Originally Posted by Kevin Miller:
Last night I received an email from a gentleman who took his son to the USAC shows in Pennsylvania. The comments speak for themselves. Let's do our part in the future to remember we are in the entertainment business and each night we make impressions on hundreds of young fans that represent our future.
Dear Kevin and Jason,
Last week my son and I followed the sprints on their swing through PA.
Grandview was shaping up to be a great show until Mother Nature intervened. We lost Williamsgrove completely to rain. Big Diamond had some great racing despite a poor surface.
We purchased pit passes at all events to mingle with the teams and shoot some pictures.
Something I did pay particular attention to was how quickly the USAC teams loaded up and left Big Diamond.
There were a number parents walking their children through the pits afterwards looking for drivers to meet and get pictures and autographs.Unfortunately,there weren't any to be found except one team. The last team to leave the property was that of Josh Spencer. He and his team stayed to meet fans and socialize.
Dave Darland was a gentleman as usual.
Friday was an off day for the teams so what was the big rush to lock up the trailers and leave Big "D" Thurs. nite?
It's the little things that will help build a solid fan base for the future of USAC.
The World of Outlaws drivers stick around for about an hour after the races for autographs and pictures with the younger fans and sell a ton of T-shirts just by this simple act. They have a solid following and a fan base for the future.
On a more positive note, on Friday we were camped out at Williamsgrove for their winged 410 and 360 show. During the afternoon we noticed the team of Josh Spencer on the property. They ,along with other USAC teams, were at the 'Grove to take in the nites activities.
The Spencers rolled their car out of the trailer to perform some maintenence and get prepped for Hagerstown the next nite.
We walked over to observe their routine and right away a crewmember looked up and greeted us. Right after that Josh looked up from what he was doing ,stood up, extended his hand and introduced himself. Same with his Dad and Josh's brother.
We chatted a bit and told them we would leave so they could continue with their work uninterrupted. All of them said we could hang around and chat. Wow!! Mr. Spencer and I talked about many things not related to racing which he said was a pleasant change from the usual "race talk".
While talking to Josh's father I had the chance to observe Josh while he worked on the car. I must say I was impressed with what I observed. Every time someone new arrived in the area of the car Josh stopped what he was doing and stood to shake hands and introduce himself. Many of the established teams would do well to emulate how this young driver treats others.
The entire Spencer team treated us as if we were longtime friends even to the point of charging my cell phone for me in their trailer!!
USAC needs more young drivers like this and incentive to remain in USAC rather than heading off to race fendered cars.
I have been around race tracks since the age of 6. I am now 52. I have been active in the sport as both a driver and an official. At last count I have been to over 52 tracks so far.
What we witnessed in the lot at Williamsgrove should occur more often,especially with a series that comes East but once a year.
Josh has a bright future in racing. Hopefully he chooses to stay with your group.
I wish USAC nothing but good things in the future.
Please try to impress on the teams how important the little things are when they travel away from their home turf.
Looking forward to another Eastern swing in '09.
Thank you for your time
Josh...Thanks for being an ambassador for our sport. Your actions truly touched a father and his son.
Kevin
All of this is true, as I personally witnessed it. Josh Spencer is someone that other USAC drivers should emulate. Josh is an up and coming racer who struggled in PA, yet nearly sold out of t-shirts because of his diligence in sticking around and meeting the fans.
However, one thing can be done to aid the potential for close interraction with drivers and fans. When USAC is running a show with another series, USAC should be "the headliner". The last show on the card. But, putting them first and then giving race teams the option of packing up and leaving after a long day of work, or staying around until one or two other series finish racing to meet and greet the fans is clearly going to result in a missed opportunity. Especially when we travel "out of our own backyard". As Damion Gardner pointed out so astutely, in Pennsylvania, you had grown men walking around the pits looking to meet these drivers, take pictures of them and their cars, and trying to get autographs. But, the bottom line is, that we simply did not take advantage of the opportunity to have a real meet and greet after the races because each time, there were other events running after we were done, and by the time the fans that did stick around could head to the pits, most of the teams had gone. I agree with the philosophy that we need to promote our drivers to the fans, and the most crucial aspect of that is having the drivers accessible (in their suits no less) to the fans following an event. It is good PR for the series, good for the racers (in terms of t-shirt sales), and good for future of the sport. Running our show in a timely manner is important (especially when weather is an issue), but we also need to think of the fans here, and take every opportunity to create fan interraction following an event.
I know I am here because I could meet my "heroes" after the races in the pits when I was a kid. That nightly ritual when I was a youngster created indelible impressions that have never left me, and I am a devout racefan FOR LIFE because of it. We need to get back to this tradition in our sport if we are to grow. It's as simple as that.
Kudos to Josh Spencer for setting the example that all the other drivers should follow.
DM
