Maybe I'm Underthinking This

Seems like everyone is jumping on the "how to fix IndyCar" bandwagon. Pressdog has a great blog here and Steph over at More Front Wing comes equally as strong with her blog here. They aren't alone, Track Forum and practically the entire IndyCar blogger community is full of people who have some great ideas on how to "fix" IndyCar.

BUT

There's something missing in all these great ideas.

No one ever stops and asks themselves one very simple question. The scary part is, the answer to the question might be the answer to IndyCar's biggest problems.

How did I become a fan of IndyCar?

We can go on and on about to attract new fans, but maybe we should look at ourselves and say, "this is why I started watching and this is why I stayed." It stands to reason that if something drew you to the sport, why couldn't that same thing draw someone else to the sport?

Was it the speed, the technology, the tracks, the drivers, the competition, the manufacturers, the glitz, the glamour, the danger...

Or was it a zip line and a ferris wheel?

So next time you're thinking up all these ideas to gain new fans, remember that you are a fan and whatever attracted you to IndyCar could just as easily attracted someone else.

IndyCar's Long Term Plan

100 years of racing, 84 years of progress.

Since IndyCar doesn't have a long term plan in place, I've decided to enlist my services in writing one for them. I realize that much of my plan requires Hulman & Co. to spend money, but I hope I make the case this is smart money to spend.

FOR THE FANS

Hire a marketing firm.

A real marketing firm like IMG, not Gene Simmons. This marketing firm needs to be IndyCar's eyes and ears on the fans. What race do fans want to watch on TV the most? What's the average income for IndyCar fans? How much are fans willing to pay for streaming? Why are fans leaving NASCAR and what can we do to get them? The marketing firm should be able to answer any of the questions whenever IndyCar asks them.

The firm will also establish a relationship with teams and help them on strategies to find sponsors, or helping them find sponsors. If the firm does it job right, it should pay for itself.

Let an outside partner run the website.

It works great for NASCAR. The outside partner can incur the costs of running the site and providing content, while selling advertising to make money to cover the costs. Saves IndyCar the money of running a site. Since the outside partner will be interested in generating revenue, they would have to provide plenty of content to keep the IndyCar fan base coming back for more.

Fix TV

This is one not just for the fans, but for the owners and the tracks as well. It would be in the best interest of all involved parties for Comcast to move IndyCar to USA Network. I cannot imagine Comcast is making money with IndyCar on NBC Sports Network, so it only makes since to move at least half the races to USA. Hopefully showing the races to the wider audience will entice folks to watch the races on NBCsn. At the same time, tracks and owners can sell sponsorship buy being on one of the highest rated cable channels.

(And if I had my way, USA would get a block of  "Saturday Night Specials" in June. Texas, Milwaukee, Iowa, Richmond(?). Can't you just see the promos with cars running wheel to wheel, sparks flying, smoke effects, and the Skynyrd song playing? I know you can!)

If Comcast doesn't agree to this, then it's time to go the route of the NHRA and ALMS and buy time on ESPN/ABC. The hope would be that by establishing itself on ESPN and ABC, sponsorship can be found to offset the cost of buying time.

FOR EVERYONE

The Schedule

I propose IndyCar set up a group of 12 to 14 "core" races at permanent tracks (we can include Long Beach and Toronto here) and fill out the rest of the season with money grabbing street races or races outside of North America. The "core" races would be those identified by the marketing firm as the races that the fans most want to attend or watch. These races will all appear on ABC or USA, in order to reach the widest audience possible.

The core races would be given a minimum 3 year contract and would run on, or as close as possible, the same weekend for those 3 years. At the end of three years an evaluation will be made on how successful each race is, and what to do next.


I think it would come as no surprise to anyone if Road America was identified by the market firm as one of IndyCar's most wanted races. We already know what Road America thinks of IndyCar's current sanctioning fee. The solution is something I call an "Attendance Bonus."

It's simple. IndyCar gives tracks a reduced sanctioning fee. Once attendance reaches a certain mark, IndyCar would get a percentage of the gate. Let's say Road America breaks even with 35,000 in attendance. The bonus would kick is for every ticket AFTER 40,000. The tracks get their money, and if IndyCar is doing it's job right, they will not lose money. (Obviously, the bonus changes a bit if a sponsor is found)

Establishing these "core" races that are identified as the most wanted by fans should go a long way towards increasing ratings and attendance, and with the bonus I think the tracks and IndyCar will be able to work together towards a common goal.

