Originally Posted by Charles Nungester:
I don't think it's always a matter of if the racers will stick around. But when you got four and five classes running tracks and won't let fans in the pits after the sprint feature. WHO WANTS TO STAY A EXTRA HOUR just till they can? Also late shows well, Look how many just leave after the headliner feature?.
Tony Stewart also promotes his sponsors, Weather he's obligated too or not is beside the point, That taking out a car (You"ll need a blah blah power sander for that one Joey) Scrape the wall (Some blah blah paint for that wall there steve)
He'll even sniff his stinky arm pit for Old Spice.
I think it all comes down to the EXPOSURE (Media) is the key, Once you've tapped it, The limits are unknown.
It also don't help much and I apreciate VS network for showing them, But they lable the sprints and LM races they show as MOTORSPORTS HOUR, Not USAC/CRA SPrint cars.
Thursday night Thunder? WHERE ARE YOU?
Chuck, who thinks NW sprints could be every bit as EXPOSED as the lidded cousins.
Like I said Chuck, it is partially the racetracks fault, among other things. The SOD (Sprints on Dirt) in Michigan, is ALWAYS the first class to race wherever they go, and you know what, people wait around, and when I went to Hartford this year, we were there till at least 12:00am before all the races were over. Why does everybody wait till 1:00am to get into a WoO pit? I have some validity on this one I do believe.
Want to know why NW racing isn't as exposed as Winged racing? It's rather simple. Ted Johnson. Non-wing racing hasn't had someone that has taken non-wing racing under his arm and said these are the baddest assed guys on the planet, you better come to pay and watch them race. Marketing marketing marketing. THAT is why NW racing hasn't "grown" like it should have. Is the racing better, sure it is, but why doesn't it get the national exposure? Other than Ted Johnson, nobody has really put winged sprint car racing on the map.
And as far as Tony Stewart, yes, he understands, he's not stupid, don't bite the hand that feeds you. If he was sponsored by Tampax, you bet your butt there'd be a tampon stuck up there. That's what part of his job is. Most drivers forget that in order to stay racing there is more to racing and working on the car. Hustling sponsors is what really has to be done, and is what seriously bothers me. I've held meetings with people about sponsorship, and am told the same thing on certain cases, which royally pisses me off. "We've sponsored racecars in the past and wasn't presented really well". Well now what in the world do I say other than sending them monthly results, photographs, and for one I even made a DVD once a month, and you know what, the next meeting went just as well as the first.