TrackForum - Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) http://www.trackforum.com/forums/ en Sun, 26 May 2013 04:50:31 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/images/misc/rss.png TrackForum - Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) http://www.trackforum.com/forums/ ESPN: Pardon the Interruption/Around the Horn Indy 500 preview was... http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176737-ESPN-Pardon-the-Interruption-Around-the-Horn-Indy-500-preview-was&goto=newpost Sat, 25 May 2013 00:31:08 GMT Just a not so subtle reminder that ESPN isn't a great partner for a race they have the rights to.

Around the Horn: Zero mentions of the 500 this week during the show.
Pardon the Interruption: During their "Over/Under" game today, the question for the hosts was "Over/Under 15 minutes of watching the Indy 500." For the record, Tony was over, and Michael doesn't even plan to watch one minute. And it was a 33 second segment. ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) Proveapoint http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176737-ESPN-Pardon-the-Interruption-Around-the-Horn-Indy-500-preview-was Regarding Izod Stuff http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176736-Regarding-Izod-Stuff&goto=newpost Sat, 25 May 2013 00:26:56 GMT I put off my, uh, once every 5 years clothes shopping until this week, and went to an outlet mall that had an Izod store. I was able to get a few polo shirts, but when I went to look at pants, everything was like 36x29 or 38x31 or some bizarre size. It was like clothes shopping for Danny DeVito. ... I put off my, uh, once every 5 years clothes shopping until this week, and went to an outlet mall that had an Izod store. I was able to get a few polo shirts, but when I went to look at pants, everything was like 36x29 or 38x31 or some bizarre size. It was like clothes shopping for Danny DeVito. I was hoping at least the clearance section would have some IndyCar stuff but there was none to be found. ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176736-Regarding-Izod-Stuff PTI covers indy 500 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176729-PTI-covers-indy-500&goto=newpost Fri, 24 May 2013 22:05:04 GMT The question was over or under watching the 500 this year.

Answer: None of it.

Business is booming. If people who watch sports for a living want none of the biggest race of the year, why have 17 more that are less interesting?

They'd better cut back and force reinvestment in the 500 rather than meaningless races soon or there will be nothing left. Evolution and waiting out disastrous contracts will not cut it. ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) BrakeEarly http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176729-PTI-covers-indy-500 The difficulty with technological investment in IndyCar http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176618-The-difficulty-with-technological-investment-in-IndyCar&goto=newpost Thu, 23 May 2013 01:09:39 GMT I grew up in East Central Illinois (110 miles west of Indianapolis), & used to watch the Indy 500 religiously on Memorial Day..on ABC TV. When I went to high-school, I remember going to a sub-frosh party, where 2 (male) classmates came in arguing/talking about the Indy 500. 1 of them ended up being a Mechanical Engineering major at Purdue

[ I ended up getting a PhD Electrical Eng at U of Illinois, my former office-mate in grad-school Martin Eberhard co-founded Tesla Motors (revolutionary all-electric car company in Silicon valley), after selling his last company Nuvomedia for 180 million. He was undergrad roommates with Dr xxx, UIUC Aerospace Eng professor (wind-tunnel aerodyanmicist, hired by my Dad who was Aerospace Eng professor & Dept Head, a CFD / Computational Fluid Dynamics expert) who consulted for Newman-Haas: 3 wins for Michael Andretti in 6 races. ]

& now works for Ford. Clearly, the influence of Indy 500 (Motorsports) led him down the path of Automotive & Mechanical Engineering. Now, it's my turn to add my contribution to Automotive & Motorsports:

http://www.aerorace.org

..a 21st Century version of the old-school Big 3 Auto involvement (Mechanical Engineering type of Technology):

1) Alternative Energy
2) Silicon Valley Tech
3) Academia (e.g. Big 10 Engineering universities)
4) DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)

These are all "rich" sectors who are in the STEM field (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics), the key to Indycar "STEM based stimulus package". The "Standard Model" (same-old-same-old) of Sponsorship simply isn't feasible due to

- devastating split
poor TV ratings, no RoI (Return on Investment) for Sponsorship

- bad Economy

..the $$ simply "isn't flowing". I spoke with Pioneer (former sponsor of PPI CART team, Christiano DaMatta driver) marketing folks at a recent CES (Consumer Electronics Show):

"we've heard the proposals & arguments, we don't have the $$"

Sponsorship is simply like:

"trying to squeeze blood out of a rock"
-- Offroad Racer, personal communication (Re: difficulty in getting sponsorship)

"Technology Partnership" is a new approach ("Alternative Model"), which is based on "Product Development"...as opposed to "Product Marketing". The latter being: driver as extension of Company Z's Marketing Dept.


