How to reach outside of the existing racing community?

[gran racing]

The primary motivation for writing my book Go Ahead – Take the Wheel was to show people that getting into racing is possible for the average Joe, and break down many of the myths people have about racing. One area I continue to struggle with is how to effectively gain exposure for my book outside the existing racing community. (I have many ideas on how to gain exposure with new & existing members, although making it actually happen might be a somewhat different story. LOL) SCCA also faces the same challenges and continually seeks new ways to gain publicity for the various racing programs. Many people have joked about SCCA being the “Secret Car Club of America”. In various threads, particularly lately, people have talked about PDXs and how even for events held outside of large metropolitan areas, the exposure hasn’t been as much as they would have liked. I’ve been scratching my head trying to think of how both I (with my book) and the club can effectively accomplish this. There are millions of people who grow up dreaming about racing and simply are not aware of SCCA’s (and other clubs) programs. I grew up thinking that the only way into road racing was by attending a $3,000 Skip Barber school then participating in a very expensive racing series. If I had only known that less than 20 minutes from my house there were these autocross events where I could have taken my ordinary street car to race, HPDEs / PDXs, and so forth.

At first glance it sounds fairly simple how to gain exposure for both my book as well as the club, but how? Several of the things that first come to my mind are not very realistic and will not provide enough return on investment to justify the associated expense. For example, a black & white 1/3 page ad in one edition of Road & Track magazine costs in excess of $31,000. I’m curious to hear your thoughts and suggestions on how to gain additional publicity for my book and/or the club. Thanks!



Some quick notes:
Initially I wasn’t going to post this type of thread, but given the audience, topic and fact that IT.com already has a sticky for my book (thank you!!!) thought it might be o.k.

For my book, obtaining reviews in various car magazines would be ideal but actually getting them printed is tough. (Many of the auto magazines my “publicity director” spoke with stated they receive over 50 books each day to be considered!) This is where having a large publishing company with connections would have been useful. I’m also in the process of speaking with various track stores as well as other retailers.

I was very surprised with some of the things I’ve learned during this process about the book industry. The concept of selling books to major bookstores such as Barnes & Nobel or Borders, them not selling copies, simply tearing off the cover, throwing the rest of the book out and returning the cover for a full refund still has me shaking my head. I suppose it makes sense for a large publisher not wanting the copies back to store, but for a smaller publisher it's tough. All that requiring a distributor taking a decent cut, then the book store taking their share. :(

[Greg Amy]

First, define and isolate your target audience.

Second, define the best means of getting that audience's attention (I know that's your original question, but you're going out of order)

Third, use that tool to get their attention.

Until you define and isolate your target audience, you're using a shotgun to kill a dove.

So, I'm going to change your thread's original question:

What is Dave's target audience? What group (or groups) or people are most likely to be attracted to the idea of amateur club racing? Open your mind; it may come from totally outside the mainstream idea of "car folks".

[BobsAuto]

The other idea would be to locate the newsletters of the various PDX clubs and advertise in their publications. I would also, if I were you, really consider renting a booth at Race-A-Rama in West Springfield this year. Put your car into the booth to attract people to the booth and simply sell one item. Your book. Make sure you advertise (via posters at your booth) that each copy purchased would be autographed by the author. Racearama is an intense 3 day show that draws in excess of 50K people over the 3 days. It is a great way to get known. I did this for several years when I sold safety equipment when RST Performance was in its infancy. And yes, Ray's race car was the central part of my display as I could draw attention to the booth as well as show the various items I sold in the car. It worked. I also showed videos the whole weekend. In-car videos and yes, crash videos draw a lot of attention. Having a booth of your own as opposed to being a part of the SCCA booth or any other organization, draws attention not only to you but to SCCA in more than one spot of the show. You can even put flyers at the SCCA booth drawing attention to your booth. Been done in the past and that exposure really works. Contact NER's publicity chair for info on Racearama. I'm sure that venue will really help.

I will also contact a media type person here in Loudon that does various race programs on local TV and radio and see if I can get you on his show. That is another great way. Yes, I am targeting you to circle track people as they are quite interested in how to get onto road courses to hone their road course skills. That is how we got Babe Branscombe and his team into GT1 in NER.

Good luck.

[gsbaker]

On the promotion side, try sharing a booth with someone at PRI. The obvious partner would be SCCA, since you are promoting their product.

Speaking of SCCA, they are going to promote your book at the National Convention, right?

[JamesB]

buy an old 60's era van, paint it all slick and hippy like and hit people in the head with the book as you speed away. it works for vonage....




on the serious note Greg does have the right approach. First you need to identify your target before you can divise ways to gain the attention to reach their wallets.

[gran racing]

it may come from totally outside the mainstream idea of "car folks" [/b]

This is one area I've been thinking about, but have not been successful yet. Any ideas Greg? :)


SCCA's involvment with the book is still yet to be determined.

[joeg]

Go door to door in upscale neighborhoods...

Seriously, get one of those top placements on Google, before doing anything else.

