Ways to make CART a better product

[KC]

Looking at ways for CART to improve its public profile with the non-racing public, I have a few ideas I have seen other series do and some other common sense programs.

1. Take a page from the ALMS and on an evening before the first practice/qualifying session take all the drivers and team principals along with 4 or 5 back up cars and have a big presentation in the city where the event is being held. These have been a huge success for the sports cars and it places your product right in the crosshairs of every media outlet in the area. Make it a free event and urge people to bring out their kids and allow everyone to get close and check it out. Have a few of the drivers do some burnouts and drive the cars around. Those who have never seen a race car in person are always impressed.

2. Make sure that all the CART Charity and other public events are publicized in every media outlet. CART and its drivers do a lot of work in the cities they visit and they must be seen doing this good work. Not one person can ever look badly on the drivers, domestic or foreign, who are visiting kids in a cancer hospice or helping in a soup line or even visiting with the local troops. Send a driver and a car to as many grade schools on race week as possible for show and tell. Kids love this stuff and they can well become fans.

3. CART needs to extend free passes to as many local celebs as possible. When local dignitaries are seen at the events it lends more credibility to the event. This has worked well at Long Beach making it into a quasi-Monaco. Also give out passes to local orphanages and such and make sure this is also publicized. This has worked huge for NASCAR and other ball-and-stick sports. Make sure plenty of pictures of the kids hanging out with drivers are taken.

4. CART needs to buy a fleet of cars (4 or so of last year’s cars) to be used as display pieces that travel around the country and appear at major corporate sponsor sites (ie: Ford dealerships, Bridgestone tire dealers, etc). Make sure that the local public knows through local radio and TV announcements. NASCAR teams have used this for a long time to burn their brand name and sponsors into the public eye. A group of four cars with their own truck and trailer can cover specific areas of the US, Canada and Mexico quite easily.

5. Make sure that CART’s sponsors employ the car and driver in their ad campaigns. This is one area CART has not pressed enough on. Ford needs a CART car in the ads for their products as does Bridgestone. CART needs to get one or more of the big US beer makers back into the fold. Their sponsor schemes are synonymous with auto racing in America. Who does not know the color and scheme the cars of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rusty Wallace. Public identity is part and parcel of NASCAR’s success.

6. CART also needs to expand their presence on CBS television. Speed Channel is great and all but is essentially a premium channel and is not available in all markets. Normal terrestrial TV is. The CBS Racing Series this year did an excellent job with a sport they previously had little to do with. How good could it be as they get better?


7. CART needs to hook up with the ALMS and possibly the AMA Superbike series to co-host events. Imagine CART holding the Laguna Seca round the day before the big Superbike race. Imagine CART holding a GP the day before the 12 Hours of Sebring. Imagine a CART/ALMS doubleheader at Washington DC. All of these fans are road racing friendly and the crossover could be beneficial. Make sure all the racers are hanging together and checking each other’s equipment out. Maybe even offer some test drives.

8. CART also needs to offer assistance to any of its teams that want to race the Indy 500. Nothing twists their tail more than rolling into town, taking their trophy and leaving big hickeys on their girlfriends. Maybe the teams could pool resources and form mega-teams? I know the media outlets love to make a point of it when an outsider does well. How would it look with a big blue Ford oval on the winning car at the Indy 500? How would it look with CART badges on the winning car and driver’s suit of the Indy 500 winner?

Anyone else have any to offer up?

[paul-collins]

I particularly like your points 4 and 8. In Toronto they pretty much already do 1 and 2.

FWIW, ALMS could do more with sponsor promos. A local GM dealership in my north-of-Toronto hometown claims to be the Corvette specialist in Ontario, and no one in there has heard of Ron Fellows. :confused:

"Nothing twists (IRL's) tail more than rolling into town, taking their trophy and leaving big hickeys on their girlfriends."

[Liz]

Good ideas, many of them being done by sports cars to one degree or another. CART needs to adopt Panoz' motto "For the Fans" and remember that without the fans they are, er, invisible.

Another thing I would add to the "identify the drivers" though would be "disabuse the general American Public of the false perception that all South American drivers are "wealthy playboys without talent who bought their rides with suitcases full of pesos " (a phrase I actually heard used) -- get them to understand first of all that compared to 99.999% of South America, ALL Americans are wealthy -- in many or most cases the families have sacrificed to a greater degree than American families would do so their sons could go racing; and second of all that the reason South Americans are in CART is that they are GOOD DRIVERS.