BTW, at the 2013 Indy 500 "Month of May", I met a number of Purdue, IUPUI, Indiana Univ alumni walking around. 1 of them was an Aerospace Engineering undergrad. Note that Purdue Aerospace Engineering is working with Dreyer-Rheinbold on "aero package". I even met a Rolls Royce engineer (African American, Project Manager), who is a U of Alabama Tuscalooosa grad. We were talking about the STEM crisis in USA:

"..not recruiting young American boys/girls into STEM careers, most of the graduating PhDs in leading American Univs are FOREIGN BORN"

The above sounds EERILY like the situation in Indycar..lack of native American drivers VS dominating foreign-born drivers. The 2 demographic sectors had the SAME problem: failure in LEADERSHIP to Inspire & Develop native American talent.

This is part of a "cultural decline" in America, where the native talent (it's THERE..but not recruited/developed) simply is being "let down" by the so-called "leaders":

"the mayor of Detroit was not a Leader, but a LOOTER"

Indycar is a micro-cosm of the United States, a "sector" whose Incompetent/Corrupt leadership is "sinking the ship" ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) chimpanzee http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176618-The-difficulty-with-technological-investment-in-IndyCar <![CDATA[Mike Mulhern's take on NASCAR's marketing plan]]> http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176592-Mike-Mulhern-s-take-on-NASCAR-s-marketing-plan&goto=newpost Wed, 22 May 2013 20:30:37 GMT What he thinks is working and what's not. Its a long read.

Quote:
Indeed, part of the issue here -- perhaps a big part -- could be what appears to be the considerable schism between NASCAR's competition arm and NASCAR's marketing arm.
Bill France Jr. believed that if the race day product was solid, with good competition, everything else would fall into place.
Well, there may be more to this game than that. But competition has to be the bedrock of this sports business, and too often over the past two years especially on-track competition has been, well, dull.
No matter how sharp and on their game NASCAR's marketers may be, without good action on the track, it pretty much goes for naught.
http://www.mikemulhern.net/MikesTake/ ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) TimmyZ1 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176592-Mike-Mulhern-s-take-on-NASCAR-s-marketing-plan <![CDATA[Walker and Miles' hopes for Indycars' Future]]> http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176591-Walker-and-Miles-hopes-for-Indycars-Future&goto=newpost Wed, 22 May 2013 20:29:02 GMT Good article by Gordon Kirby :+ :+

http://www.gordonkirby.com/categorie..._is_no385.html

Walker Quote:
"My personal opinion is IndyCar is about competition," Walker said. "So unless there's a very good reason not to have more manufacturers or more of everything that helps make competition happen, I think that would be missing the point. That's the history of Indy car, and the sooner we can get more guys in battling it out there, the sooner the fans are going to be interested in what we're doing. The fans come, the companies come, and everybody hopefully enjoys what we do and makes money doing it.

"Indianapolis and Indy cars was and should be about innovation. The thing that's happened over the years, if you look at the evolution of racing, we got very smart, we got very good at doing things, and we made cars better and better and we went faster and faster. ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) pitwall3 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176591-Walker-and-Miles-hopes-for-Indycars-Future F1/IndyCar team budgets comparison http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176589-F1-IndyCar-team-budgets-comparison&goto=newpost Wed, 22 May 2013 19:28:59 GMT http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/22/whats-it-cost-to-compete-in-formula-one-an-indycar-comparison/ http://motorsportstalk.nbcsports.com...ar-comparison/ ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) OrdinaryRaceFan http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176589-F1-IndyCar-team-budgets-comparison 3 mil in new sponsorships this year for the 500 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176575-3-mil-in-new-sponsorships-this-year-for-the-500&goto=newpost Wed, 22 May 2013 14:30:54 GMT http://www.ibj.com/the-score-2013-05-22-speedway-sells-3-million-in-new-indy-500-sponsorships/PARAMS/post/41494 I know, I know to the naysayers its a drop in the bucket compared to the D500 but its a start. A positive start at that. http://www.ibj.com/the-score-2013-05...AMS/post/41494

I know, I know to the naysayers its a drop in the bucket compared to the D500 but its a start. A positive start at that. ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) TimmyZ1 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176575-3-mil-in-new-sponsorships-this-year-for-the-500 NFL Wants To Move Their Draft To Mid-May... http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176559-NFL-Wants-To-Move-Their-Draft-To-Mid-May&goto=newpost Wed, 22 May 2013 03:52:06 GMT Falling on Qualifying weeks at Indy.

That will help ratings.:rolleyes:

Hell, I know I'm always intrigued by the NFL draft so this will be tough if this goes through ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) Robby http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176559-NFL-Wants-To-Move-Their-Draft-To-Mid-May ESPN big layoffs http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176511-ESPN-big-layoffs&goto=newpost Tue, 21 May 2013 16:37:44 GMT We are implementing changes across the company to enhance our continued growth while smartly managing costs. While difficult, we are confident that it will make us more competitive, innovative and productive. Deadspin says ESPN has 7,000 employees and are laying off 350 to 400. We are implementing changes across the company to enhance our continued growth while smartly managing costs. While difficult, we are confident that it will make us more competitive, innovative and productive.

Deadspin says ESPN has 7,000 employees and are laying off 350 to 400. ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) Jim Wilke http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176511-ESPN-big-layoffs Bruton Smith could open a door http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176474-Bruton-Smith-could-open-a-door&goto=newpost Tue, 21 May 2013 00:36:18 GMT He always takes things public to try and improve his position but maybe he makes a move that INDYCAR could react to. He's also probably getting his name out to campaign for the HoF voting. So there's this on jayski


Quote:
Bruton Smith could move fall race out of Charlotte: NASCAR mogul Bruton Smith says there is a strong possibility that he will move the Bank of America 500 out of Charlotte, NC. The Bank of America 500 is one of two annual races held at Smith's Charlotte Motor Speedway, along with May's Coca-Cola 600. The BoA 500 is held in October. "I know you're not gonna cut this one out, but I've been having some strong conversations about one of these events being moved," Smith told WBTV's Paul Cameron in an exclusive interview. "And Las Vegas is a great place - it's the entertainment capital of the world - and they want another event." In addition to owning the Charlotte Motor Speedway, the North Carolina native owns eight NASCAR tracks, including the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which host eleven NASCAR Sprint Cup events. The only Sprint Cup race that is currently held on the LVMS is the Kobalt Tools 400, which is held in early March. Smith says he's flown out to Vegas several times to talk about moving a Sprint Cup race to his track there. "They've made me offers to move one," Smith said. "But you can't just move the race though, doesn't NASCAR have to move it?" Cameron asked. "I know they would approve this," Smith responded. "And say the October race... Las Vegas. You're gonna get a lot of phone calls about this - I'm gonna predict that." Smith says the idea of moving to Vegas is not just a fishing expedition. "I've made two trips out to Vegas and it costs money to go out there. I know all the powers out there," he told WBTV. "I have a lot of friends in Las Vegas - I have businesses out there, I have six businesses in Las Vegas." The Charlotte Motor Speedway is based in Concord, North Carolina. Smith has been involved in legal fights with Cabarrus County for years over money he is owed. Smith says he initially kept the track there after a $80 million deal was presented to him, $60 million from Cabarrus County and another $20 million from the state. He says the county still hasn't come through with their end of the deal. When asked if he thought he could make more money at a race in Las Vegas versus having a race in Charlotte, Smith's answer was simple. "Yes, yes, yes. Oh yes," he said. "Plus, we're discussing a ten-year contract for a lot of money every year." Smith played a major role in getting NASCAR to move the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards from New York to Las Vegas five years ago. When it comes to a timeline on the potential move, Smith says this isn't a spur of the moment idea. "Oh, now there you're pinning me down. I don't know how soon, that's just, it's something that's been in the stages now for at least a year." So what's it going to take to move the race from Charlotte to Vegas? "When the game is over, it'll be money, money, money. Money will move it," Smith said. "I'd say [the chances] are about 70/30."(wbtv.com)(5-20-2013)

He could probably find a title sponsor for another race in Las Vegas and make as much money as he does in Charlotte. They already have a stand alone Truck race in Las Vegas to pair with a second Cup race which is generally how NASCAR does things.


But this is an example of where INDYCAR doesn't want to go to tracks that have two Cup races. If enough time has passed and both the track and INDYCAR can say they have made enough safety improvements maybe they could look at a Fall date at CMS. It's the prototype for Texas where these cars raced well. They could have the advantage of selling it as filling a void for race fans. I would say a preferred option to Rockingham with better potential for Smith getting a title sponsor and more suites to sell. ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) Z28 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176474-Bruton-Smith-could-open-a-door Top Ten Hottest Female Race Drivers http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176464-Top-Ten-Hottest-Female-Race-Drivers&goto=newpost Mon, 20 May 2013 21:28:22 GMT I never had a vote. :(

http://www.consumer-car-reviews.com/...paign=racecars ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) WheelerDealer http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176464-Top-Ten-Hottest-Female-Race-Drivers 2014 Ticket price increase http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176328-2014-Ticket-price-increase&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 01:39:59 GMT An Indianapolis 500 ticket will cost more in 2014. In a copy of the pricing structure obtained today by The Star, two-thirds of the tickets will increase by about 15 percent. The rest will remain the same. The largest increase is in tickets that cost $150 this year; they will cost $175 next year.... An Indianapolis 500 ticket will cost more in 2014.
In a copy of the pricing structure obtained today by The Star, two-thirds of the tickets will increase by about 15 percent. The rest will remain the same.
The largest increase is in tickets that cost $150 this year; they will cost $175 next year. The only grandstands not impacted by the increase are most of the North, South and Northeast Vistas along with the G and H Stands plus wheelchair accessible seating.
All general admission tickets will increase. Practice days will increase from $10 to $15, qualification days from $15 to $20, Carb Day from $20 to $30 and race day from $30 to $40.
Account holders will be notified of the increase in the coming days.
The last ticket increase was in 2004.
Beginning Jan. 1, all tickets will carry an admissions tax that is part of the recently created motor sports entertainment tax district. Tickets of more than $175 will be taxed at 6 percent, tickets in the $100-$149 range will be taxed at 3 percent and tickets $99 and less will be taxed at 2 percent ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) Indyfred http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176328-2014-Ticket-price-increase SportsCenter talks about Indy... http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176321-SportsCenter-talks-about-Indy&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 00:38:05 GMT [shows highlight of 2005 500, focuses on you-know-who]

*click*

Back to hockey on NBCSN. ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) fleshwound_NPG http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176321-SportsCenter-talks-about-Indy TK on what it cost Rubens to Run in Indy Car http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176288-TK-on-what-it-cost-Rubens-to-Run-in-Indy-Car&goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 07:52:41 GMT The cost of ride buying in IndyCar http://rpm2night.com/view/transcript-tony-kanaan-simona-de-silvestro-indy-500-news-conference.20212/ Q:_ Two questions for you, Tony. Number one, it was already said, you have much more experience than Simona in IndyCar. Nevertheless, is there anything you... The cost of ride buying in IndyCar

http://rpm2night.com/view/transcript...ference.20212/

Q: Two questions for you, Tony. Number one, it was already said, you have much more experience than Simona in IndyCar. Nevertheless, is there anything you can learn from Simona? And question No. 2, last year you were driving together with your friend Rubens (Barrichello). Are you still carrying on to convince him to make a return to IndyCar?

KANAAN: Well, the first question is obviously I definitely can learn a lot from her. More in the street courses right now because I think I can contribute a lot more to her oval experience. But we're exchanging information every day. Her feedback, it's remarkable. So I think I definitely learn every day with her, and you know, I think it's a learning process for both of us to understand the way we like cars and how we can migrate from one car to the other.
The Rubens question is, I don't think Rubens needed any convincing. He wanted to do it, but for somebody like him that came from Formula One and the name that I think he brought it a lot to IndyCar by doing the switch, we didn't do a good job getting him to stay. When a guy like that put a lot out of his own pocket, almost $5 million to invest in his career after 19 years in Formula One just because he wanted to keep racing, it was remarkable of him. But to ask him to do it again the following year I don't think was fair. Not blaming anybody; it was just a situation that we all face right now with the economy. You know, it's pretty hard to everybody. It's hard for big names in America already to find a meaningful sponsorship to keep racing. It was just a matter of trying to put the two and two together, and he felt that he couldn't find that amount of money, got another offer to do stock cars in Brazil down there, and he's doing some TV. That was it. I don't think it was a choice. Just the consequences of the financial situation right now.


 ]]> Racing Biz with indyracefan ;) pitwall3 http://www.trackforum.com/forums/showthread.php?176288-TK-on-what-it-cost-Rubens-to-Run-in-Indy-Car