[Greg Amy]

Any ideas Greg? :)[/b]

ME? Ideas? Rarely.

Sailing, boating, flying, golfing, SCUBA diving, surfing, skiing (snow and water), motorcycling, bicycling, fishing, import car scene, drifting, NASCAR spectators, football fans, baseball fans, basketball fans, show cars, kit cars, muscle cars, divorcees, bored housewives...any community that has displayed an abundance of time and/or money...

[cherokee]

I have found that "car guys" find other ways of scraching the itch. Before I started racing I ran races with R/C cars. I went back up to the R/C track a while ago and people asked what I was up to. When I told them I was racing "real" cars for the cost of running an 1/8th scale gas car they thaught I was talking about drag racing. They had no idea that road racing can be done on the cheap. There is a idea out there that we are the wine and cheese form of racing. I wish I was ready for all the questions about cars, classes, tracks, costs........

I would suggest hitting places like R/C race tracks, slot car tracks, car shows....even bars that cater to the race fan, When some of the people found out that they could work corners for free, and get in for free much less race people where intrested. Flyers are cheap to print up even in color, and most business owners that cater to car guys are also "car guys" and have no proplem in you setting up a stand with a flyer.

I know I got 3 possible drivers and a hand full of workers that are intrested, even a few EMT's from my work contacts. And know of one R/C racer that is doing HPDE's and is wanting to go racing.

We are the Secret Car Club of America, and the people that are to be putting our name out there should find a new line of work.

[zracre]

find out where the local street racers and car show guys hang out on sat nites (usually they secure a parking lot somewhere legally if they are big enough) and trailer your car there. this type of event usually gets people interested in cars by driving by. Set your car as close and visible to the road so passers by can see it. set up canopy and/or table and sell book/SCCA. You could also target online gamers/video game junkies

[JimLill]

Enter an atractive/exciting car in a local carshow, one where hotrodders etc show up. Be prepared with answers to questions of the "how can I nature", maybe even have a handout showing the path and a typical budget. Be sure to let candidates sit in the car.

Show videos clip like Greg Amy's WGI ITA record run...

[dickita15]

hmm how about program adds at spectator events

[gran racing]

Great ideas!

I previously developed a marketing plan including defining my books target audience and writing a business plan, but need to revisit it. I do agree that there's value to looking outside of the car enthusiast, but keep getting in a rut and returning to that. I've also learned that I need to start placing some value on time spent promoting the book. Several ideas I've thought about include my spending a day trying to promote it (one that popped into my head was attending car shows as well). Then I compared that do working a day at my part time job where I'm guaranteed to take home X dollars for a day. Maybe there's more residual value then I'm giving it credit.

One challenge with a book is that it's a low priced product, in my case $17. O.k. So I used the still recommended $16.95 approach. Because of this, it takes many more sales to even break even with paid-for marketing. I would really love to think of some methods to reach a large audience. Reviews in magazines would be ideal, but have found it very difficult to get.

Getting more flyers printed makes sense. I do need to be more proactive in getting businesses to display them.

I appreciate your comments and suggestions. This brainstorming is helping.

[gsbaker]

I would really love to think of some methods to reach a large audience.[/b]
I really hate to say this, for a variety of obvious reasons, but you have a book that targets a very small segment of the racing market: road racers. At < 5% of racers the numbers just won&#39;t be there. Oval and drag racers are each about 40%. I&#39;m sure those racers face many of the same issues, so they would be worth approaching, but would that require a rewrite?

On another subject, you could "sponsor" driving schools by offering a discount coupon for the book--just enough to make sure your costs are covered. Every time I&#39;ve been to a Skippy or DE event the students leave excited about racing and are trying to figure out how to do more. They are primed for the book. Expect the schools to squeeze you for free books, though.

[gran racing]

I should have defined what I consider large audiences for this particular book. LOL Yeah, I recognize this type of book won&#39;t be one the NY Times best seller list (but one never knows :D ).

[gprodracer]

Since we&#39;re throwing ideas out..

Local college newspapers..catchy one page ad (cheap) or put a flyer in with their paper/newsletter

Local car shows are great, especially benefit ones.

Put flyers in local tuner shops, or many local garages will let you put some in their waiting rooms.

Grand openings of businesses. Many of those would love to have a race car parked out in front to attract people, and don&#39;t mind you selling your product, as you are getting more people to their stores.

Just random thoughts.

[BobsAuto]

Since we&#39;re throwing ideas out..


Grand openings of businesses. Many of those would love to have a race car parked out in front to attract people, and don&#39;t mind you selling your product, as you are getting more people to their stores.
.
[/b]

Local businesses LOVE to have a race car parked out front to draw customers. We did that a lot and one hardware store in particular had one of their best sales days because they gave 10% coupons at our display and people ventured inside after looking at the car. We got our biggest customer who ultimately became Ray (elder) &#39;s sponsor for many years.

[leggwork]

find a way to get on Oprah&#39;s book of the month list ... sorry, been off work this week and watching too much afternoon TV ... ;-)

cheers,
bruce

[gran racing]

I&#39;d still really like to obtain some additonal reviews in magazines. Anyone have any connections at Road & Track or Car & Driver? :D

Another media I&#39;ve been looking into is online magazines. Are there any you look at / recommend?

