Indiana Open Wheel - Deannalynn & Others

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Re: Deannalynn & Others

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seadog (Post 237026)

You're like a train wreck - horrible to witness, and yet I can't look away.

Thanks to me and others like me, you are able to run up your post count and are getting the attention you crave.

IMO:20:

Maybe it is the start of her book.

REH

Re: Deannalynn & Others

Quote:

Originally Posted by wtvwrocks (Post 237004)

Oh you are absolutely right Jerry - it's the little engines that could that keep the big engines moving along. At some point though I think the big engine (or big shows) put on the brakes making it even harder for the little engines to keep going. I love the underdogs that come out on top at a big show.

Here's what I wonder......we are fast approaching Indiana Sprint Week - our Super Bowl if you will.....and let's face it - it is really just several regular USAC shows compacted into a shorter time period. Great for us as fans! We can take a week of vacation and see the greatest guys in the country compete practically every night. But why hasn't it evolved? Why hasn't it become bigger and better each year? Why isn't it more of a "super bowl" atmosphere? Now I'm a racing purist like the next person and I go to see the races, but if you want to go to the next level (get TV exposure, big sponsors, etc) then you have to have a little showbusiness along with the sport. Let's face it - the monster truck shows, the X games, they aren't selling out Conseco because everyone in there is a lifelong fan.

I don't know the finances involved or what the sanction fees imposed on the tracks are - but doesn't Sprint Week deserve to be a $10k to win EVERY NIGHT? UMP Summernationals which is a solid MONTH of racing every night except for 3 days off pays $6k to win on weeknights and $10k on weekend nights as best I can recall.....and we can't make our Super Bowl of non-wing sprint racing $10k each night for just 7?

And it starts next week - hmm - well I've yet to hear or see any commercials promoting the week...we all know about it and are excited but what about those that don't? The biggest race week of the year and no commercial prescence in the largest populated market of the state? Or maybe I just haven't heard/seen any and there are some airing.

We all know that these shows most likely have the highest grandstand attendance - so - how do we get there?

Again, I don't know the finances but why not:

raise the grandstand ticket price $7 (wait before you complain about price)
tie in a 3rd party retailer (say Speedway gas stations that have a presence throughout all of IN) to offer discount coupons for $5 off adult tickets - Speedway pays for advertising to promote the week giving televsion/radio/print promotion to increase attendance. Every other sporting "event" does this

You still have an extra $2 in incremental $ to contribute to a higher purse, plus you should have a higher attendance giving you greater sales to cover the higher purse.

Next - offer a megaticket. Verizon offers this and it sells extremely well. For a limited time before the week begins you sell megatickets that get you grandstand admission to every night of racing during sprint week. Tickets are non-refundable except in case of rain or cancellation, and you get a 10% discount or something similar for purchasing all at once. Now you have fans who may have only considered going to 4-5 nights of racing that will consider adding the final night because they're getting the discount - the tracks don't lose money because once you buy the ticket it's yours. If it rains you just refund back the portion for that one night of racing. Again, you should see some of the partial week spectators commit to another 1-2 nights giving you more incremental income.

Lastly - make it an event. Ever been to the Professional Bull Riding event? It was a two day show in Indy - sold out crowd and you had to buy a ticket for each day - two day points combined winner got $25,000 I think (purse isn't much bigger than a sprint car show) oh and if we're comparing sports I would wager that PBR is probably more dangerous than Sprint Car racing. But there is an excitement at this show - you know you are at an event - even if you don't know diddly squat about bulls. There is a personality (one of the clowns) that provides antics and information in the downtime. So while they're working the track - why isn't there a personality to build the excitement before the main event? It doesn't have to be a circus - but it does keep the kids and fair weather fans engaged.

Speaking of kids - why is there no mascot? Mascots are a commercial success - Triple AAA baseball teams have them - the feeder Hockey teams have them - little kids love them......again - more entertainment for the next generation and fair weather fans....you and I as purist may not like it - but if it keeps feet in the seats then we still get to watch a great race I could tolerate a guy in a tire costume.....

Back to the PBR - those riders are REQUIRED to spend 30 minutes after each event meeting and greeting the public unless they are not allowed to for medical reasons. Doesn't matter if you are the top dog, or the rookie you have to spend your 30 minutes shaking hands or you don't get paid - no going to your trailer and hiding.....think that would build some fans?

