Many of you have no idea just how correct Gene is......I think a lot of "super fans" (which let's face it that's what most of us are) are so passionate about our sport and our teams that we're always wanting more - which is a good thing. Where most super fans judgement gets clouded is when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of a successful franchise. Anyone remember "Jerry McGuire"? Show me the money! Not just in purses, but from sponsors too.

We LOVE our sport, we want it to be so successful, we want OUR driver to get the big sponsorship, we want OUR track to get the jumbotron and $5 general admission, we want the driver we hate to lose his ride........because we're passionate - and that's a great asset as a fan - not so good from a business perspective.

Take your emotions out of it for a moment - compare sprint car racing, which has decades of rich history in this country, to other sporting events in this country and I see sprint car racing (actually all racing)regressing or treading water rather than progressing. 15-20 years ago "soccer mom" wasn't a term anyone was familiar with....in fact most people didn't even have a clue of how a basic soccer game went down.......but look how that sport has EXPLODED across the country. Cities are taking tax money to build huge soccer complexes (which doesn't have all that different a season than racing) because of the huge draw it brings in participants and specatators and tourism $ for the city (remember "show me the $")......all the while race tracks are closing every year. I can enroll my child for a reasonable amount of money in every sport out there (pee wee football, soccer, swimming, baseball, softball, gymnastics, tennis, golf, even lacrosse in some areas) but I really have to have some serious discretionary $ to put my child in racing and I have to travel some good distances to compete. Can you honestly say that in looking at racing you have seen growth in the last 20 years? Even NASCAR and Indy Car have taken a hit....remember all those empty seats??? If you don't grow, you die. If you stand still, everyone else will pass you. Somewhere along the way the visionaries of the sport decided to play it safe.....and racing has gotten passed by the new niche sports of the day..........

I sell sponsorships for a living, some in the $500,000 range, some in the $5,000 range, sometimes I'm good at it and sometimes I strike out but it's all the same whether it's football, baseball, golf, college basketball (in Indiana no less) or racing. No company is going to sponsor your favorite driver or your favorite track or your favorite whatever because they hold the most feature wins, because they have the sexiest flagman, or because their cheeseburgers were featured on the Food network. Advertisers sponsor things - anything - for one reason only......what's in it for them. That's the first question they ask....what's in it for me.......what is my "return on investment"....oh but you can say "well he's the best driver ever, and he's fun to watch, and this track has the best slide jobs or is always prepared well..and a thread on a message board got 20,000 views because of him".....but does that really help State Farm sell insurance?

And as much as the majority on here dislike NASCAR - you're missing a huge point.....Racing is the ONLY sport that has visual sponsorship the entire time they compete!!! The MLB doesn't sell it's team names - there is no St. Louis Budweiser baseball team, but there is the Budweiser racing team.....there is no Indianapolis Prozac NFL team, but there is that Viagra car...... I've sold NASCAR sponsorships through television...they don't really care if the team is the "best" or the "winningest" sure it helps but they want to know "how many people will see my logo and decide they want to buy my product". Be GLAD that racing has held onto that one thing - their right to sponsor teams.....on the national level that's why advertisers flock to racing - they can't buy Peyton Manning - sure he can "endorse" their product - but not in a Ball Park Hot Dogs uniform...but hey here's Michael Waltrip and he's going to tell everyone why they should go to NAPA for their parts in his nice blue uniform with our logo front and center and he's going to take a big drink of his Coca Cola on camera.......

As for being a female in racing...well I've had some people tell me within the last year even that women don't belong in the pits (that's fine, did you know that most marketing directors are women and they control all that sponsor $ you want so badly?). I don't get offended - it's not just racing that is a "boys club" or off color comments are made. There are a lot of those in advertising (or banking or litigation or insurance) that will tell you as a female that a "little T&A will close the deal honey" and most females that are successful ignore that and just keep doing what we do. If I got my panties in a twist every time someone said a man could do what I do better then I probably wouldn't be handling roughly 1.8 million dollars worth of advertising this year (and I'm not bragging - I'm the mid range salesperson -- the top salesperson is a female though and she handles over 3 million a year)....

So, backseat crew chiefs - my question to you is: what would you change to PROgress the sport instead of REgress the sport? Why are your fair boards shutting down tracks instead of building complexes for quarter midgets? Why isn't your business name on the side of a car? I giggle often reading the posts on here because they remind me of my grandpa talking about those "no good Cubs fans that keep praying for Series win" (I grew up an hour and half from St. Louis) you can just substitute Cubs for "paragon, haubstadt, kokomo, any drivers name that passed your favorite, toyota, Danica, Ford, chevy....

Gene makes a lot of great points - its the people that enjoy the sport or have some direct connection that are the sponsors on a local level - and it is only at the local level that a sport can grow. But - most every national company is owned by a local franchise that have their own marketing money so if they don't see the value in your product (racing) how do you expect anyone else to?

I'm just a silly girl though....who is relatively new to racing....and enjoys a good debate every now and then

Sacha

These words are just about the most perfect thing I've ever read on here.