[gsbaker]

Local businesses LOVE to have a race car parked out front to draw customers. We did that a lot and one hardware store in particular had one of their best sales days because they gave 10% coupons at our display and people ventured inside after looking at the car. [/b]
I know a race team that does this with restaurants, in exchange for free lunch.

[shwah]

Contact Vortex Media Group.

They operate several online titles: subdriven.com, swedespeed.com, mwerks.com, speedarena.com, triplezoom.com, vwvortex.com, thecarlounge.com. Vortex is widely recognized as one of the top auto enthusiast websites, regardless of brand. Ask about how you can offer the book for sale in their forums which have hundreds of thousands of readers. Specifically see if you can post it up in the regional forums and in the car lounge forums so you capture a wide audience. Send them a copy to review, I think it is likely to happen.

They also have good relationships with C&D, R&T, etc - so if they like it enough there may be some networking advantage there. All of the jounalists see each other with some regularity at new car intros, so who knows...

Good luck.

[JamesB]

Actually he has a point. Vortex has a huge following and a small banner ad might be a good thing for you. I would talk to Jamie and crew at VMG. I would also talk to vendors you work with if you entertain going to shows and just ask if you can use a small area of their booth to be there. Setup the books and some collage of Video if you have something portable to show off.

Personally I think SCCA should be doing the same by regions asking sponsors to put up something with dates of all the SCCA events and keep a few memebership applications out where they can be seen.

The biggest issue I see with most club events is noone knows about them unless a friend races.

[gsbaker]

Dave,

Have you contacted Grassroots Motorsports? If not, I&#39;d be happy to drop into their offices and make the pitch for you. They are in the Daytona area, where I need to be with Speedweeks firing up in less than a month.

You know how it is; work, work, work....

[spnkzss]

The first thing that needs to happen is the Regions need to step up and take control. The regions need to hirer a PR person (NO VOLUNTEERS), pay a PR firm to take control. Promote the specific Region. You get people into the Region and then it expands to SCCA. We dont&#39; necessarily need a SCCA National PR attack. We need to get people in the seats which will in turn put them in the seats of cars.

[JamesB]

Spanky you are correct but PR companies cost BIG money even on the local level. Even a grassroots PR campain is better then no PR campain at all.

I got into autocrossing when I was 17 because I ran across a flier put up by the local SCCA in Long Island at a deli getting breakfast one day. Since then I have been involved. When I moved to Maryland it took me nearly a year to find out who, what, when and where for autocrossing (remember this was 1994 when the interweb was not as popular and search engines stunk) and it wasn&#39;t untill I went to join SCCA that I learned about MARRS from the WDCR website.

So any publication about the Dates of the MARRS series is better then me e-mailing only my friends a list of the schedule because they don&#39;t bother to pass on the information.

[gran racing]

I&#39;ll definately be contacting Vortex Media Group. Awesome idea!

Grassroots did a review on the book in their last issue, which was very cool. I imagine you were referring to having them print a review?

I also found a local authors & publishers association which hosts meetings with experienced individuals. I&#39;ll give that a shot too. When looking at some of the various associations, there&#39;s one which was recommended by some of the self publishing books I&#39;ve read. One of the services they provide at a discount is various marketing tools, such sending out information about books to libaries, potential book reviewers, and book stores (which require that I use a wholesaler). Of course each of these have an associated cost. It&#39;s tough to evaluate what the chances are that the money spent would payoff or not.


Thank you all again for taking the time to help come up with some new ideas. It means a lot to me and I do sincerely appreciate it.

[gsbaker]

Of course each of these have an associated cost. It&#39;s tough to evaluate what the chances are that the money spent would payoff or not.[/b]
The marketing part is always risky. A friend of mine, a professional consumer marketer, likes to say, "I know I&#39;m wasting half of my promotion budget. The problem is, I don&#39;t know which half." :D

[timrogers]

Contact Vortex Media Group.

They operate several online titles: subdriven.com, swedespeed.com, mwerks.com, speedarena.com, triplezoom.com, vwvortex.com, thecarlounge.com. Vortex is widely recognized as one of the top auto enthusiast websites, regardless of brand. Ask about how you can offer the book for sale in their forums which have hundreds of thousands of readers. Specifically see if you can post it up in the regional forums and in the car lounge forums so you capture a wide audience. Send them a copy to review, I think it is likely to happen.

They also have good relationships with C&D, R&T, etc - so if they like it enough there may be some networking advantage there. All of the jounalists see each other with some regularity at new car intros, so who knows...

Good luck.
[/b]

Additionally, think of all the popular makes in IT racing and place a classified add in the more popular on-line Forums that cater to them. Make sure you follow their posting rules, etc. (Duh...)
Emphasize the "Are you interested in racing but were afraid its only for rich people? Did you know that there are autocrosses / track events / and amatuer races happening within a few hours drive of your home on a monthly basis? Did you know that (Your Brand / Your Model) is competitive on the race track?" aspect.

