I was not in attendance when Kevin Miller outlined his plans/market strategy/mission statement/business model at Kelly's Pub, or anywhere else, for that matter. Thus, I can't speak to what manner of questioning or grilling or inquisition he received.
And you know what? It doesn't matter what he said...
The product is all that matters, and "the product" in this case is much more than just the on-track racing, though many of us would prefer to think otherwise.
Frankly, if Mr.Miller is a management and marketing guru capable of righting the USAC ship then he should run for political office and solve some of society's ills. Because many of USAC's problems are smaller versions of similar societal woes.
Unfortunately, most of them are the result of DECADES of mismanagement and mishandling. The very name USAC now has a poisonous connotation to some, despite that many of us know that the sheer talent strapped into the seat at most of their current shows is at a level that is hard to match at any time in the company's history.
I don't think I need to attempt to list all the ways in which USAC over the years has sold short at various times The Fans, The Drivers, The Teams, The Promoters and The Bottom Line.
Whatever steps are tried now to resurrect this once-great entity are going to be attempted in a climate of what would seem clearly to be complete distrust and disharmony among what could be considered its core constituency.
I am no marketing genius, despite any loud declarations I might make to the contrary after a few beers following a disappointing program (beers shared with more than a few members of this website). But I DO know that once distrust sets in, once every motive is questioned and dissected, a sanctioning body is hard-pressed to re-acquire that trust. Currently, the was-he-forced-or-did-he-resign? nature of the Greg Staab issue has center stage, and it is likely that whatever the true nature of that occurrence turns out to be, it will seen as a further line in the sand by several who will at least claim to wash their hands of USAC once and for all.
There have been volumes of these moments through the years, as fans and competitors said "No More!" to what these days is called "The USAC Brand". The legendary degree of ill-will fostered over the last several decades by USAC cannot be undone in a single season, no matter how accomplished Kevin Miller turns out to be or not to be.
If a compound fracture happens to a leg, and that leg is nevertheless walked on for days and weeks before attempting to set it with duct tape, a couple of wood shims and some stray rags for bandages, it is reasonable to assume that that person is going to then walk with a limp.
Forever.
No matter if the person that leg belongs to later wins the lottery, gets expert medical attention, eats free-range or vegetarian, does Pilates, and says their prayers before bedtime.
To later expect that, despite the subsequent back pain, arthritis and muscle atrophy, the owner of that leg is going to compete with some Kenyans in a marathon is, shall we say....fanciful thinking.
What ails USAC cannot be corrected through savvy marketing. It must be from the ground up, an institutional and total makeover. The only thing that USAC currently has going for it in abundance is talent on the track. Anybody who doesn't believe that the current crop of drivers is the absolute strongpoint for the company is not thinking clearly. THAT is where the marketing must develop first.
At the track, of course, is where the real verdict will ultimately be rendered. The cost of fuel doesn't help; the cost of tickets doesn't help; the cost of pit passes doesn't help; the abundance of provisionals doesn't help; premature cancellations doesn't help; our national economy doesn't help; Indiana's switch to daylight savings time doesn't help; and the only help that the name "USAC" provides is the implicit understanding that the drivers assembled for that night of racing is top notch.
So long as a different USAC division isn't running that same night, 200 miles away...