To explain the NASCAR season, I first have to talk about baseball.
Bud Selig's long tenure as Commissioner of Baseball (I've always thought that, and Heavyweight Champion of the World, are the two most impressive titles in all of sports), will officially come to an end in a matter of weeks. But Selig's time effectively concluded with the World Series, determined by one run in Game 7.
And the Series featured a traditional winning team in the San Francisco Giants and a small market Cinderella Kansas City Royals. (The last thing I did before leaving the Philadelphia Daily News in 1980, for CART, was cover the Phillies winning the WS over the Royals.) No doubt Selig enjoyed the matchup, which short of Yankees vs. Dodgers or Red Sox vs. Cubs, was about as good as it could get for what Selig's tenure was all about. (Except for smaller market team translating to down TV ratings.)
By the way, let's note that WS competition was exactly the sort of "Wow" and "Game 7" type moments Brian France has been saying he wants for NASCAR.
Anyway, Selig's commissionership was certainly controversial. Even more importantly, though, it was CONSEQUENTIAL. Think about it: Wild card teams, play-in games, inter-league play, revenue sharing, drug testing, cancellation of a World Series due to a players' association strike followed by a long period of labor peace, refusal to reinstate Pete Rose, Congressional hearings, steroids, Barry Bonds, massive player contracts, doing away with separate league presidents and umpires, moving Milwaukee and Houston to different leagues, selling the MLB-run Montreal franchise to owners in Washington, D.C., new stadiums, rich TV deals, instant replay, a former team owner becoming President of the United States, having the post-Sept. 11, 2001 Series fall into November, specifying the playing of God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch, pitching domination, slow pace of play, All-Star Game determining WS home-field advantage, Alex Rodriguez suspension, successful enough to hand-pick his successor. Baseball is a fundamentally different sport as Selig leaves than it was when he entered.
Whether that's good or bad is up to you, the fan -- and history -- to decide. My point is Selig became one of the Top 10 most influential people in baseball history. He was CONSEQUENTIAL. And will, unquestionably, have his own place in Cooperstown.
Which brings me to France, the NASCAR chairman.
Even if France left the stock car sport today, his time as CEO, starting in September 2003, mirrors Selig's as controversial, historic and consequential.
Among the things to consider: Creation of the Chase format and its evolution to this season's "elimination" format, management restructuring, pressure for more side-by-side racing and exciting finishes, TV contracts which guarantee NASCAR's financial stability for a decade, digital and social media expansions, the Winston-to-Nextel-to-Sprint, Busch-to-Nationwide-to-Xfinity, Craftsman-to-Camping World series sponsorships for the three national series, relocation of the Cup championship celebration from New York City to Las Vegas, offices in Los Angeles, New York and Charlotte, broadening the mandate of the research and development center, Car of Tomorrow to the current Gen-6 vehicle, double-wide restarts, green-white-checker finishes, steering the sport through the 2008 national economic crisis, diversity programs, penalty structure, handling of the 2013 Richmond race manipulation mess, drug testing, creation of the Hall of Fame, retooling of the souvenir business, industry growth initiative.
All is not perfect. The formation of the Race Team Alliance, born of escalating costs and continuous rules tinkering, tells us that.
Both Selig and France benefitted from good timing as the creation of Fox Sports 1 and 2 and NBCSports cable network increased demand for content to fill those thousands of hours of airtime. And that jacked-up the price from what either sport would otherwise have been able to demand.
Most could agree nothing has been more discussed and debated than the Chase. France's attempt to bolster NASCAR's season-ending stretch to better compete against college and especially pro football was copied by NHRA, the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup, and others. He took it to perhaps its ultimate extreme this season by boiling the marathon 36-race championship season (and a couple of meaningless exhibitions, which should be done away with) down to a Final 4 and highest-finisher at Homestead being crowned as Cup titlist.
Winning, we were all told, was now the emphasis and would be rewarded. Yet winless Ryan Newman had a chance to claim the Cup at Homestead. Don't doubt for a second France and NASCAR dodged a bullet on that one. Kevin Harvick's superb winning drive at Homestead not only clinched the championship but all four finalists ran competitively for most of the race. Which was about as good as it could get for the NASCAR Powers-That-Be.
I predict a rule change will come, maybe not for 2015 as it obviously would be a slap at Newman, but it will come, to where all Final 4 drivers must have at least one points-paying victory during the season. That would have put Jeff Gordon in, and eliminated Newman coming out of Phoenix, and avoided a week of national mainstream media sniping at the prospect of a winless Cup champion which would defy the basic common sense of the American sporting public. And have no doubt France knows, if not publicly admits, that what the national media influencers say is important. To be prosperous in the long run, NASCAR must make new fans, and a key process in that is attracting attention via non-racing and non-sports media.
Virtually everyone agreed France's new system ramped-up intensity. And that helped lead to the post-Charlotte and post-Texas brawls. Which fed into the changing short-attention span American society's taste for conflict and instant gratification. It is very worthwhile to ponder the impression that leaves with America-At-Large.
