Editor's Note: This story originally stated that Aragon's high school funded his trips to covers NASCAR events. This is not true, and has since been corrected. The Daily Lobo apologizes for the error.
A UNM student set to graduate this semester is already living out his dream by creating and writing for his own website focused on NASCAR.
The nationally accredited website, TheRacingExperts.com, is owned and operated by UNM’s own Dominic Aragon, graduating with a degree in mass communication.
Aragon started his journalism career as editor-in-chief for the website he started in 2010. It began as a blog, but has turned into a comprehensive news source accredited by NASCAR and IndyCar.
“It’s been neat to be able to start off something that so small and to be accredited by NASCAR and to go to the Daytona 500 to cover NASCAR championship weekend and start working towards being a full-time reporter in the industry,” Aragon said.
Before creating his own website, Aragon applied for a job at another NASCAR website already i existence, but was turned down. That inspired him to create one of his own.
He had no idea how to create a website, he said, but he had a small team behind him helping him create the website as well as the content for it.
As the website was growing, more time was needed to keep it moving forward, Aragon said. As his work was getting noticed, he turned down multiple job opportunities to allow him to focus on his endeavor.
He credits the growth of TheRacingExperts to the amount of dedication put in during the last six years from him and his co-workers.
Aragon’s story behind the reason for choosing to report on NASCAR began on Christmas when he was four.
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He said he and his brother received a PlayStation that year, along with five games to go along with it. One of those five games turned out to be NASCAR 99, which sparked his interest in racing. While playing the game, he said he learned about the drivers at the time and tracks they raced on.
He watched his first race on TV in 2002, and by 2004 was engaged as a fan full-time.
“There was something interesting about that video game that caught my attention, so I often do wonder if I would have never gotten that video game what would have happened,” he said.
Before starting his website, Aragon said he started his journalism career with a local television station working with Grants High Athletics reporting on sports and interviewing coaches. Through that opportunity, Aragon requested to interview NASCAR drivers, with the school supporting his desire report on races for the website of the school newspaper.
Improvements have been planned for the look and format of TheRacingExpert’s website. Aragon said he is working with web designers to change the structure so that editors can post articles and other content quickly and easily.
He said right now it takes double the amount of time to upload a story than it does to write it, and most of the improvements being planned are going towards improving the website.
But Aragon doesn’t see it as work, not when he’s able to focus on his passion day in and day out. Sometimes that means staying up at two in the morning, he said, waiting for races to finish so he can write about it.
“I’m getting to live my dream, and I’m still in school,” Aragon said. “You have to be willing to put in the hours. If I have any advice it would be to look for the specific angle look for those specific stories others aren’t covering. That is what will get you noticed.”
Denicia Aragon is a staff reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com on Twitter @DailyLobo.