FOR THE OWNERS

The owners will get to right their own technical regulations. The teams know what they can and cannot afford to do, so why can't they just gather all their engineers together and write a formula that works the best for all of them? If they are the ones that make the rules, the only people they can complain to are themselves. 

And who knows, maybe they'll write a formula that will bring back some good old-fashion ingenuity and innovation to IndyCar. 

So that's it, I know it doesn't address all the issues, but it's more than what IndyCar currently has in a long term plan.

Randy Bernard's Lonely Island

Thanks for playing Randy. Here's your parting gift!.

Is he out or is he in? (That's what she said)

The rumors are still spreading like wildfire, and while IMS and Mr. Bernard himself deny them, there's something missing in all this. As of today, I cannot think of one person currently involved with IndyCar who has voiced their support for Randy.

Not one owner, driver, board member, broadcast partner, manufacturer, race promoter, track president, track promoter, or major sponsor has gone on public record to voice their support for Randy Bernard as the CEO of IndyCar. So, why is it the fan base is almost unanimous in their support for Randy, but the people who either spend or make money in IndyCar have been silent on the issue?

Is it fear? If they believe that Randy is out and Tony George is back in, it makes sense not to support Randy for fear of retribution once Tony takes charge.

Are they tired of the BS? There's already enough attention to this story, why rock the boat and bring even more attention to the Series?

Do they even support Randy at all? Certainly some track presidents and team owners have been vocal in their displeasure with Randy, maybe those people speak for a silent majority.

Honestly, I don't know what it means, but I know it's not good for Randy.

What IndyCar needs right now is a leader who will bring all parties together to work towards the common goal of gaining fans. Get the drivers, tracks, owners, and sponsors all on the same page of providing the best product for the fan base. When none of these people come out to support a leader, is that leader worth keeping?

An Open Letter to Tony George

Dear Tony,

  Seems like you've been stirring up trouble again, and it's got a lot of people mad at you. As for me, I haven't formed an opinion as I have no idea what your plans are for IndyCar's future. That's why I'm writing you today. I think it would be to your best advantage to come forward and tell the world what you want to do.

  As you know, Dan Gurney wrote the "White Letter" in 1978 in response to the job your father was doing running USAC. Gurney clearly laid out what he thought USAC was doing wrong and how the owners should go about fixing these problems. The cars owners were very receptive to the ideas laid out in the "White Letter" and almost a year after he wrote it, CART ran their first race. I bring this up because you are now in Mr. Gurney's position. You are the owner who is frustrated with the current direction of the series, but unlike Mr. Gurney, you don't need to win over the other owners, you need to win over the fans.

  May I suggest that you gather your partners and lay out your plans for the future. Tell us, the fans, why we should support you. You know the major issues with the series, address them and how you would solve them. How would you plan to fix TV, attendance, and a lackluster schedule? I think if you address these issues, and give us you three, five and ten year plans, you might just win over the fanbase. If you announce a three year plan, you'll be three years ahead of the current administration. I think most fans would agree that right now IndyCar doesn't seem to have a vision for the future and is just trying it's best to just stay afloat. If you, and your partners, have a plan for the future it might put fans at ease for your takeover.

  You have the chance to write your own "White Letter" and win support. Don't waste this opportunity.

(But keep Beaux Barfield and Will Phillips around, thanks)

The Case for Tony George

I'll be back (if the rumors are true)

The rumblings of Tony George leading a group of investors that want to buy the IndyCar series aren't nearly as loud as the moans from IndyCar fans who don't want to see this happen, but I ask, "Would it really be that bad?" It will be an unpopular stance, but I'm going to make a case for why Tony's return may be good for IndyCar.

• The purse strings will be opened

We don't know who is involved with Tony, but we know they must have money. History also tells us that Tony isn't afraid to spend money to make IndyCar a better series. On the other hand, the current administration is only interested in not losing money. While I understand businesses need to profit, I also understand that in order to make money, you first have to spend money. IndyCar desperately needs to spend money on marketing and promotions, and (hopefully) Tony's new regime will be given free reign to spend, spend, spend!

• Tony George wouldn't be in charge

Ha! You thought I was making a case for Tony to be in charge, well I'm not. I'm making a case for Tony and Friends to buy the series, then put someone else in charge. 

