Indiana Open Wheel - View Single Post - Observations from an old fan

VSneader2 (Offline)
#41 7/25/14 3:52 AM

Originally Posted by Copperhead:
DRIVERS NEED TO INTERACT - Taking time to meet the fans and make the night special for them helps everyone - the drivers, the fans, the track, the series. I was fortunate enough to have a good year at my local track last season. We ran all the races there, won a few, and won the track championship. I have hero cards that I ordered from vista print. I designed them on the computer and just had them made there. I forget how much they were, but I ordered a big box in 2012 and I've been handing them out pretty hard for 3 years now, so it was definitely a good investment. I started going into the stands last season after every race and signing autographs, talking with the fans, and especially taking time with the kids. They really love meeting the drivers and having a little keepsake. I've wore a black cowboy hat at the track for several years as kind of a trademark. Along with the hero cards, I started giving a cowboy hat away to a kid on some nights. On one occasion, I gave one to a little boy (about 5 years old) and autographed it. The next week, when I went back in the stands, he was back at the races wearing that hat, and he gave me a picture he drew of my car, COMPLETE WITH SOME OF MY SPONSORS LOGOS ON IT. That made my night and his. Driver's that don't take advantage of this kind of interaction with the fans are missing one of the most enjoyable parts of being a driver and missing the opportunity to promote themselves, the track, and the future of our kind of racing.

This right here is one of the reasons Robert Ballou is gaining such a large fan base. He may always be late to the track but he is almost always the last one out of the pit gates at the end of the night. He has no problem posing with fans and especially kids, he hands out Hero cards all the time and takes the time to talk to anyone who wants to talk with him after the action of the night is over with.

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