[flagboy55]

Racing promotion is a topic that gets brought up frequently as you are all very much aware. It’s something that in the recent past that I really haven’t paid a whole lot of attention to unless I hear about a race that I missed that may have been in my reach. Being a unflappable fan of the United States Auto Club, I already track their events so I can plan which ones to go to and the ones I can’t I watch on Flo. They don’t have to promote anything to me. Now race event promoting has certainly changed over the years. I’m old enough to remember cardboard signs stapled to telephone poles and signs stuck in gas station windows advertising a race at our local tracks. I remember the radio ads for the great Santa Fe Speedway and US 30 Dragstip. Of course every Thursday or Friday when the Speedsport News would come, that was the first thing I would look at to see where a race is. Nowadays, so much is electronic. I don’t know about you guy’s, but I use a couple different app’s to get a lot of my information. Twitter is what I use the most, then Instagram and very little FB. I follow USAC, High Limit, WOO, Lucas Late Models and several others. I know things are different for everyone considering who you follow and who you hit the “like” button for. Things like that have influence on what content gets sent your way. When it comes to what I see as far as advertising and putting out content, my beloved USAC does as good as job as any, constantly posting stuff on Twitter and Instagram. So social media is a big part of promotion these days but it’s only a piece of it. I’m asking you my friends, what do you think is lacking in promoting these days. Just from my perspective, I don’t listen to radio much and watch very little TV unless it’s a hockey game or streaming racing. I’ll bet many of you have changed your intake of these things too. So I’m asking what are we missing and what do you think we could do better. By the way April 5th USAC Sprints at the Action Track

[Vookie]

Originally Posted by flagboy55 Racing promotion is a topic that gets brought up frequently as you are all very much aware. It’s something that in the recent past that I really haven’t paid a whole lot of attention to unless I hear about a race that I missed that may have been in my reach. Being a unflappable fan of the United States Auto Club, I already track their events so I can plan which ones to go to and the ones I can’t I watch on Flo. They don’t have to promote anything to me. Now race event promoting has certainly changed over the years. I’m old enough to remember cardboard signs stapled to telephone poles and signs stuck in gas station windows advertising a race at our local tracks. I remember the radio ads for the great Santa Fe Speedway and US 30 Dragstip. Of course every Thursday or Friday when the Speedsport News would come, that was the first thing I would look at to see where a race is. Nowadays, so much is electronic. I don’t know about you guy’s, but I use a couple different app’s to get a lot of my information. Twitter is what I use the most, then Instagram and very little FB. I follow USAC, High Limit, WOO, Lucas Late Models and several others. I know things are different for everyone considering who you follow and who you hit the “like” button for. Things like that have influence on what content gets sent your way. When it comes to what I see as far as advertising and putting out content, my beloved USAC does as good as job as any, constantly posting stuff on Twitter and Instagram. So social media is a big part of promotion these days but it’s only a piece of it. I’m asking you my friends, what do you think is lacking in promoting these days. Just from my perspective, I don’t listen to radio much and watch very little TV unless it’s a hockey game or streaming racing. I’ll bet many of you have changed your intake of these things too. So I’m asking what are we missing and what do you think we could do better. By the way April 5th USAC Sprints at the Action Track

The late great Jan Gabriel, US 30 was packed nearly every Sunday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_grMGhW3X0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMqhq67xei0

[opnwhlmnd]

I'm not anti-gambling but when the "riverboat" casinos starting establishing into many states it destroyed any extra entertainment budget many people had. Many things besides racing were affected. Bowling for an example. Here where I live there are 5 riverboat casinos in the metro area and their total revenue intake each month averages around 80 million. That's a lot of entertainment dollars that other forms of entertainment will never get back.

The best way to promote a race is for every fan to bring someone new to the track a couple times a year even better to bring kids with you. I am taking four co-workers to the spring I-55 (Pevely) WoO race. None of them even knew what the WoO was.

Best way to promote besides social media seems to be the old fashioned lease a giant highway billboard for a month before the big race. Schrader does that for his WoO sprint and late model shows at I-55 and has for quite a while so would have to think it works.

Too many easy entertainment choices now days to sit at a racetrack for hours watching endless classes of cars. I know for me I quit local shows years ago for this very reason. If I see a race I want to attend and there are more than two car classes I just watch on PPV instead. No one wants to ruin their weekend by staying at a racetrack until after midnight on a Friday or Saturday night.

[The Old Coyote]

How about going to the local high schools and giving a "family" pass to reward a student or students who achieve something academically or socially. The pass could be for free admission and maybe free hot dogs for a family of four or five. Give Mom and Dad a chance to do something with the kids that won't cost them an arm or leg.

Find something to attract teen age girls and the boys will follow.

Our sport needs to find new young fans.