Thank you very much..............I try to tell it like I see it.

next week we're going to eat Subway in front of starving childern in Africa for an encore........

I'm thinking maybe it was the USAC stipulation rather a weekly team. I would hope that if you offered that same deal to a local team rather than a traveling USAC team your phone would ring off the hook. Maybe, maybe not. I for one try my best to use the power of IOW, it is how I found the ride I have today and I'm VERY thankful for that.

I believe that nothing says 'I'm interested' better than a face to face meeting 'going the extra mile'. If I had a sprinter and I remotely thought I had a chance to utilize your partnership, the only phone call you would have recieved would have been me calling to get your address to come meet and talk. Whether it's a potential sponsor or a car owner on the fence about letting you run his/her car anyone can make a phone call, few will go out of their way to meet in person no matter the distance. Perseverence goes a long way.

You're buying the plane ticket and Subway sandwiches, right?

Sacha,

The life blood of the scene in this state is and always has been the single car family team. Without them, the tracks would be hard pressed to bring these big shows (USAC. KISS. etc.) to their track, for all of us to see. And the economics for those teams has always been pretty simple. They're not going to make a profit and the best they can hope to do work their asses off in their day jobs to have enough money to run that week, without suffering a loss that will put them out for a long time. I had one uncle and his son that were pipe fitters and another that he and his son were boilermakers, working all week to make their weekend happen. Each knew that they didn't have the equipment to run with Bob Kinser, Chuck Amati, Dick Gaines, etc., so doing that wasn't a part of their expectation equation. Making the feature and holding their own was a successful evening. And they did this for years, with one uncle even joining the Vintage Car circuit after he retired. So, basically, a group of local racers who will work for free, only getting rewarded by their chance to compete, is what has always enabled the tracks to pull off this smoke-and-mirrors trick they do, in order to make this whole scene happen. I've seen three generations of Gentrys do it purely for the love of the sport. Three generations of Briscoes are similar, although Kevin was the rare exception in that he was often able to slay the giant. Two generations of Christians have had some success, too. The Spencers and Beseckers are two real good examples of what this is all about. I remember Kevin's last Sprint Week, when he broke his car at Bloomington (with help). Flipped his ass off at Putnamville, further damaging the chassis. Then a couple of days later, they showed up at Lawrenceburg with a different chassis with a huge band-aid on the side of the car (as a joke) and when you talked to him, all he could talk about was how thankful he was. Then, look at Josh Spencer. Those guys have been living on a shoestring for as long as they've been around. And that guy's walking around the track, talking to kids, doing stuff in the community, promoting charities, etc. He obviously relishes the role of being a Sprint Car Driver, instead of dwelling on what he DOES NOT have. And I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, because you see first-hand all the sacrifices Robert has to make, just to keep racing. Looking at it second-hand, it's even obvious from my point of view. I'm making this point just to say it's something that you just can't take the emotion out of it, because it's an emotion (their love for the sport) that makes the whole sport possible. Plus, the whole driver with the lower budget slaying the giant scenario possible, it adds another dynamic to the whole race fan experience. Everybody was pulling for Chase Stockon or when he was out front in a USAC race @ Haubstadt. Or Sciscoe @ Terre Haute. Or or Kenny Niflis, when he won the Sheldon Kinser Memorial. Or for Dickie, when he won USAC @ Putnamville.

So, there's no real answer to what can be changed to make it economically viable to race sprint cars and midget, because it never really has been. Except for a few at the top. And I say a few, because the majority of the guys in the Hall-of-Fame didn't retire well off. Dick Gaines won a thousand A-Mains and yet Dickie's a great driver, that's often without a ride. Another thing that impedes the sport from getting big is that it is so much better to see in person than it is to watch on TV or on the internet. We're all addicted to the total sensory overload that is a sprint car race. And it takes TV to get it to a mass audience, thus generating mass advertising revenue. And without that, changing the economics of the sport will never change that much.

I think fans should be willing to pay more, too. This kind of racing is a lot better than winged racing, IMO, yet they'll charge almost twice as much and still draw big crowds. Our racing is better, yet perceived to be of lesser value.

With all due respect ma'am, how many men and women have died or been seriously injured at Wrigley field or any baseball or soccer stadium? Please don't compare racing to baseball, soccer, football, basketball, volleyball, billiards, darts, bowling or tennis. Thank you for your interest and have a nice day

Some people have problems with a woman involved in racing,me on the other hand used to have a girl that helped me on the car that i took care of and she was better help than a lot of guys that i've worked with over my 30+ years of being a race car mechanic.So don't let the naysayers get you down,you have a lot of passion for this sport and believe me that goes a long way, as it is very hard to find people that are willing to dedicate themselves to live the life as a racer.As it's not as glamorous as a lot of people think it is,it's alot of blood,sweat and tears and if your lucky some glory thrown in.We do it because we love it and you obviously love racing as well,so don't give up!

That's Robert Ballou's girlfriend, so I'm pretty sure she's already figured out that sprint car racing is slightly more dangerous than billards or bowling. Look up the word metaphor.

Jerry