[Doc Bro]

Dave,
how about looking into the karting industry. Many people in karting are young and into it -until they get their license. At that point autocrossing becomes a next step. Head them off at the pass. Try the karting rags and websites, also some of the local karting tracks (wallingford) may help you.

R

[JimLill]

Do you have a way to contact the people who did buy your book? How many of them plan to go ahead and take the plunge. What is their plan? Up above, somebody mentioned "only for rich people".... That is probably the #1 issue with the many people. So I&#39;d be curious what people see as the minimum cost to do it.. My own guess is $5,000 and that assumes they have or can borrow a tow vehicle and trailer. I have an old time mentor that reminds me that the way to get people to do something is to "take their excuses away"... understand their problems, and fix them or give them confidence it can be overcome. I&#39;m sure that&#39;s what your book is about but a simple Five Item list of "did you know that".. might help. That list needs to be part of any display etc you do...

[DavidM]

Sounds to me like this topic is really about how does the SCCA (and other organizations) attract new members. That&#39;s who the book is really for - new members or prospective members. Seems like an awful big task for one individual to attempt to attract new people to road racing. What should be happening is SCCA does the marketing to attract new people and the book is offered for purchase to those people interested. It could be on the website with a tag-line something like "Interested in road racing - read this book and find out how you can do it.".

I think the SCCA does a horrible job of marketing itself. I don&#39;t know enough about how things are run to know if national is supposed to do the marketing or each region or both or neither or who knows. All I know is that if you want to join the SCCA you have to be the one to seek them out and you already have to know what the club is about. It&#39;s not necessarily the Secret Car Club of America, but it&#39;s sure not easy to find.

Marketing ideas for the book (or the club):

- Set up a booth at racing events. I&#39;m talking any racing event - drag racing, oval racing, drifting, road racing, karting, anything.
- Set up a booth at car shows. Again, all types of car shows.
- Flyers in import and performance shops.
- Adds on car web sites.

I still think car people are the best audience. You may get a few people from other areas, but the people that want to race have always wanted to race. I don&#39;t think somebody who has never thought about racing is going to see an add and all of a sudden decide to go racing. The idea is to reach as many of those people that have thought about racing as possible and show them how they can do it.

The book is really going to have to sell nationally in order for it to make any kind of money. There&#39;s only so many people interested in road racing in one locality. That means any marketing plan needs to involve national exposure. I think the only real way to do that on a limited budget is through the web. Try and get an add on as many web sites as possible to gain the maximum amount of exposure. Maybe even hook up with a few of the bigger ones and start a forum on how to go racing. The web is a powerful tool if you use it right.

Ideally, SCCA and NASA would pick up on the book and use it to help prospective members understand what it takes to go racing. I think that could be a very strong marketing tool. That may make too much sense, though.

David

[tbubar]

Have you tried setting up a MySpace page? It&#39;s a good way to reach a younger audience. There are a lot of folks on there who talk about "racing" (usually on the street) and there are even some communities that talk about SCCA events. It&#39;s free to set up a profile, and you could join a lot of the racing groups. My profile has gotten hundreds of hits, and it&#39;s just a picture of me holding my helmet in front of my race car. Just an idea...

[abreakey]

Hi - I would be happy to promote your book on my web forum. I don&#39;t have a huge audience but the one I have is active and loyal. The website is dedicated to autocrossing (www.autocrossforum.com) at the local and national level. There are many people on there that consider road racing to be too cost prohibitive and instead choose to stick with autocrossing.

let me know if you want to partner up.

adamb

[gran racing]

Adam - absolutely! :happy204: (Check your messages here for my PM)

The MySpace idea is something I&#39;ve considered in the past, but for whatever reason never did. The price is right though. You gave me the extra push; I&#39;ll have to create one soon.

I&#39;ll have to contact the karting place in wallingford.


There&#39;s only so many people interested in road racing in one locality. That means any marketing plan needs to involve national exposure.[/b]

I agree with you here.

The downside with setting-up booths or buying banner ads on forums or websites for someone selling one item, especially a low dollar ticket item is that it&#39;s tough to break even from it, no less make a profit. This summer I looked into this and for a banner on one of a few of the sites (nothing too expensive), it would require that I sell ~ 100 books to break even (not taking into consideration adding any dollar figure to my time).

Out of curosity, for other products companies sell to retailers, are they typically returnable for a full refund?

As I mentioned this before, this discussion is very helpful.

[Greg Amy]

I&#39;ll have to contact the karting place in wallingford.[/b]

You know the guy&#39;s an SCCA member, right? And you know we&#39;re doing our March annual tech there, right...?

[JimLill]

........... work with the HPDE guys... like here:

http://www.trackpedia.com/wiki/Beginners_guide_to_track_days

[StevenS]

Dave - Have you tried to contact Larry Webster at C&D? He ran ITA in a CRX for a few years in CenDiv. In fact, his car was posted for sale recently on this board. Also, Tony Swan currently runs an S2000 nationally in T2. Both are really cool, down to earth guys...

