If I were boss of CART.

[mapguy]

First of all I would bring back the US500 on Memorial Day. Promote the he!! out of it. Advertise on nation wide TV. Lower ticket prices. Also Have a contest where three people in the stands will win an all-expense trip to the Laguna race. This will include several laps around Laguna in a 2-seat Champcar with the winner's favourite driver.
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Schedule the Rio race opposite the Pole Day at Indy.
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I know that there are some of you out there that would think that it would be stupid to do this but the 96 US500 was a success and CART was stupid not to continue.
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Either get a much better deal from ABC/ESPN or go to another network. Pay for airtime if needs be. Anything for better coverage.
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Get rid of the unsuccessful (sp?) races. Gateway, Detroit, Homestead and Nazareth. Bring back the downtown Miami race. That was a huge success. Help pay for Watkins Glen to get up to standards and have an event there. Do the same for Mosport. Also add Road Atlanta early in the year.
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Schedule a race when there is any gap in the NAPCAR schedule.
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Schedule more races on Saturday. Especially during football season.
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Get a real series sponsor.
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Do not, in any shape or form, negotiate with Tony George. No talks, nothing. Let him sweat. Forget about Indy.
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The only way CART would come back to Indy is under MY terms (remember, I'm da boss...). Things were looking great for open wheel racing until "The Tantrum".

[Liz]

I agree with all of the above. And here are some of my marketing suggestions, were I the Marketing Czar of CART:

1. Promote the hades out of the pilotes. Run profiles of at least two of them in the run-up to the race, showing that they are not "Rich Playboy Foreigners" but hardworking boys who came up through the ranks, who have mothers and fathers and families and morals and manners - unlike the "sports heroes" of the ball sports who are always being taken up for class 1 felonies and being named in paternity suits. A very good bio of Tony Kanaan was run one weekend and his is an electrifying story. So is Moreno's. I bet the others are just as interesting.

2. Schedule lots of CART related events the week before the race, and promote those too. I was in Fontana and my cousin was in Long Beach for these races and absolutely nothing was done to promote either one, not on the air and not in the papers and nowhere. In Toronto we have a mad race week and the pilotes are everywhere.

3. Give away LOTS of general admission tickets ($10 at the Toronto race). Have radio contests, scratch-&-win contests, dress-up-like-a-pilote contests, even a contest for Pit Babes if you want one. Give away CART branded merchandise as consolation prizes, and make sure virtually everyone who enters gets something with the CART logo on it. Three quarters of the difficulty is getting people to the track. Once they are there, they will see what a blast it is and most of them will return.

4. Along with the above, be sure you schedule lots of races at venues accessible by public transportation (or provide shuttles to the track) and either reasonably priced food or (and) picnic areas. Fontana had neither of the above and they SOLD the water for $3 a bottle - no water fountains.

5. Finally, stop worrying about what passport the pilotes hold or where their parents were born. If the racing is good, the people will come. If not, well, just ask Tony George what will happen!

[mapguy]

Briliant Liz. The new VP of marketing for CART. My comments:

>>"1. Promote the hades out of the pilotes. Run profiles of at least two of them in the run-up to the race, showing that they are not "Rich Playboy Foreigners" but hardworking boys who came up through the ranks, who have mothers and fathers and families and morals and manners - unlike the "sports heroes" of the ball sports who are always being taken up for class 1 felonies and being named in paternity suits. A very good bio of Tony Kanaan was run one weekend and his is an electrifying story. So is Moreno's. I bet the others are just as interesting."<<

Perfect. A lot of IRListas tend to think that guys like Kanaan and Castro-Neves bought their rides. Not true. When Kanaan was racing the the Alfa Boxer series (I think that is what it is called?) in Italy he didn't have any money and slept in the team shop.

>>"2. Schedule lots of CART related events the week before the race, and promote those too. I was in Fontana and my cousin was in Long Beach for these races and absolutely nothing was done to promote either one, not on the air and not in the papers and nowhere. In Toronto we have a mad race week and the pilotes are everywhere."<<

That has always been a problem with the Penske (Now ISC) tracks. No promotion. Toronto, eh? I was born and raised there. GO LEAFS GO! DEVILS SUCK! Sorry for getting off topic....

