To Drivers and Parents of Rising Stars!

Next Wed, May 20 at IMS, Ken Ungar, former heavy-weight executive at IMS/IRL/ and USAC will host a seminar that mirrors his book Ahead of the Game. Whether we like it or not, you must fund your own way in order to get "discovered" and have a shot at running at the pinnacle of the sport, which ever path you choose. Finding the money while you are running is key and you must have a game plan in order to do that. This seminar for drivers and/or parents - will help you put the pieces in place so that you can. Takeaways include a copy of the book as well as a written proposal and template on disk. Drivers under the age of 18 can bring a parent or guardian for free. Ken's current client list includes Penske and Honda and driver's like Tony Kanaan - so there is plenty to learn here! Seminar starts at 9am (was 10 but has been moved to accommodate IndyLights drivers who have an autograph session) and goes until 1, including a full hour of Q&A - includes a working lunch. You can get more info and register at www.AheadoftheGameSeminar.com or call Ken's Company U/S Sports Advisors at 317-569-0200.

FYI - This is also community day at the track, which is the only day kids under 18 can visit the garage area and get a first hand look at the IndyCars and teams. So it'll make a great day of inspiring and planning dreams!

In the course of full disclosure, I have been in motorsports marketing and promotions for 20 years now. I've worked at a track, run a national series, and even run an IRL team along with lots of support series efforts over the years. So when I read Ken's book - I was thrilled and made it mandatory reading for every young driver I've worked with. I have been assisting Ken in pulling this seminar series together and again, just strongly recommend it - Ken covers issues like Defining your brand (most drivers don't even know they are one), promoting your career and of course finding the sponsors with sound business strategy.

I hope to see you there!

How much?? $$$$$

Cecil, the website states $495. Thats a 4 hour session with lunch.

thanks Z-man. Now I need to find a sponsor for the sponsor seminar.

I'll offer my 2 cents.

ahahahahahha

They state that the cost of the seminar is " less than a set of tires - $495.00 per driver ! "

Maybe the seminar includes info on " successfully negotiating Hoosier Tire discounts ! " :2:

I guess you need to run seminars to fund a race progran , not making any money working or racing , I would think that $50.00 dollars would be a fair price , I would rather take a Wall Street seminar , now they know how to make and take money !!

Good luck to ANYONE with that!

Hi guys - I can appreciate the humor in the cost. But the interest in helping drivers with what they don't know - is real. Many professional teams pay sponsorship agents - thousands in retainers, or $10,000, $30,000 even $50,000 to design wizbang marketing kits for them. If you were to hirer a respectable graphics guy to create a marketing proposal for you - you'll pay a fair price of $40 to $70 dollars an hours. I promise it takes longer than an 8 hour day to do a professional looking proposal.

Then there is the decades of experience. For the past 20+ years, I've watched young driver make the same mistakes over and over again. They simply do not understand that they are the promotional vehicle, not the promotion. And I wouldn't expect them too - they are young, they are focused on going fast, getting the latest race part, and marketing isn't their area of expertise.

Believe it or not - Sponsorship is still a relatively new medium. While it's been around since the 70's via the put a sticker on a car and go mentality. It has continued to evolve over the past 25 years. It's way more than branding, it's way more than signage, it's way more than just corporate hospitality, it's all this plus vendor relationship, employee recruitment and retention, it's good cause marketing and more.

If you took the passion that you have for driving and imagine dedicating that amount of time and energy into promotions - you'd begin to appreciate that there are people like Ken Ungar, myself - who have something to share, something to teach. In the same way that Gary Bettenhausen can make you a better driver, we can make you better marketers. Gary was my husband's best man - so I feel like I can toss that name in!

As a driver, there are steps that you can take and need to take to prepare yourself to pitch, acquire and execute a sponsorship. (And just for the record, when someone does it wrong...and burns the sponsor, it hurts everyone in racing.) Lastly, if you apsire to the upper tiers of racing, you'll need to have the money.
As Michael Crawford mentioned on air this week - Sam Hornish Jr. paid for his karting, his Sports 2, his Formula Atlantic, and his IndyCar ride with PDM before he was "discovered" by Panther. So unless you have several million in the bank or are planning to marry an heiress - you need to have a gameplan in place to accomplish your goal.

Nobody is going to get rich teaching a seminar. We are genuinely trying to help whether you're running at Anderson or Indy. Respectfully submitted.