Steve S

[gran racing]

I sent a review package to Tony and attempted to speak with him to confirm he received it, but was instructed that he doesn&#39;t do reviews. I&#39;ll have to give Larry a try - thanks for the lead.

[jamscal]

Ebay is a great way to advertise and get the word out. Put a listing for an individual copy on there, in several catergories. Put one under &#39;racing equipment&#39; or similar in ebay motors...I don&#39;t know the exact name of the catergory... and maybe another catergory.

Bottom line is that it&#39;s very cheap, and with the hit counter you&#39;ll be able to see how many people you reached. I&#39;d imagine it would be only a few dollars to reach several hundred people over the course of 7 days. And you might make a sell. You can put a link to your personal site in your listing.

I bought a Powder Coating oven from a guy who did this several years ago. He didn&#39;t expect anyone to bid on it via ebay, but he got more than enough orders from people contacting him looking for info, myself included.

Good luck.

-James

[spnkzss]

Spanky you are correct but PR companies cost BIG money even on the local level. Even a grassroots PR campain is better then no PR campain at all.
[/b]

I agree, but I&#39;m thinking about this from a MARRS stand point. I know MARRS has the money. I also know that if someone was smart enough, they might get the local owner of a well known MARRS track owner, to help with the cost. Hmmmm...... help with PR=more people show up, more people show up=more money. It&#39;s funny how that works.

The trick is, DO NOT HAVE A VOLUNTEER DO IT. Pay for a non bias PR firm that has no affiliation what-so-ever with SCCA.

[BobsAuto]

This may sound totally off the wall, but did you contact Sam Posey to do a review? He&#39;s at LRP for most of the pro events so I am sure the folks at LRP could help you with a contact addy. He would probably be very helpful to you.

[RacerBill]

Adam - absolutely! :happy204: (Check your messages here for my PM)

The MySpace idea is something I&#39;ve considered in the past, but for whatever reason never did. The price is right though. You gave me the extra push; I&#39;ll have to create one soon.

I&#39;ll have to contact the karting place in wallingford.
I agree with you here.

The downside with setting-up booths or buying banner ads on forums or websites for someone selling one item, especially a low dollar ticket item is that it&#39;s tough to break even from it, no less make a profit. This summer I looked into this and for a banner on one of a few of the sites (nothing too expensive), it would require that I sell ~ 100 books to break even (not taking into consideration adding any dollar figure to my time).

Out of curosity, for other products companies sell to retailers, are they typically returnable for a full refund?

As I mentioned this before, this discussion is very helpful.
[/b]

Dave: have you thought about reciprocal banner adds - put up a banner on your website for you banner on let&#39;s say Jegs.com or Summit?

[gran racing]

have you thought about reciprocal banner adds[/b]

I&#39;ve done something similiar to that in the links primary section, although I&#39;m still waiting some of them to put links up on their site. :( Knowing who the audience of the book is, I&#39;m very, very picky with what companies I will add there. If I don&#39;t do business with them or know they have a very good reputation, I won&#39;t add it.

Jegs will be selling it shortly. :happy204: Summit Racing stated that books do not sell well and therefore are not interested at this time.

I attempted the eBay thing and watched the hit counter, but was surprised at how few people looked at the eBay ad. Maybe I didn&#39;t put it in the right area and should try that again.

In regards to Sam Posey, not at all saying it wouldn&#39;t be a good idea, but how would you foresee he could help with the publicity? From what I understand, he longer does commentary. I would imagine he has many connections - is that more in line with what you were thinking?


I wonder if regions were to hire outside PR companies to help promote SCCA and their region how that would do, and if the investment would pay off.

[gsbaker]

Dave,

Engaging a PR firm would probably run $1K-2K/month for your project. This would get you introduced to major media players, but would not include any advertising expenses. Will it pay off? Probably not, given the economics of the publishing biz.

[gran racing]

Greg, for the regions to promote SCCA (not my book). In my book&#39;s case, it wouldn&#39;t make sense.

[gsbaker]

Yeah, I caught that part. I was just pondering if it made sense for you to go direct with it.

[dickita15]

I have played around with ebay a little and the secret is the search function. If you write the title well it pops up for all the right people.

[gran racing]

A good idea from a soon to be fellow ITB driver and friend Jon, was to provide a sample chapter of the book. With any luck, it&#39;ll spread to other forums. :D Thanks again for the recommendations!

If you&#39;ve been curious to get an idea what the book is like, learn what to expect at a day at the races, or how much it costs clubs to host events, here it is:

Click Here to See a Sample Chapter (http://www.goaheadtakethewheel.com/videos/goaheadsample.pdf)

[gsbaker]

Well done, sir.

But I found a typo, I think. You meant $95 for beer right? ;)

(Just Kidding!)

[rob22]

Dave, I took the liberty of putting mention of your book on our website forums, under general discussion.
www.v8stockcar.com

"Bosco" Logsdon

[nip_mr2]

What also could be done is bang away at local TV. 30 second slot. Or 3Am Studioes Bucking Speed with video coverage. Get the Grassroot Road racing none to the public. (I know Speed is Roundy-Round racing now) But call into Wind Tunnel and start Busting Dave&#39;s balls when he a big guest invalved with road racing. Who know waht could happen if enough people get together to make a differance.

[gran racing]

Thanks Bosco!

Good idea on calling Wind Tunnel. I spoke with one of the producers for another show on Speed, but they were not allowed to mention product name&#39;s websites or where items could be purchased. Something about how they are structured and owned by public tv.

Another MR2. :D How long have you been racing that?

[nip_mr2]

Gran Racing,

Last year was my 1st. I ran 6 of 9 races in MARRS. It&#39;s Brian Duka&#39;s old car. I&#39;m looking at doing all of MARRS this year. I feel very comfortable with the car. Averaged high 32&#39;s at Summit, and had a 2:28 at the Glen. (1st time there) :eclipsee_steering:


A couple of years ago I was there 1st caller into Wind Tunnel. I asked Dave about why there is not enough coverage of grassroots roadracing and said about with TV time that the U.S. people would pick up on it just like European pop. has already, BTCC, DTM, & etc. The mistake that I made was in his guest. It was Kenny Schrader of NASCAR. Dave looked at him and asked for his response. Kenny said "Te !st time I was indroduced to roadracing was in 1972, Watkins Glen. The fans would not recongize the sport due the there unfimialarity of the vehicles." ( meaning open wheel, DSR, SFM, & ect.) I tried to respond, but Dave cut me off. With the right guest host there, like Bob Varsha, David Hobs, or a Driver ( Boris Said ). Then the topic has a great chance of getting off the ground. But Speed screwed SCCA with the coverage of the runoffs. Moving the coverage to during the week at lunch time, instead of on the weekends. I&#39;m sick of seeing roundy round and Barret Jackson on TV. Just about all of us can turn Left, and we all know how to buy vehicles. I would like to go to the track sometime and see more people in the stands, other than the people there particiapting. The other problem is some of the track are not fan friendly. Pocono is close to spectators during SCCA events. Why they would not want to make a little bit of money? The tunner crowd would be part of the way to go. The only problem there is, they like NOS and want to fast in a straight line with there bass thumping. :(

[lateapex911]

Gran Racing,

. But Speed screwed SCCA with the coverage of the runoffs........... . :( [/b]

No, SPEED is a businees, and we are very lucky to even be ON Speed....

And we&#39;ve done ourselves a big diservice in the races we present. Some of them are just jokes. 17 cars going ro the National Champoionship, and 7 seconds spread over the field??/ That shows how even WE don&#39;t think our sport is important!

We&#39;re LUCKY Speed did the job they did as in some cases, they didn&#39;t have much to work with.

Also, look at the ratings numbers that the World Challenge puts up. Or the Miata Cup. Ar BTTC. Now look at the ratings "Pinks", or "Trackside" put up. Now try selling sponsorship.......

It&#39;s a numbers game, and, like it or not, roadracers are a very small part of the American motoring scene.

On top of that, the actual "Craft" of roadracing is very hard to see on the tube, even with all the in car and foot cams. So many times it just looks like cars going around curves, following one another. Ho Hum,

Sorry, but we have gotten to be a society that isn&#39;t interested in "subtle"...and "Speed" are not the ones to blame...."Speedvision" bent over backwards trying to get roadracing, both professional and ametuer on the screen, but the numbers can&#39;t be ignored. Want the ARRCs on the tube? Pay for it.

[nip_mr2]

I understand Speed is a business.

What I meant by SCCA getting screw was moving the air time. Saturdays where great. Watch the taped World Challenge then the runoffs. A couple of hours of racing. This year I did not get to all of the runoffs. I did not know that it was being televised during the weekdays. (sorry don&#39;t get the TV guide) If I would have known I would have set my VCR.

Speedvision did a better job of showing more roadracing, in 1 month from, all over the world then Speed does in a year! :(

Yes we are a society! And we as a society can make a differance if we push the product.

A business looks for what the consumer wants and demands. If there is a big enough demand the product goes into production. So let get our product into production. It going to slow to develope. But we can be heard.


Yes there might be a big time differance during our races between positions. Not all of us are able to build fresh engines or cars during the off seeason like the pros. That&#39;s why it is call grassroots. Even look at the grassroot dirt track races that Speed televises. There are some races that the leader has about a full lap on the feild. But Speed still show that type of racing. My point is Speed as a business is narrow minded most of the time when it comes to roadracing. Yes they do show Rolex 24 hr., 24 hrs of Le Mans, ALMS, Grand Am & etc., but very limited. Why is when you look at their weekly programing list there is 4 hr one night a 8 hrs the next for the Barret Jackson Auction, "bobsledding", (I&#39;m sure a lot people demanded that), and reality car shows, NBS24 & etc. Those programs get more air time in 1 to 2 months time, then the races and series I just mentioned.

Lets go society and get heard. On averge there are what about 200 driver at a track, not including crew, workers and fans, during a race. Multiply that by how many series does SCCA have and that number become pretty BIG. HUMM. Maybe just maybe those people started to talk to Speed. I wounder what would happpen?

[gsbaker]

It&#39;s a numbers game, and, like it or not, roadracers are a very small part of the American motoring scene.[/b]
<5% of racers. Oval and Drag are each ~ 40%.

[gran racing]

Man, did I ever choose the wrong topic to write a book about. LOL

[gsbaker]

It would be interesting to see the response to a book that was broader in scope and less detailed. Something like "How to be a Racecar Driver".

We see a very broad spectrum of racers, including such extremes as drag boat drivers, monster truck drivers and Pikes Peak hill climbers (that guy races a Kenworth--honest to God), and the basic issues are the same. How much does it cost? What is a typical day at the track like? How much safety gear should I get? Should I build or buy my car? I know you have better things to do with your time than write the same book twice, but a more generalized book would serve a market 20 times the size.

But there is a negative factor also: Road racers aside, racers don&#39;t read. (Some would claim the oval guys can&#39;t read, but I&#39;m not going there.) No one reads product instructions, for example. Hence, it would be interesting to do a video version of a generalized book, but that&#39;s taking you down a long road.

Then again, maybe you could get sponsors and buy time on Speed. ;)

Oh, if you do the video, I strongly suggest you use professional personnel, like these:

http://www.twvdivas.com/bartons/btboth.jpg

Not just another pretty face, one of the Barton twins has a 600hp Supra.

[lateapex911]

I understand Speed is a business.


Speedvision did a better job of showing more roadracing, in 1 month from, all over the world then Speed does in a year! :(

[/b]

Yup. Roger Werner, ex owner/founder of Speedvision, LOVES cars, and all car guy stuff. I was talking to him one time back in the Speedvision days, and asked him why the Porsche Cup Challenge (or whatever it&#39;s called) wasn&#39;t on that season. Now, keep in mind that was a "bought" program...already produced by a company, and already televised in Europe,,,a cheap buy for him. His answer, "I can&#39;t find anyone to pay for the air time." Huh?? "Not Porsche????" I asked..."Nope, we&#39;ve tried and tried.". Yup...they had to pay the bills, and the show brought in not even enough viewers that Porsche thought it was worth the money. The DR Bruush Trimmer folk though were willing to buy air time for some other show that we probably thought was lame. Even back then, he was doing every semi related deal he could to get any ounce of NASCAR related programming he could on the air, and he said those numbers, even then, easily outpaced those of the better roadracing numbers. Really, if YOU had millions in bills, what would you do? You wouldn&#39;t send the production crew, miles of wires, satelite time and dozens of cameras to cover a grassroots effort.



A business looks for what the consumer wants and demands. If there is a big enough demand the product goes into production. So let get our product into production. It going to slow to develope. But we can be heard. [/b]

Whats our product?



Even look at the grassroot dirt track races that Speed televises. There are some races that the leader has about a full lap on the feild. But Speed still show that type of racing. My point is Speed as a business is narrow minded most of the time when it comes to roadracing. Yes they do show Rolex 24 hr., 24 hrs of Le Mans, ALMS, Grand Am & etc., but very limited. Why is when you look at their weekly programing list there is 4 hr one night a 8 hrs the next for the Barret Jackson Auction, "bobsledding", (I&#39;m sure a lot people demanded that), and reality car shows, NBS24 & etc. Those programs get more air time in 1 to 2 months time, then the races and series I just mentioned. [/b]

The shows you mentioned are either VERY cheap to produce AND have good viewership, or are paid in full for by an interested sponsor. Years ago the POC in Cali wrangled together a package and got their 24 hour Willow Spring Event on Speed. They paid for a production company, and got Tommy Kendall to host it, then sold the ad space. Speed broadcast it, but the background work was performed by others. Lawnmower racing? Same deal. Bobsledding? Ditto.


On averge there are what about 200 driver at a track, not including crew, workers and fans, during a race. Multiply that by how many series does SCCA have and that number become pretty BIG. HUMM. Maybe just maybe those people started to talk to Speed. I wounder what would happpen?
[/b]

Car and Driver just did a very interesting story on Speedvision/Speed, and you&#39;d be interested to read about the internal power struggles, the sale to Fox, and the internal debate between the roadracing set (F1 guys) and the rest (NASCAR types). They know about us. They know about the grassrooters, and they know about the numbers...how many, how dedicated, our spending habits, etc. They&#39;re not doing this blindly. The case was made that they are sticking with as much roadracing coverage as they are, not as much to make good numbers, but to try and keep the audience somewhat diversified. But the raw numbers are staggering. Grassroots motorsports, even if you multiply your 200 x hundreds of events, comes up way short of even the "Trackside" audience. Really.