I would also catch on to the idea that the biggest demographic with the most money to spend is the 35-65 year olds, and rather than pitch the drivers as "hunk of the month", I'd pitch them as complete professional drivers. A sterling example would be Max Papis, who in one year has driven in two classes of open wheel cars and three of sports cars, and he has been successful at all of them. I'd also point out that many or most are family men, not swinging bachelors who live in their cars.

Finally I would crack down really hard on whining and complaining. Even if they have to go back to their motorhomes and throw up afterwards, every last one of them should be upbeat, cheerful, smiling and positive about the series, their team, the other drivers on the grid and the event at which they are driving. This is their chosen profession, they are bloody lucky to be allowed to do it at all, and frankly, listening to them grumble and nitpick on TV is not helpful to the image of the show.

But personally I would not pay any attention to the IRL 500. It is the only thing those other people have, and by our participating in it we give it a legitimacy it does not deserve. Knowledgeable racing people know it is but a shadow of what it was, and that is the only thing we should say about it. Quiet but definite obstacles should be placed in the way of anyone who wants to drive in it. (The word "traitor" should be avoided however.) If any publicity MUST be given to it, old films of what it was like when Real Men in Real Cars drove in it can be shown, and it can be emphasized that it was important not for its own sake but because there was nothing else.

[Lee Janotta]

Hmm... I agree about everything but the crackdown on whining Liz proposes... CART needs to let it's bad boys be bad. Fans love a storyline and rivalry they can follow.

And yeah, CART needs to keep coming to the 500 and making Tony look stupid.

"So Paul, you've just won the Indy 500! Will we see you at (insert name of cookie-cutter ISC oval here) next weekend?"

"No, I'll be busy at (insert spectacular road course or boring but profitable street venue)."

CART needs to play off it's past a bit more... People do know who Mario Andretti is, and a lot have heard the names of Danny Sullivan, Bobby Rahal, Emmerson Fittipaldi... Even Villeneuve, Zanardi and Montoya. _Then_ make the direct connection to the current drivers.

If they're going to be successful in the US market, though, they absolutely have to get AJ Allmendinger or another exciting young American driver into the series and winning races. Preferably 3 or 4. Vasser doesn't come even close to cutting it. A young English Canadian would help too. With all due respect to the drivers, it's damn hard for the average American to get excited over a racer from someplace they've never even heard of, much less could find on a map.

And, as always, I think we could do with more venues that encourage good racing as well as high attendance. A parking lot in Denver ain't gonna cut it people!

I also think at least 3 road races in South America are essential. Brasilia, Jacarapagua (Rio), and Buenos Aires?

And let's start weeding out drivers who just haven't been competitive. Bring back Moreno and Papis. CART needs to maintain a good competitive level.

[Lee Janotta]

Oh, speaking of American drivers... Can I please plug a pair I think need to be watched?

Scott Speed is doing fantastic in the Red Bull driver search... So shouldn't his sparring partners from the Star Mazda series, Moses Smith and Guy Cosmo, get some attention?

And of course there are dozens of others currently throwing uncompetitive touring and GT cars around road courses in World Challenge, Grand-Am, Trans-Am, and club racing.

I firmly believe American drivers will bring back the beer and oil companies into this series. It's the American corporations that can put up the money teams need.

[f1manoz]

I agree with getting American drivers into some of the cars. Surely there are some out there who would be competitive in the CART series.

I particularly agree with the charity and things like that. The fans love it and soak it up, and it will make the CART guys look ever MORE approachable!!

[macdaddy]

You've all made excellent posts here. I particularly agree that CART needs to build driver-recognition with the general public. Bill France has done this better than anybody else, and it's gonna be tough to get a slice of that pie. But it's something that CART has to do. F1 and NASCAR have "household names" in their respective markets, a luxury that American openwheel doesn't enjoy. I've done my own "scientific" survey in recent weeks, asking friends and coworkers if they know who Cristiano daMatta is. Suffice to say, we failed. But had I asked who Schumacher or Gordon were, I think the answers would have been different. Not long ago, CART had the name-recognition. Examples might be Unser, Andretti, Rahal. And who were these American drivers sponsored by? American breweries, American tobacco, and American oil companies. Today there's a distinct lack of Americans. Of course there's Jimmy, but he might not even be on the grid next year. Which would leave us with no former champions in the field! Hard to build name-recognition that way.