The CEO I would choose for this new IndyCar is one of the rumored investors, Zak Brown. I'm not going to write Mr. Brown's biography here, but from what I have read about him, he has the drive and determination of Randy Bernard, but with a lifetime of experience in motor sport. How can you beat that? He also has a working relationship with several businesses that already invest money in sponsorship and to top it off, he owns his own race team, so he knows what the owners are up against. If Tony George buying IndyCar makes the fans riot, I'd hope that naming Mr. Brown as CEO would at least cause everyone to drop their pitchforks and  listen to what he has to say.

• The owners actually respected Tony

For one reason, or a million others, Randy Bernard's relationship with the owners has been tense. Not just the car owners, but the track owners and Presidents. There's the off, then on again relationship with International Speedway Corporation, and the shakey relationship with Eddie Gossage. Randy's called out car owners on Twitter, track president in the press, and has lost the battle of Aero Kits two years in a row. I honestly don't remember Tony having any issues like this during his tenure. In fact, I remember the owners actually coming together in support of Tony shortly after he was ousted. How often have all the cars owners come together like that? Wouldn't it be nice to have some peace and harmony in IndyCar again?

So we'd have an IndyCar not afraid to spend money, with a CEO that is experienced well respected throughout all of motor sports, and happy owners, what's not to like?

(Just keep Will Philips and Beaux Barfield around, please Mr. George)

Filling the gap

IndyCar's planner for September 2013 looks almost like this. Empty.

The only gap bigger than the one in IndyCar's schedule is the one between David Letterman's front teeth. Since there's enough criticism of the 2013 Izod IndyCar Series schedule, I thought I would just offer up some possible suggestions for filling that gap.

Let's start with July 20-21. Why? Because IndyCar is off that weekend, and so is Sprint Cup. It's not like this should be a surprise to anyone in the IndyCar offices, as Sprint Cup has traditionally taken the weekend before the Brickyard off. So, why not try to showcase the product on a weekend they'll get the most attention?

Now, it should be noted that Trucks and Nationwide race that weekend. In fact, they race just up the road most of the teams at a little track called Chicagoland. So, you've got a track within one tank of fuel from Indianapolis that's going to have all the necessary things needed to put a race on already in place, it's going to be cheap for the teams to get to, and if they really wanted to make it on the cheap, they could make it a one day show. Practice in the morning, qualify before the truck race, then race at night. Just a suggestion.

Then there's September the weekend of September 15. Again, the Trucks and Nationwide are going to be in Kentucky while Sprint Cup is somewhere else. Maybe this might be the weekend to try a true IndyCar/Nationwide double header? 250 Miles of tintops followed directly by 250 miles of IndyCar. 500 miles of action all for one low price and all on ABC/ESPN? Again, it's a cheap trip for IndyCar teams and all the personnel is already in place, so the full sanctioning fee wouldn't be needed.

Last, but not least, the trucks run Vegas in late September. I think the DW12 has shown itself to perform well on these tracks, and I think the time has healed our wounds, might be time to try night race in Vegas?

Time for IndyCar to Pay for Play

After reaching 194,000 people during the Edmonton broadcast, and not many more during the rest of the NBC races this season, it might be time for IndyCar to do something I long said they should never do. It's time for IndyCar to buy time on TV.

For a long time I was against this idea as I knew it devalued the product to potential broadcasters, but I don't think it's possible to devalue the product anymore than being on NBC Sports Network is already doing. Tracks and teams need to find sponsors, and when you only reach 200,000 or so during the majority of your season, it's going to get harder and harder to find sponsors. That's why it is time to look into paying to keep all the races on ABC/ESPN.

*GASP*

*HORROR*

Relax you ninnies. If IndyCar is paying for the season, that means they get to choose the on and off air talent. So, if your worried this means a full year of the Excitement Brothers (Scott and Marty), don't be. In fact, I think there are a lot of advantages to IndyCar paying to be on ABC/ESPN. The biggest would be that they own the time and in turn they would sell the Ad time. Why is that important?

Right now the teams, tracks, series, and TV are out looking for sponsors, but there is no combined effort between all the parties (or at least it seems like it). Now with TV and the Series under one umbrella it could be easier to offer potential sponsors package deals. For example....

If you are the primary sponsor of a car, you get a 10% discount.

If your TV advertising features an IndyCar driver, 20% discount. (This could lead to more sponsors cross promoting)

Want to sponsor a race? You get four free :30 spots on network TV.