[gran racing]

When comparing the popularity between Road Racing and NASCAR, I wonder how much of the popularity difference is due to a much better marketing campaign being done by NASCAR? I think the tracks in my area (in particular Lime Rock) does a poor job getting it&#39;s name out to the community. Now there maybe logical reasons for this, but regardless it&#39;s still a fact. My neighbors have questioned where I race and I mention that I primarily race at Lime Rock. Even though it is only ~ an hour from us, I usually get either "I didn&#39;t realize there was a road racing track nearby" or "oh, yeah, I forget about them." What I&#39;m getting at, is it there wouldn&#39;t be more interest in road racing or the overally marketing efforts for road racing are lacking?

[loperdw]

Maybe this is a different thread, but if we&#39;re all here to promote scca then...

Each one of us should be working to get people to the track. Seeing a race live gets people excited about it. If they get excited about it, they’ll do something. Tell you relatives, friends, friends of friends, etc. Tell them to bring their kids. For each race that I run I try to get someone that hasn’t been there before to show up. Tell them they can act like crew and get one of the kids to put on some gloves, show them how to set a torque wrench, and have them do the lug nuts (check them afterwards of course). Little things like that mean a lot to someone and make it memorable, like they took part in the race.

I take my in car footage of the last race, press to DVD and give it to anyone that will listen. I write my regions URL on the DVD so they can see when the next race is and put my email address on it as well. I put them on the crew list, send them directions to the track, have the cell phone on all day to get them through registration, etc. Before my last race I gave a guy a copy of the in car video. He liked it so much that he said he wanted to come out and watch. He drove two hours, showed up with his wife, 7-year-old son, and 4-year-old daughter. Thanks to my big mouth, what I’ve found is that people often ask when the next race is, where is it, and can they get in.

After a race, for those that didn’t show, I send a text message along the lines of “17 cars in field, I got 5th”. 50% of those I text message give me a call on the way home from the track with congrats, the rest call me over the next few days. Easy to do, they get informed, and it makes the long drive home easier when you’re talking on the phone (please note that I am not advocating using a cell phone while driving).

Has any of this worked? No! No one that I’ve gotten to the track is out there competing. But that isn’t the best gauge. 7 of them have become SCCA members so they can get in the pits with me. 1 of the kids has talked his father into buying him a junior midget sprint car and started taking the classes needed to get into the local junior midget sprint car races. Another guy wants to do the graphics for my car. Biggest thing that happens is they realize that it doesn’t take a lot of money to get there.

I haven’t been racing for a full year yet, but this shameless self-promotion has had an impact on the SCCA, even if it is a small impact.

[lateapex911]

I dunno Dave....back when I was really young, I can remember taking a bike to Lime Rock and parking off Route 7 south of the track just so I could avoid the parking mess. They had HUGE turnouts for the early IMSA events...half an hour just to get out of the parking lot. They even used the lot across the street behind the church. It was a mad house. Marketing?? IIRC, Winston was the early IMSA title sponsor....think they had some bucks to throw at it??

Sorry to say, but America has gotten less tolerant of needing to think and use their brains, and they want it all, and right now. NASCAR provides that...easy to see up close from your seat, lots of passing, (although essentially meaningless), if the race gets out of hand they tighten it back up, (laps down? still in the game!!!), lots of easy to see action (read: pit stops and rubbin&#39;) and you never miss a crash....

Road racing complaints...all of the above, but the opposite.

[loperdw]

Jake - I agree with your points, depressing, but then i start doing a little math and get back excited. Case: Sebring Winter National/Regional, 350+ cars. I got 8 people in, lets say we can each get in 5, times 350, thats 1750. 1750 is a heck of a lot, plus drivers and you&#39;re over 2000. Sponsers notice the people and the money. To get back what existed in the 70&#39;s is going to take a lot of work, but the first time I saw it, I was totally hooked. That was the key for me and I&#39;m trying to get other people interested that way. I know, I know, its not that simple. The National guys can&#39;t bring 5 people with them from out of state, hard to get people to drive that far, etc... but i&#39;m trying to spin this positive.

I think the main problem for spectators is that there isn&#39;t a way to see the whole course and whos in what corner and in what place. Solution: couple of those monster size TV screens and cameras at a few corners. Big dream, needs money applied, but if the people are there the money will follow. As i said in the previous post, i have been doing this for less than a year. So its a horrible thought that it might be at the end of its life cycle, so i&#39;m not going to think that way. I will drag anyone i can get in for as long as we can race!

BTW, I suspect there are a bunch more people out there that hate NASCAR than love it. That&#39;s our target market.

[gran racing]

I think the main problem for spectators is that there isn&#39;t a way to see the whole course and whos in what corner and in what place. Solution: couple of those monster size TV screens and cameras at a few corners. Big dream, needs money applied, but if the people are there the money will follow. [/b]

Lime Rock has done this for the AMLS events in the past (at least last year). Awesome, awesome, awesome! I also wish more tracks on their score boards would include different lines for multiple classes. When I attend some of the big events, I have a very (o.k. it&#39;s impossible) to determine what cars are the leaders other than in the fastest class.

Jake, yeah, I remember going to LRP and trying to figure out which route we should take because of huge traffic issues. The attendance back then was great! Today, not so great.