A good way to "cheat" would be to get such established names back into the fold. I believe that, were Mario or Emerson to confirm a team for next year, it would do absolute wonders for our sport and, over time, create a domino effect. It would totally offset Penske's departure.

As KC mentioned, the series should put show cars on tour. Over the last few years, our small city has had three NASCARs visit auto dealerships, and one of JV's Williams spent a week parked in front of a gas station just down the street. (See my profile)

As for the Indy, I sympatize with Liz, but what we need more than anything are sponsors. Tobacco's on it's way out, and we don't have anybody to replace them. We need the beer and oil money! And the simple fact of the matter is, the beer and oil people want that exposure. So I suggest that, for the time being at least, Memorial Day be left off the schedule. Do a Saturday race that weekend. Same for the first day of qualifying. But I disagree with KC when he suggested that "CART also needs to offer assistance to any of its teams that want to race the Indy 500." Nope. Like an old lover, it's something in your past and sooner or later you're going to have to get over it. But, until we get the non-tobacco sponsors, "sooner" is not an option. And it pains me to type that.

[Liz]

Well, the "storyline" is a NASCAR thing and I myself don't want to see fist fights in the pitlane. But what I'm talking about is "It's not fair! Everybody's picking on me! HE always gets to go first! I never get a break ... " (Hello, Bruno?)

And that festival of yowling over Surfers was a public embarrassment. In two years the guys who were there will think it was the most fun they ever had. It wasn't the end of the world and nobody was killed or even seriously injured -- the worst that happened is that somebody won a race that never won a race before -- and a lot of people got wet. Have you ever been at a race meeting as a fan when it rained and everyone with your group was wailing and crying ceaselessly about wanting to go home? Isn't it more fun when people just treat it as part of the show?

Lee's suggestion is probably a good one as far as the IRL 500 goes -- let people be in it if they want to, but give them strong signals that this is something in the past and we are weaning our series away from it.

My views on requiring the proper passport and bloodline for entry into our series are well known, so I won't repeat them here. If Americans only want to see Americans, why are so many of them outraged that Dario and Tony are deserting? Shouldn't they be happy to wave them goodbye? Why are all the "well known names from the past" that we are anxious to remind people about all people from other countries? Americans have lots of choices and they're not a monolithic block of provincial rednecks; I really think if we promote our drivers properly, Americans will forgive them for not having blond hair, blue eyes and three generations of American-born parents. (I will bet you a pint of your choice that 99% of the people you ask will not know that Allmandinger is an American.)

[DNQ]

Originally posted by Liz
In two years the guys who were there will think it was the most fun they ever had.

As I wrote in an earlier thread, that day was by far the most fun I've ever had a motor racing event ever. Rain, mud, wind, mist, crash, suprise winner, good fun day.

[Neil C]

Good stuff KC.

Keep it positive and do what's good for CART, instead of "how can we hurt the other guys?".

Point 4: the teams do have show cars available to sponsors. I saw one in a Shell station this summer near Detroit, and there wasn't even a CART race anywhere close. Of course in Detroit any race car will draw a crowd anytime. But I agree with your point that CART could coordinate and encourage teams to make spares and show cars available in strategic places at strategic times.

[*formula3*]

I think CART should expand even more world wide! Some more races in South America and probably 3 races in Europe! Okay, it makes it a little more expansive for the teams, but I think that with a good marketing CART could gain so many fans and visitors here in Europe! Many have already recognized that champ car is much more fun and more exciting than F1 for examble (the only problem is the media coverage that isn´t enough), and I´m sure that many would visit the races!

As the others said before, it will be important to bring some GOOD American drivers o the series that can win races! Keep the good South American drivers and add 2 Europeans!

[Liz]

During the Molson Indy they always have one day when the cars are on display downtown for anyone to see (well, the show cars of Canadians and some of the lower formulae) and it's a very popular activity. They also bring in the drivers to do an autograph session. PT does a lot of promotional work around here and is very popular.