A kickoff event the night before - again - this is a sellable opportunity to a 3rd party - at say Hooters, another thing the PBR has done to build hype and promote - mandatory appearance by top points drivers, etc.

It may not be what you and I would enjoy - but then again - I would like to see the purses increase, the way that will happen is more fans, the way to get more fans is to advertise and market.

Sacha

Sacha, you should be working with USAC. I used to marvel when I was in SoCal that the Thursday night show for the Oval Nationals had virtually no one in the stands, and Friday nights still had plenty of open seats. If memory serves me correctly, 5 years ago there were 74 cars in the pits for Thursday night, and maybe 1,000 in the stands? As I posted before, I have seen too many tracks go belly up to believe what is being done now is working.

Re: Deannalynn & Others

Deannalynn, Sickfan has asked a couple of times what your connection to the sport of auto racing is, what tracks you go to and what teams you help? Why is this a big secret? While to the best of my knowledge we have never met, I do believe your Dad has owned or still currently owns a Silver Crown Car. So tell us which it is instead of playing all the games you play on here. Doesn't your Dad also post on IOW, maybe he will tell everyone what his current role is as a USAC car owner?

Patti

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mud Packer (Post 237009)

Sacha,

Some great ideas that would "enhance" the sprint week experience. I would like to see more of these ideas come forward to help move the sport a notch or two up the ladder. In the early days of sprintweek, I remember Danner's (I know, showing my real age here) being the title sponsor and offering discounted tickets for the shows.

Not trying to nit pick, but the Summer National payout changed a couple of years ago. Certain shows pay $5,000 to win now instead of the $6,000 pervious. They may have taken the money off of the top to increase the pay out farther down the list, I really don't know.

They have 7 $10,000 to win shows and one $12,000 to win show. It would be nice to reward the efforts of the owners/drivers/crews for all the hard work they do in entertaining the fans. I for one am glad you decided to post instead of just updates.

I didn't see it as nitpicking at all - I was just going off my most recent memory of the event. And none of those "ideas" I tossed out there are new - several other types of sports are doing these exact same things.

If you want to take it a step further - offer a one million dollar bonus to any driver that can win all 7 nights - now.....obviously this is a stretch for someone to accomplish and you might be thinking where will the money come from if someone does accomplish it - well you can purchase an insurance policy for this type of bonus. Marketers do it often - an actuary will figure out what the actual odds are someone could achieve this weigh the risk and sell you a special policy that in the event it happened would cover the million dollar payout. Ok so it would be tough, but doesn't it add some sizzle? End up with someone on a roll where theres a chance and the media picks it up giving you even more coverage and exposing you to new fans.

Again - nothing I invented on my own - just some things that have crossed my mind from time to time.
Posted using Mobile Device

Re: Deannalynn & Others

Back to Gene's original post, do what you can, personally, to help the sport. One thing that 95% of us hardcore fans have in common,(I consider most on here hardcore) is that we were exposed to this sport early. Like many others, my experience started with my dad taking me since before I can remember. When I think back, those are some of the best memories in my life. It was loud, it was fast, the dirt was flyin, the fumes were in the air, it was... fantastic. I was hooked. So what can you do? Take a kid. Take your kids, take your kid's friends, take nieces and nephews, take neighbors. One day, maybe they will get involved. They could become a fan, car owner, driver, or sponsor. It's not a short term answer, but I think it can make a difference.

Thank God for guys like Gene that have really made a difference. Best of luck to you this year!

Re: Deannalynn & Others

As far off topic as this thread has gotten, I think there have been some real bright spots from many people. Huge respect to Gene for his thoughts/contributions (in many ways). I really think wtvwrocks should also be working for USAC like mentioned before.

Guys, we have to get creative in this sport. We aren't watching local go kart races on a temporary track (still fun to watch), these are fire breathing machines that have the potential to pack huge grandstands.

Why can't local tracks drop off 20 tickets to local highschools around central Indiana...hell, even if the kids get in free I am sure they will spend the cost of admission in the concession. But the opportunity we need is to showcase our small niche of racing to new people. We have all somehow been exposed to this small sport that we love, but we have to go to farther lengths for exposure than most professional sports. Once we get more people interested, I really believe this sport can take off and we will see our big sprint/midget weeks grow each year. When attendance grows, everything else does ie...sponsors, increased purses, etc.

I always try to bring new people to races and surprisingly, most love it..even women who have no real fascination with sports. We know how great our sport is, we just have to show everyone else.