[racefan20]

US 30 Dragway where the great ones run run run run. Remember that from listening to WLS when I was young

[flagboy55]

Thanks for the memories Vookie. Jan Gabriel was a legend!

[stp6237]

In the old days of open wheel racing there we true promoters, not race organizers. I grew up in Columbia, PA in Western Lancaster county which put the family within one to one half hour drive to Williams Grove, Reading, Allentown and the fairgrounds at Harrington, DE. I there was a AAA/USAC, ARDC or URC race at any of those tracks, you knew about it. Sam Nunis, Roy Richwine and others made sure small town daily or weekly newspapers published stories about Indy 500 drivers who would be driving in those events. My dad only liked open wheel, open cockpit races so local stock car tracks were out. In the early 50's we were at a AAA midget race at Reading when the promotor talked about the same cars and stars would be racing at Old Bridge, NJ later in the week. My dad was a traveling salesman who had several customers who raced at Old Bridge but was never there as it was a stock car track. Needless to say I saw my first asphalt race a few days later at Old Bridge. Today, what are called promoters are race organizers. They are great at putting together events, open the gates and expect people to show up, but as stated before there is too many choices for the entertainment dollar and you need to sell your product better. A good example in minor league baseball, its the same game where ever it is played at all levels, but the promotional events at the ballpark, before, during and after the game are what puts people in the seats and more importantly brings them back. I also agree that there are far too many shows where there are too many divisions. However, local racing as become back gate driven in order to survive. The answer is, times have changed. The local newspaper basically does not exist anymore, along with a lot of racing publications, so what do we need to do? Change what we are doing. How? Race track promotors/organizers need to remember a phrase my grandfather said a lot; "If you don't like what you are getting, change what you are doing." Join the local Chamber of Commerce could be a start. PS, My dad was at the first race ever run at Williams Grove as a 16 year old, along with my grandfather, his uncle and his two brothers. He also saw midgets race at Hershey Stadium before WW II and later in the 60's when they reopened the track.

[jdull99]

Originally Posted by The Old Coyote How about going to the local high schools and giving a "family" pass to reward a student or students who achieve something academically or socially. The pass could be for free admission and maybe free hot dogs for a family of four or five. Give Mom and Dad a chance to do something with the kids that won't cost them an arm or leg. Find something to attract teen age girls and the boys will follow. Our sport needs to find new young fans.

The local hockey team is having Taylor Swift night...(I won't be goin, but I do like her music...just not her take on everything else...)

[Charles Nungester]

From when I started racing till now. Might as well be on another planet because the only thing thats the same is that there is still racing and race tracks.

60s-70s every town and burg had several gas stations and after service hours the race car went on the lift. Many farms raced during growing season and built cars after harvest and maintenance. Lets face it, Motorsports and hot rodding were huge and somewhat affordable to anyone willing to work hard to do it.

A huge majority of Indy 500 and Daytona racers were from local and area tracks and somewhat racing promoted itself..

Yes Promoters put up the promotions flyers on phone poles in popular areas. flyers on cars and often had some kind of side show to add to a event.

Today we got people who work at home, have entertainment centers at home Some have outdoor pools, fire pits grilling and smoking outfits and a big screen on the back of their house., Order and have shipped groceries and food to their home.

Why go out?

There are new advertising proceses out there. In Cincy area there's a thing called VIA Media that gets the streaming channels and all over cable/satalite when every break that includes a local segment put's your ad out.

I still think a big MARQUEE SIGN if your tracks in a busy area does well. Not some digital sign with five different things that pop up and you may see only if your at a red light. Burg always had one until the remodel. I remember Chuck Miles having one on the hill entering Bloomington on Rt 46

BLOOMINGTON SPEEDWAY
7-4 Sprints-Sportsmen FIREWORKS
7-29 Bloomington Bash. Sprints Late Models 40 lap features.
8-27 USAC SPRINTS


I don't know the answers but getting them in the door is only half the battle. Getting them to come back means getting a connection between the racers and fans, Some rivalries. Some meet and greets.

I do think streaming needs to have blackouts or pay extra within a hundred miles. Sure you can watch the USAC show. pay the 30 everyone else does and stay home and drink yourself into a stupor if you want.

I also think kids under 10 should be free and maybe a student price for 11-17. Got no Idea how many I know that quit going once they had kids because it was too expensive. GET the parents in the door, The kids will want this and that to eat or drink all night long

Taylor Swift night? OMG. Wouldn't mind a Buffet night though.

[Stevensville Mike]

Originally Posted by flagboy55 I’m old enough to remember cardboard signs stapled to telephone poles and signs stuck in gas station windows advertising a race at our local tracks.

Like this?









It still amazes me the number of times the IRA Sprints raced at Hartford back then. Six times in 1996. Hartford also had the WoO Sprints there for the U.S. Dirt Nationals. Unfortunately that was when we lost Frank Filskov.