We have also seen CART show cars at the International Auto Show along with a display of driver gear (I have photos of stuff from the last year Gil Who was in the CART series, for example) and information about the series. Last year Toyota had not only their F1 car and their World Rally Car, but an Atlantics car and a CART one. They were very popular exhibits.

So it's been done and it does work -- and they need to be out in places like Malls where people are not necessarily looking for race cars. This morning on my way through the PATH to work I saw a display of SUVs. Why not CART cars instead?

[KC]

I did not think about that one place that always is crowded in the US. The mall! Of course. Imagine Ford and Bridgestone co-displaying their cars and tires and then having a brace of CART machines their showcasing the tech and such. Especially around Christmas time.

[Flatspot]

...and how about at major sports arena's at games a couple of weeks before a race, or anytime for that matter!

[Liz]

Diecasts . Wal-Mart and Zellers are packed with HotWheels NASCAR and F1 and even sports car diecasts, but I have only 2 CART diecasts and they are from 1998: Gil Who's Walker DNF special and Alex Zanardi's Target car. I have never seen any others. Why are there no CART diecasts? When I wrote to Mattel (and others report the same), they just repeat "No demand, no demand."

Perhaps more CART people should write them and ask if we can please have diecasts?

[Lee Janotta]

Heh, I've still got my 1992 Rick Mears Matchbox diecast.

[macdaddy]

I'd love to have some diecasts myself, (especially Lee's!) But I've never seen them, except at merchandise trailers at the racetrack. But what I have found over the years are model kits by Tamiya and Revell. I've built Mansell's championship car, Barron's Eagle, Moore's Reynard from 99, and JV's 97 WDC Williams. I'm quite proud of them and they're displayed here at the house. I go to a local auto parts store and leaf through pages and pages of automotive paint chips, until I find the perfect colour and gloss, and then they make me up a spray can. Usually the paints cost three times as much as the kit!

Sorry... I'm getting off-topic.

[Liz]

I have some that are sold for adults too -- $45 -$50 each -- I have Moore's last car, and a Paul Tracy car, for example, in the new/old colours. But I mean $2.00 cars that kids can have to play with. (Most of my really nice diecasts are F1 cars from the 1980s.)

[Jay]

Liz, do they have one in 1/43 scale of Paul's Kool colours from this year? I'd like to find one of those...

I have a 1/43 of Greg's last car too, and it is a much better paint scheme than the current Player's cars.

I also built a model of JV's 97 Williams which looks as good as any of the prebuilt ones.

[alchemy]

CART needs to think up a better name. Of all the things it can call itself, it calls itself something that is so often confused in conversation with KART (as in Go-Kart).

Dummies!!

[429CJ]

One thing CART really needs, is North American drivers ( USA, Mexico, Canada). Now half of the field is filled by Carioca Boys.

[macdaddy]

The name change and new logo are on the not-so-distant horizon.
Bridgestone Presents the Ford ChampCar World Series?
Although it's been my experience that the "CART" moniker has been steadily gaining recognition amongst the stick-and-ball fans. (That's not to say they can name two drivers).

[mac]

KC, I like em all, except point 7. I think CART needs to remain the headline act at all of its meetings.

[Flatspot]

Mac, Point 7 is a tough one your right, but the idea of joint/crossover exposure is a good one. CART does need and deserve to be the headliner. So do Superbike and ALMS. It would also be tough to get the tracks to buy into it because separated, the tracks get 3 different paying crowds on three separate weekends. However, as an example, between classes and/or heats at any of these events it would not be a bad idea to run a couple of champ cars around for a few laps and show people what its about. Superbike (although cheaper and easier to transport) has done this for years at Laguna Seca and after the first couple of times I started going to the bike races and have become a great fan.

KC you laid out some great ideas here. Thanks

[Jay]

These are all great marketing ideas, but I think one of the best marketing ideas would be to provide entertaining races again! Like when Zanardi drove the target cars.

Make the tires soft again! Remember how there used to be lots of "marbles" all over the track? Well, I think we should go back to that! Seriously, while you may reduce the number of racing lines, you'll have cars that can actually pass each other. We need guys trying Zanardi-like passes at the end of the race, which they can't do right now because of the tires won't allow it. Yes, this would mean faster cars, but so what! Would make us look better if we were closer to F1.