I think real advertising and PR is seen and understood at different and various levels.
I actually think some organization is sitting on a gold mine with the sprint cars in the Indiana area, it is all in how you promote and get sponsorships and advertising. Its about getting the right advertising with the right people.

I was visiting with a track promoter a while back and he was complaining about dwindling gates and he was trying all kinds of things to fill the seats. I ask him what he did to advertise.
His response was he lets about 20 photographers and media people in for free, each week.
I ask him if he gets a lot of stories or pics in papers and magazines, or if he advertised himself.
He looked at me kind of funny and said, " i guess not".

I remember going to one of the first sprint car races that was held in a while in North Carolina, at least in modern times(late 80's early 90's). Most had never witnessed a sprint car race.The people loved it and went crazy. Those people love racing, period. They stood up almost all night long. That shows the impact Sprint Car racing can have. I had never seen a group of people so excited about seeing something. There are all kinds of big half miles around in NC, Tennessee and other states. It just takes some imagination and marketing/sales ideas and focus to make it happen. The more you make the sport visible the more crowds grow and the more purses grow. I think the sport could grow exponentially if you could expand the racing base and look for advertisers that could benefit across the board by the direct advertising identlfied in the states you raced.

Think about this, who are the major advertisers at the tracks you go to? Are there products you see advertised at the races, the kind you say to your self, I have to have that or one of those?
How many times do you see something advertised at the races and you imediately go out and buy it?

I think if we answered " a lot" to the previous questions we would be seeing sprint cars more on TV and other mediums, larger purses and more fans.