldn’t do that anymore, so I started racing RC cars, and the tracks were two hours away or farther. I wanted us to have one here so people wouldn’t have to travel so far to do it.”

When COVID hit, Germantown Raceway was starting to take off, and operations were forced to come to a standstill. Mike remained optimistic and reopened races and shows as soon as he could.

In 2021, he enrolled in the first cohort of the Trep OnTrack Business Bootcamp. Mike bought equipment like new batteries for the RC cars and a laser engraver to make custom merchandise with his seed funds, and he used what he learned in class to organize and promote the business. “I understand business a little bit better, and I’ve tried to do more advertising. I’ve tried to follow along with what I learned to make it grow, and it has. A lot more people know about it.”

He continues: “The Trep School is a great thing, and Tricia (Teague) is a really great teacher. She helped me through quite a lot of things I didn’t know how to do,” he says. “It’s just a great thing for our community to have because we need small businesses here. We’ve been depleted over the years, and she kind of stepped in to do something to help, and it has.”

You can check out the races on the Germantown Raceway Facebook page for updates on races and public exhibitions.