Originally Posted by Bill Gardner:
While racing is never going to be cheap... It is already hard for sprint car teams to afford running the current series. If you run mainly 1/2 mile tracks... You just increased the travel costs of running the USAC sprint car series and not to mention the additional wear-and-tear on chassis and motor. Increase cost... Decrease car counts. that is not good for USAC Racing.
I agree with you on getting back on TV... but how do you pay for it. There is already alot of complaints about the purse for races not being high enough. I believe this issue also relates to the other issue you brought up about hiring race people vs. PR folks.
To get back on a crediable TV network you will have to pay expensive production costs. To do that... and still pay the current purse structure. You must increase the amount revenue you bring in.
Do you want to pay more at the gate... NO, of course not. That only drives away people because they can find something else to do that is far less expensive. To be honest... a small or large increase at the gate would not be enough revenue to solve the problem.
The only option you have is to get corporate involvement. The current economic situation has many companies cutting back on their advertising budgets. It has already effected the NFL & NASCAR, which is prime advertising for many large companies. Sprint car & Midget racing while loved by us... is far from being prime advertising. "WE" must increase our appeal to companies and convince them that by advertising/sponsoring sprint car & midget racing, they will get the biggest bang for their buck... and IMO that will be virtually impossible unless you promote better. It takes PR folks to do that effectively. You must have both racers and PR people to make a professional series.
I think we all know their are many more things other than promotion that needs to be done... but it is a important first step.
All of this goes back to my first comments about Kevin not being the only person that can effect the growth of USAC.... His experience in marketing was desperately needed... and should help USAC overall.
NASCAR didn't grow into the powerful series it is overnight... It took many years of hard work, promotion and patience. I believe over time... Kevin can make a positive difference.
You know, We all agree on what we want... we just have different opinions on how to accomplish it.
Sorry for the long spew.... I had a lot of hot air built-up. :wink
Bill,
Excellent post. It takes years to build a company or in this case a series. USAC has 50 years of history behind it. Some good, some not so good. Team chemistry is essential as everyone has to be on the same page.
USAC right now is still trying to work through the policies and decisions that were made a number of years ago. You CAN NOT turn something around in so short of a time period. The key word in my opinion for the fans is patience. Everyone has ideas, but it will take time to get this ship pointed in the right direction. I also feel that it is too early to give any type of grade.
I commend Kevin for making himself available to owners, drivers and especially fans. This is definitely a step in the right direction. He has posted on IOW and has stated many times that he is available and will listen to your comments.
I am sure that he and the organization have both short term and long term goals. Many of the ideas that people are wanting implemented takes one thing. MONEY. If it was so easy to do, anyone of a number of IOW posters could do it.:rolleyes: However, it always seems to come back to the one thing that nobody wants to give up. MONEY. The big part of their job will be to find more money.
I want to see USAC succeed and prosper. They have their work cut out for them, but it can be done. The racing is exciting and for all of the people who bash them I have one question. What would the racing scene be like without USAC silver crown, sprint car and midget show? It would probably only increase the number of negative posts on this board.
I rarely post comments like this but I have put my helmet on so let the bashing begin.:O: