Comments on: Schedule Rumors Hit The Fan

By: Steve Simpson

Steve Simpson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:24:22 +0000

Perhaps I’m spoiled by our fan in Iowa, but my April trip to Kansas was a turn-off. The amenities around the track were light (even less than here in Iowa), and the fans were disengaged, at best. The FIL race earlier in the day drew a very small crowd (threat of weather notwithstanding) and the mostly NAStyCar attendees seemed to attend just to use up their season tickets (the only way to buy tickets outright at KS).

As an old marketing hack, “American Racing” needs to look at their markets, but niche and general, and figure out what needs they are trying to meet. The ICS + ALMS is a great bridge for diehard racing fans, but may not help those new to the sport. If the big fan base is in NAStyCAR, and there’s the potential to add fans from there, then ICS needs to look at way to build that bridge (ow, that hurts to even say that).

Kansas is my second-closest venue, but after my experience I’d rather drive to Chicago, Indy, Milwaukee, even ‘Bama.

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:12:43 +0000

Pikes Peak has opened back up, they just need to add back the seats that they removed.

By: Tim Nothhelfer

Tim Nothhelfer — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:00:01 +0000

I have been attending the Homestead races and tests for years. It is sad to see all the empty seats and closed off stands. There is a slight chance this may improve for a season ending event instead of the opener….but I dread the thought of the event dying and being replaced by street/ roadcourse parade.

By: H. B. Donnelly

H. B. Donnelly — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:10:20 +0000

Unfortunately, Cannon, your example of engine builders falls a bit short; Illmor and Cosworth come from across the pond and the American brands were essentially sponsors. You bring up a solid point about the ovals, however, and the only thing that can solve that is the new chassis. It’s a poor shame Dallara is dragging their feet so much on this one…

George, we need to somehow boycott the ISC races, because that organization has murdered many good IRL races. You have to buy a season pass for ALL races in order to get an IRL ticket at an ISC track (does NOT work in this economy). Plus, you mention Phoenix, a unique mile which has been essentially shut off to the IRL, and Pikes Peak and Nazareth, two good and unique tracks that have been all-but-closed by ISC.

By: loose cannon

loose cannon — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:59:31 +0000

I suppose watching Hunter-Reay drive to a 2nd place finish at St.Pete is awfully damn boring. The true excitement is waiting to see if Penske and Ganassi can win 82 straight oval races on NapCars cookie cutters. They have been trying for 14 years to sell this garbage to the public, and guess what, they ain’t buying it, and they never will. If either of my business’s failed to turn a profit in 14 years, I would go find something I was good at, and do it. It’s really simple, without Ford Cosworth and Chevy Illmor Americans will NEVER care. I will vomit when they grid up 33 VW’s at Indy.

By: redd

redd — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:14:38 +0000

Why would any business not sell their legendary widgets to Brazil or China or any other place that would buy millions of their widgets?

As beautiful as it sounds, they should not go to Barber–or any other track–unless major renovations allow for good racing.

A few street races are just good business but sad racing and their growth should be curtailed. I strongly agree that wherever they go, they should maintain the 50/50 split, and that the 50/50 balance should be maintained by adding ovals not subtracting them.