>>"3. Give away LOTS of general admission tickets ($10 at the Toronto race). Have radio contests, scratch-&-win contests, dress-up-like-a-pilote contests, even a contest for Pit Babes if you want one. Give away CART branded merchandise as consolation prizes, and make sure virtually everyone who enters gets something with the CART logo on it. Three quarters of the difficulty is getting people to the track. Once they are there, they will see what a blast it is and most of them will return."<<

Huh? Sorry? What did you say after pit babes?

[Liz]

I'm watching the Leafs game and hoping they will find their way to a win ...

If you grew up in Toronto you know how CHUM does their Pit Babe contests. Tell me you couldn't get every man in Ontario to turn out for something like that! And take Miss CART Pit Babe and maybe five runner-up Babettes to the race, dress them up (or down) in team colours and give them flags (careful not to poke your eye out, honeychile!) and get them to strut up and down the neighbourhood just inside the gate, and beckon invitingly to the undecided hordes at the ticket windows ...

Yes, it's exploitative and tasteless, but it's also a sure fire winner ...

[Crash Test]

"Also Have a contest where three people in the stands will win an all-expense trip to the Laguna race. This will include several laps around Laguna in a 2-seat Champcar with the winner's favourite driver."
-Hmmm, are you sure that the boss of Cart is in charge of that one?

Down here in Australia the race is absolutely stuffed down our throats. In the months leading up to the race, not a commercial break will pass without it one appearing. On the coast itself, it gets flogged to death thrugh the print media. Generally on the week before the race thay put on some stunts like swimming with the dolphines etc..

Another thing to do, is get a sponsor of the event, say a newspaper or a pizza joint or something to give away free kids tickets with a paying adult. works a treat


"Either get a much better deal from ABC/ESPN or go to another network. Pay for airtime if needs be. Anything for better coverage."
-What exactly are they doing wrong (since i don't get either)?
Delaying the coverage?
Not getting as much coverage as Nascar?
What is it that ticks everyone off about it?

"Schedule more races on Saturday. Especially during football season."
-One thing they try and do down here is to program the races when the home teams are playing away.

"Do not, in any shape or form, negotiate with Tony George. No talks, nothing. Let him sweat. Forget about Indy."
- OK, OK, enough all ready!!! How many times do you have to tell us? IT IS BECOMING ANNOYING!! Telling us isn't going to do squat, why not write mr george a letter? I know it wont do anything, but if you wrote a degrading letter to andrew crag, he wuld ignore it too...

[Liz]

ABC/ESPN runs the race in a two hour window - any two hours that suits them, that is, delayed by golf, tennis, NASCAR, bowling, cheerleading, hair-in-a-can infomercials, you name it.... and whether the race is over or not,when the two hours are up, the race is off the air. No pre-race show, no interviews, no walking the track, etc. And an average of 65-75 commercial interruptions in those two hours, a great many of them flogging products, events and television programs that we in Canada couldn't get if we wanted them!

And of course there are Peter and Parker, which are an acquired taste (some people do like them; I do not), and Bobby Unser, whom NO ONE seems to like except ABC/ESPN.

If I were hiring a broadcast crew, I'd get John Watson and pair him with a well-known retired CART pilote for colour commentary (not Parakeet Johnstone or someone that is out of work because he can't get a drive - someone who retired. Rahal if he doesn't go to Jaguar; maybe Zanardi.)

[slicktoast]

Hey CART franchise owners, are you listening. Because you SHOULD!

[Nuvolari]

If the numbers are as bad as some have indicated (and I haven't seen them), I'm not so sure CART can get a better deal than what they have.

Though I'm not thrilled with the coverage, I'm also thankful that ABC and ESPN are owned by the same bunch of pirates. At least the races not deemed important enough for ABC are shown on cable. Without that -- who knows? We might only get a fraction of the series. Or, fans might be forced to pay for a premium channel.