Giving more value to team and race sponsor is exactly what this sport needs now and I've only scratched the surface with things IndyCar could do. Who knows, maybe for an additional low price IndyCar could convince these same sponsor to advertise on live stream during ESPN3 broadcasts.

Yes, I also realize there is the big question of who pays for this. I think IndyCar could go a long way in helping themselves by scheduling as many weekends as they can with other series. Truck, ALMS, ARCA, Grand Am, and even Nationwide. In the end, this is going to be one of those "to make money, you have to spend money," deals, but in the end I think it's worth the risk. Certainly can't hurt more than having your series finale potentially being seen by a combined 300,000 people.

Why is there no race this weekend?

It's the "Dead Season" for sports. There's no football, basketball, or hockey. Only sports going on in the US right now are Baseball and NASCAR. So, why has IndyCar decided this would be a good weekend to take off?

This should be the time of year that IndyCar is on a death march with no breaks between races. I'm not saying to dump the Canadian races, just asking why we can't race on the other weekends? Seems to me the best time to hold a race is when you have the least competition.

So, whats wrong with have a night race in Richmond this weekend?

Promenade to left....

 How does IndyCar decide on it's "partners?" We are quickly approaching Labor Day and by the time the second annual Baltimore Grand Prix will have (hopefully) run, it will be on it's third promoter. If IndyCar is that third promoter, then it's very likely that by the time the third annual Baltimore GP runs, they will have had FOUR promoters. What makes matter worse is that this was a very successful event.

 In 2011 a company was given the opportunity to promote Milwaukee, and proceeded to crash and burn. Here were are a year later and there's now a second promoter is running the race in Milwaukee. I hope that Andretti does well, and from what I gather, anything was better than the Avocado bunch.

 Lotus.

 Izod seems to have left town. Was it Dan's accident? Was it Danica's departure? Was the ROI much lower than expected? What is the introduction Lids?

 And then there's China, which also has no way to buy tickets. Penske and Ganassi have already made it known they aren't very happy about this race either and there seems to be very little talk on returning there next year.

 So, what's it take to be a "partner" with IndyCar?

 Where's the long term goal here?

 This wouldn't be so bad if it was just one of these things, but when you put them all together.... I just want to hear some answers.

IndyCar by the Numbers: The Age Game

47 year old Al Unser wins his 4th Indy 500

Age
23  -  Graham Rahal
29  -  Bobby Rahal wins his first IndyCar race

23  -  Simona de Silvestro
28  -  Al Unser Jr. wins his first oval race

25  -  James Hinchcliffe
27  -  Michael Andretti signs with Newman Haas

36  -  Helio Castroneves
43  -  Average age of the four time Indy 500 winners when they won their last 500.

38  -  Dario Franchitti
44  -  Mario Andretti wins the CART Championship

39  -  Rubens Barrichello
42  -  Emerson Fittipaldi wins his first Indy 500 and the CART Championship

25  -  Marco Andretti
29  -  Mario Andretti wins his only Indy 500

Maybe this sport isn't quite the young man's game that we think it is.
 

IndyCar is now NSFW

That's just pure pornography right there. 

I haven't seen a rear end that nice since Lara Sue Jacobson mooned me in 11th grade. Wow.

And how are we supposed to discuss the Indy 500 this year when the censors are going to blur the cars?

As with many things in life, I think Richard Pyror has the best way to describe this car. (Which really is NSFW)

(Credit Damon Sturrock for the pics)

Who will miss pack racing?

 Will it be those 20,000 people that showed up to the last race at Chicago? Maybe those 10,000 that showed up to the last race at Kentucky will miss it. I bet it will be the 200,000 people that watched the 2009 Kansas race on TV.

 Basically, no one will miss pack racing, because almost no one was watching it.

 Sure, the ratings across the board for IndyCar isn't great, but when you look at the highest attended and rated races outside of Indy, it's typically a street course. The ratings for the last Kentucky and Chicago races were so bad, Versus didn't even bother to report them.

 I hear you screaming over there mister, "IndyCar needs exciting races with .000001012 second finishes cause that's what oval racing is all about!!!!!" First, calm down. Second, that's fine once or twice, but race after race it's a little much. It's basically making every race into a Michael Bay movie. Sure, there's lots of 'splosions and sexy girls, but it's just mindless entertainment after awhile.

