About Us

Innovative Spectator Products (ISP), makers of RACEceiver, was founded in 2001 by Joe Vinson and Ken Pirkle. The Company was founded based on the concept of making a smaller, more user friendly radio scanner for NASCAR fans. Ken, who worked in two-way radio sales, had been a racing enthusiast all his life and was in tune with the needs of race fans. Joe was in the paging and cellular phone sales business and had ventured into pager manufacturing. The pair met after the 2001 Daytona 500 and discussed the possibility of making a smaller, better scanner for NASCAR fans. A year later, RACEceiver was born.

Over the next 3 years, the Company and the product improved through trial and error, and a lot of hard work. In 2003, Joe met with H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, President of Lowes Motor Speedway and pioneer of the Legends Car Series. The meeting produced a lucrative business relationship and the idea to introduce the World’s Smallest Scanner to the drivers of the Legends Racing Series. This has allowed race officials to talk to the driver for safety and efficiency purposes without having the drivers talk back. The plan was so successful that RACEceiver became the title sponsor of the Legends Series which opened the eyes of the racing fans, drivers and industry leaders to the value the RACEceiver as a one-way race control device. The RACEceiver 350+ dealer network spans the globe with dealers and distributors from Georgia to Australia.

In 2007 RACEceiver enter the Electronic Timing and Scoring market though a joint marketing agreement with Westhold Corporation of California. This relationship has allowed for a more diverse product offering to RACEceiver customers and dealers.

2011 RACEceiver introduced the “RACEceiver Audible Alert”, a device that is installed in a race car and ties in with the RACEceiver radio to notify the driver when there is a problem with the engine. This device should save many engines and thousands of dollars.

In 2022 RACEceiver introduced the LITEceiver, an affordable In-Car Safety Light System. The LITEceiver takes driver awareness to a whole new level, with an LED display of Red, Green, Yellow, White and Checkered Flags in the car or boat.

Today, Joe and Karen Vinson are the sole owner of Innovative Spectator Products and the future of RACEceiver continues to improve with innovative technology for the grass root racing industry.