As for Page and Johnstone . . . well, Parker's not that bad. Paul Page, on the other hand . . . .

[markph]

I'll keep it brief

Nobody cares about the Indy500 so stop trying to compete with it.

[Crash Test]

I would prefer the Andretti Vs Tracy WWF face off...

They sit there for a while calling each other fat sissies, then they pick up chairs and smash them over each others heads. Then Dario and Christian enter the ring, but seeing the other two pulling each others hair, leave shaking their heads. The fight ends when the annoyed audience leave. Tracy and Andretti crash into each other on the way home. They both blame each other....

[Liz]

Now that really would frost Tony George's cornflakes, wouldn't it?

Remembering Dario Franchitti's famous quote, "The Indy 500? I'd rather play Ping Pong," why not have a contest (have some radio guys run it) called "Don't care about the Indy 500? Dario'd rather play Ping Pong. What would you rather do?" And give some really nice CART related prizes to the winners. Or maybe a Tony George dart board.

[This message has been edited by Liz (edited 06 May 2000).]

[Green_man4421]

SO If I was in charge I would run a support race for the F1 at indy showing that the competition wanted to work with F1 and instead of it being support have a CART race on Saturday F1 on Sunday qualifying from Wensday for CART ususal plan for F1 not have it as support but more of a double event.

Cut down races per year cut out heaps of ovals keep a few and on the tracks that are raced up make much more safe.

Have a look at cutting out Turbos (CART cars have these don't they).

Organise a Boxing match between Andretti and Tracey Publicity stunt heaps of Advertising money and cover for the sport shows that drivers are happy and serious get them to shake hands at the end.

ANDRETTI vs TRACY I would like to see that.

[Green_man4421]

But since they are athlites lets see their athletic ability in other sports. DOn King can promote it (won't that make it just like WWF?)

[slicktoast]

Great one Crash Test! But you neglected in telling us the number of pedestrians (i.e. pit crew memebers) that were run over in that crash.

[floid2000]

Paul Tracy would kick Mikes a**. Too Easy
How about Dario Vs. Paul ?
Now there's a WWF event.

One more time...............................
Don't mess with our OVALS.

[Nuvolari]

Suggestions for boosting interest in CART races:

Topless pit crew competitions!

Pilotes dressed as their favorite Pokemon character!

Golf cart/hospital gurney support race!

Post-qualifying "Torch Tony George" effigy bonfire!

Free methanol fill-up for first 10,000 paying customers!

Local babes in "Wild, Wet Nomex Suit" competition!

Local hunks in "Show Us YOUR Wickerbill" contest!

Local college seminar on the geopolitical impact of unilateral Hanford device test ban!

Rap karaoke night, starring Chip Ganassi, Roger Penske and Pat Patrick!

[Liz]

Make it a no-hands bicycle race between First Qualifying and the next support race.

Brett, we love our turbos. In fact BRING BACK TURBOS TO F1!

No tintop support races at CART events. No trucks, CASCAR, Motorola Cup or other things that detract from open wheel racing. We don't run CART and Indy Lights at NASCAR events do we?

[Crash Test]

Why not have a triathalon, where the drivers start out in a lights car, then race a tin top (Super tourer or truck) then get into a Champ car?

Oops sorry, my brain seems to be stuck in **** mode....sorry

[Crash Test]

"Golf cart....support race!"
-As a veteran on the golf cart racing scene (ans a regular viewer of funniest home videos), i don't this would be a good idea...Heck, cart is trying to improve safety...

[Liz]

Sumo meet between Chip and Carl Haas - cigars optional. No, that would be too much!

Demo race between Mario Andretti and Paul Newman. Possibly in two-seaters, with Lucky Winner in second seat?

Free beer!

P.S. Topless pit crews would cause even more pilotes to run over crew members and spectators as they would be too busy looking elsewhere than at the Lollipop girl's Lollipop!