 When people talk about IndyCar's roots being on ovals, they're talking about flat tracks and super speedways. Not these NASCAR cookie cutter tracks. You want to return to the roots of IndyCar, you need to return to Michigan, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Pocono. Those are the tracks that are still around that made IndyCar famous.

 Why not tap back into that fanbase that made Indy popular in the 60's, 70's, and 80's? Why not be an alternative to NASCAR? They race at so many 1.5 mile tracks the fans call them cookie cutters, but not in a fun "Yay, were going to have cookies!" way, but in a way you get excited for McDonald's, cause that's what cookie cutter tracks are, they are the McDonald's of the racing world. Maybe IndyCar should strive to be a little better than that? I'd much rather be the In-n-Out than the McDonald's anyways.

Hey Chad Knaus, You Should Take Up Drinking

Chad contemplating his plans for his six race suspension.

Next time you think about cheating in NASCAR, you should just take up drinking.

I'm serious. Go grab a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon and get hammered. Then, and this is the best part, get behind the wheel of a car and start texting people. But you have to wreck into someone. Trust me Chad, you should do that long before you think about building a car with a C-Post .01mm out of spec.

Why?

Cause NASCAR won't suspend you for getting a DUI, blowing twice the legal limit, and wrecking while texting. Just ask this guy...

Micheal Annett, is thinking, "Thank God I only got a DUI. I can keep racing!"

So, Mr Knaus, if you don't want a six race suspension, just get a DUI. You'll get to race the rest of the year without a single race off.

Going Forward By Looking Back

Lil' Al on his way to the 1990 PPG Championship

  The 2012 IZOD INDYCAR series schedule is just awful, isn't it? There's only 16 races, most of them are street races. Heck there's only five ovals. That's just depressing.

  It's also 1990 CART PPG Championship season. 16 races, 5 ovals and there were more street races than any other race. So why is it that in 1990 this was one of the greatest series in the world, but in 2012 the same schedule is a disappointment to fans?

  The schedule wasn't the only thing today's fans would have hated about 1990. Two drivers dominated the season and together they won 11 races. That's one more race than Will Power and Dario Franchitti won in 2011. Of course, those two drivers were Al Unser, Jr. and Michael Andretti so I'll give today's fan that one. By today's standards, the races themselves were extremely boring. The highest number of cars to finish on the lead lap in one race was eight and that was at the four mile long Road America. In five races, only two cars finished on the lead lap. If that were to happen today we'd put the audience on suicide watch.

Yet.

  In 1991 the ratings went up, attendance went up, sponsorship money being thrown around went up, and IndyCar even had a video based around it's championship driver released. How is that even possible? According to today's fans all of this would just be the most boring racing on the planet.

  So what's happened to the audience? I realized that many were lost due to the split, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about what today's fans will tolerate. Why does today's auto racing audience need so many gimmicks? Red tires, push-to-pass, double-file restarts, lucky dogs, wave arounds, KERS, and DRS; IndyCar had none of these in 1990, and many more people were watching. 

  The 1990 season was just people building cars to go as fast as they could and drivers driving them as fast as they could. That was racing and it was great. So I have to ask, can we go back to this, or would we have to put Jack Kevorkian's hotline in the race scroll?

Stats can be found here: http://www.race-database.com/season/season.php?year=1990&series_id=4

Brace for the G's

"And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of old and evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

I'm starting this blog with one of my favorite quotes from Hunter S. Thompson (okay, it's the only one I know) because it seem very fitting for what I hope will be the major theme of this blog. I'm going to spend a lot of time discussing IndyCar, my passion for it, where it's been, where it's at, and where I hope it's going.

I started watching IndyCar in 1985. I was 8 years old, but seeing Danny Sullivan spin his car in the south short chute, not wreck, and then go on to win the race got me hooked. Now, at 33 years of age, I look back at IndyCar during my youth and realize how it was "riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave." It was the greatest racing on the planet. Free from hype or gimmicks, it was the sport of auto racing in it's purist form. But, over the years, we've lost our way due to the egos of just a few.

In what is called his "Wave Speech," Hunter says, "You can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back." After the death of Dan Wheldon, Las Vegas may end up being a water mark for IndyCar. Not the high-water mark in Hunter's speech, but the low-water mark. Maybe, Vegas will be the point were IndyCar finally sheds itself of all the things that went wrong during the split. I like to think that IndyCar can just get back to what it does best:

Pure, unadulterated, no gimmicks, no BS, straight up racing.