Re: Deannalynn & Others

SpfldMile, you read my mind. The thing that everyone can do to help racing is to simply GO TO THE TRACK! Any race track, any type of car. If you don’t like that one, go to another. Don’t limit yourself. Be a fan of racing, not just one specific kind. I’ve seen great sprint car races on dirt and pavement, winged and non-winged. And yes (and I know this will shock a lot of you) I’ve even seen great stock car races.
If you don’t have the money to go to the track (a common excuse and a legitimate one), find a race team in your area. Call them or stop at their shop and ask them if they need help. If you prove yourself, they will probably take you to the races and pay your way. You don’t need any special skills. There’s always a part to clean, floors to sweep, etc. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone to the track by myself and would have gladly bought a pit pass just to have someone to run the 4-wheeler. If you don’t like that team, find another!
If you do have a couple of extra bucks, buy a driver his pit pass. Or even buy him a Coke. Or even better, buy his crew a Coke. Every track has that one guy (or more) that’s struggling just to get by. Every little bit helps. A person doesn’t have to have thousands of dollars to sponsor a car. They just need to want to help.
I remember one night at Anderson for a HOSS race. I had a decent night (won the heat, eighth or ninth in the feature) and a guy came up to me, gave me his card and told me to give him a call next time we were in town. He never gave me much, but it was always appreciated.
Deannalynn, I don’t think anyone would doubt your passion for racing. But posting random thoughts on a message board ultimately won’t change a thing. So for you and all the others out there, just walk away from the keyboard and truly make a difference.

Tom Paterson

Re: Deannalynn & Others

A local small block supermodified driver in Oswego went to the new owners with a new twist on the free ticket give away. Tim's profession when not driving a race car is a teacher so he hatched the idea of getting students from the local schools and members of various youth groups in the area now that school is out to resight the Pledge of Allegiance before the National Anthem is played. Each school or youth group was given 25 tickets I believe to pass out so each child could have one adult accompany them free to the race.

I talk alot about Oswego on here because that is where my love for the sport of auto racing was born, my Dad started taking me as a young child and we spent every Saturday night at the races together until the late 90's when his battles with cancer prevnted him from going any more. Over those years I have seen many of the great ideas this thread has brought out tried to increase attendance but I had never seen Tim's idea tried before nor havee I ever seen a speedway have as liberal of a youth policy as Oswego has this year. They are admitting children up to 16 years old in free with a paying adult. The new owners of the speedway are doing a number of things to address the tough eceonomy we are in. Never before have I seen a speedway offer compo meals but Oswego has adopted the policy that every fast food joint has and it is going over very well.

The other thing that has impressed me the most about the new owners at Oswego, their drive you might called it to advertise or market the speedway. They realize how important it is not only to advertise in the local Oswego area but also Syracuse, Watertown, Rochester and Buffalo, and they also realize the importance of getting the Canadian race fans back to Oswego. Can't tell you how warm and fuzzy my heart was yesterday when the Oswego Shopper a local weekly paper that is mailed out free to everyone in the county had a full page ad advertising next Saturday July 9th's King of Wings race. What a novel idea to advertise your race a week in advance and not the day before or day of. LOL! Yes, for those of you that don't know me I can be very critical of racing groups or tracks that I don't think do enough to advertise their events. Oswego isn't one of them! An the new owners realize they have a big task ahead of them restoring the Speedway to it's former gorly days.

Hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend where ever they chose to go racing, I will be at Oswego watchhing one of my favorite Indy drivers return to his supermodified roots. Davey Hamilton will be driving the John Nicotra supermodified at Oswego tonight if that r word stays out of the forecast.

Oswego is also continuing the policy of admitting our active military members free, like many race tracks do. Let's all remember to support our troops while we are busy having fun.

Patti

Re: Deannalynn & Others

Patti, we, the MTQRL, have used this technique for the past 2 years, but, we had Gary Lee, as Marketing Director, and it worked very well, we also got involved in the local celebrations, being involved in the Parades, setting up car shows before the races, anything that could be used to benefit us, as well as get the youngsters involved, like you say, free tickets, prizes, trivia in the stands, anything to awaken the public to auto racing. Did it work? Yes, very good, at least til now, I don't know of anything that is going on this year, maybe someone needs to awaken this again! Bob:)

Re: Deannalynn & Others

Deannalynn, this probably wouldn't be the right time or place for me to ask you out? Would it?