About UsAbout Us
The CJPnet Website Network has come a long way. Started as an idea on a napkin, which is also the formal production basis for an idea with us, CJPnet has grown and expanded into its present day form. However, it wasn't easy ...
Humble Beginnings
Christopher J. Papa started off doing what 20 year olds were doing at that time, which was participating in online sim races with other race guys that were then, very unknown guys. The racing was a fun hobby, and Chris took it to the next level. Chris started a website called "FireOnDirt.com", which was a site built to house a pair of sim racing leagues he had created for the game produced by Ratbag called Dirt Track Racing. That was just the start however. Soon came some exploration into a program called 3-D Studio Max, and the mission started to bring a local type of race car into the game. He infact, with some technical input of actual racing friends he had forged while sim racing, created the Northeast style DIRT Modified car as an add-on to the game. The add-on was so vastly popular in fact, that the car was added as a built-in option to the games follow up release, Dirt Track Racing 2, also produced by Ratbag. Chris acted as a technical advisor for the vehicle shaping as well as it's physics.
With the popularity of the add-on, the website gained a lot of attention from local racers, and many very solid relationships were formed with some very connected people in the northeast dirt track racing scene. Chris partnered up with his "right hand man" of sorts, Chris Rhynold (Canada) and decided to explore the idea of mixing in racing news to the sim racing website. It took off.
The Evolution
Within a few short months, the site kept growing, and growing, and FIREonDIRT.com was evolving and growing so fast, a change was necessary. In 2000, unannounced, Chris acquired the domain name DirtTrackDigest.com from a private party for a relatively sizable sum, and the decision was made nearly overnight to all but abandon its sim racing roots, and go full out racing news. It was a resounding success.
It quickly became one of the most respected sources of news on the web, powered by a message board titled "Race Talk For Smart People" - which was so heavily and tactfully moderated that media and drivers felt comfortable participating in coversations as themselves. Even more impressive than the member base was the staff of contributing writers and photographers. Nearly every single member of the origjnal 18 or so writers and photographers are not only still active in the sport, they have moved on to track promoters, announcers, writers in print, photographers for racing series and print ... the success rate is really quite astonishing.
Official Launch
In 2002, CJPnet was officially born, launching as cjpnet.com. With all of the tremendous relationships that were born as a result of Chris' involvement with DTD, demand was high to acquire his services as a web designer for racers and businesses around the sport. An identity was needed! And yes, it was initially conceived as a web design company.
Yet, with all the success of the site, the time spent working it was too much. Chris bowed out, and DirtTrackDigest.com was acquired in 2005, and is still going strong today, carrying the same reputation and level of respect, and traffic still continues to grow.
After the departure from DTD in the fall of 2005, the client base for CJPnet also dwindled. Burned out, Chris was OK with the client base diminishment. The client base was down to one client. Racer Chad Brachmann. Brachmann was also one of the first clients CJPnet ever had.
Rebirth
In 2007, things started to pick up steam again. Chris regained the itch for creativity and for business. Concepts started to form. Many of the concepts from 2007 are the domain names and business models coming to life right now with CJPnet.
First was the launch of NRGProHost.com, then DigitalizedMedia.com, then a launch of RaceSpace.net, then BuffaloSportsNut.com. Some worked, some didn't. NRGProHost was melted into DigitalizedMedia, and now is a stand alone business which is thriving quite nicely. RaceSpace was launched and taken down a month later, but is the conceptual basis to Dirt365.com. BSN was unstable, and is being redeveloped from scratch, and perhaps renamed very soon prior to its launch in January 2012.
The Future
The end is far from near - it isn't even in sight. We are still coming up over the horizon, and our goal of success is shining brightly in the sky.