One thing NASCAR not only doesn't do well, it doesn't do at all, is understate its presentation. Baseball has understood for generations how attractive that can be but NASCAR goes to the other extreme. I'll never forget, years ago, during the original Chase rules, when California Speedway was the season's second race. An MRN voice said during the pre-race show that Cal was very important because, afterwards, there would only be 24 more races before the Chase. Only 24 more races! The breathless and absurb hype of the meaningless All-Star race (which ceased to be an "All-Star" event a few years ago when Kenny Wallace got in) and Sunday's Final 4 introductions perfectly illustrates the true and real mindset in the NASCAR executives offices, especially under the current management.
Like it or not, what we got in NASCAR 2014 was not only what Brian France wrought. It was what he wanted.
My caution, going forward, is: Be Careful What You Wish For.
[ the year's last blog here mid-December . . . ]
Monday, November 17, 2014
Friday, November 07, 2014
JON EDWARDS WINS 2014 JIM CHAPMAN AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MOTORSPORTS PR
Jon Edwards, who has
been media representative for four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon for almost
15 years,
today was
announced as winner of the 2014 Jim Chapman Award for excellence in motorsports
public relations.
The Chapman Award is considered by many in
the industry as the highest honor in racing public relations. It is named in
memory of Chapman, the legendary PR executive and innovator, who worked with
Babe Ruth and was named Indy Car racing’s “most influential man” of the 1980s.
Chapman died in 1996 at age 80.
The announcement and presentation were
made at Phoenix International Raceway by Michael Knight, chairman of the
selection committee, and one of Chapman’s closest friends. The award is
determined by a vote of national media members, most of who knew Chapman, and is
authorized by the Chapman family. PR representatives from all forms of
motorsports are eligible for consideration.
As has happened before, the selection
committee chose two equally-deserving Chapman Award recipients this year. Elon
Werner, of John Force Racing, was recognized last weekend at The Strip at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway before the NHRA national event.
“Jeff Gordon is one of the most media
friendly athletes in all of sports and Jon Edwards has played an essential role
in making that happen,” said Knight, the longtime journalist/publicist and award
rights-holder. “Jim Chapman would approve of the committee’s choice because
Jon’s open approach in working with the media parallels what Jim did with his
own roster of legendary clients, including Babe Ruth.
“Jim set the ultimate standard of
professionalism, class and dignity. He knew that building good one-on-one
professional relationships with journalists was important in good times and
absolutely essential in bad times. That’s too often missing today in a
communications age where an E-mail or text message or over-reliance on social
media is incorrectly considered ‘relationship-building.’ Jim was a true ‘people
person’ and knew nothing could replace a handshake, a face-to-face conversation,
or the sound of another person’s voice.
“Jeff’s cooperation with the media has not
only benefitted him, his team and corporate sponsors, it has benefitted NASCAR
and all of motorsports. It’s very appropriate to recognize Jon’s many important
contributions to this aspect of Jeff’s successful career.”
Edwards began as a PR/marketing assistant
at North Carolina Motor Speedway while attending the University of North
Carolina in the early 1990s. He joined Performance PR Plus, DuPont Motorsports’
agency, in 1994, managing PR in several series and trackside hospitality. In
1999, he was with driver Ricky Craven’s NASCAR team, then began working with
Gordon in mid-2000 and became an employee of Jeff Gordon, Inc. in 2011. Edwards
received NASCAR’s most valuable PR representative award in 2003 and
2007.
Established in 1991
by media and publicists within the CART series, the Chapman Award originally
focused on achievement in CART. After a hiatus of several years, the award was
resumed in 2004, with eligibility expanded to anyone working in racing
PR.
Chapman started as sports editor or
managing editor of several Southern newspapers before joining the New York Times. He served in the U.S.
Air Force during World War II. He entered the PR business in 1946, as regional
PR director for Ford Motor Co. in Detroit.
Soon thereafter, Chapman hired Ruth as
consultant to the automaker’s sponsorship of American Legion Junior Baseball.
They traveled together for more than two years for personal appearances and
became close friends. Chapman was one of only three friends at Ruth’s bedside
when he died in August 1948 and then officially announced Ruth’s death to the
press corps that had maintained an around-the-clock vigil at New York’s Memorial
Hospital.
Chapman proudly
showcased several photos of Ruth in his office.
One was inscribed: "To a pal that is a pal." Chapman also displayed a
framed letter, written on Ruth's personal stationery from Memorial Hospital,
dated July 13, 1948, inviting him to the July 26 premier of the film, The Babe Ruth Story. That letter read,
in part, "That evening would not be complete without your being my guest. To you, Jimmy, I say you must be with me that
evening."
In 1950, Chapman left Ford to start his
own PR firm. One of his first clients was Avis founder Warren Avis. Chapman
devoted much of his time to financial PR, which he once called his “favorite
form of PR,” and helped companies get recognition among analysts and even gain
admission to the New York and American stock exchanges.
Chapman’s first venture into motorsports
was in 1951, when he joined with NASCAR founder Bill France to promote the Motor
City 250. The race was part of Detroit’s 250th birthday celebration,
a Chapman client. In 1967, Chapman entered Indy Car racing with client Ozzie
Olson’s Olsonite sponsorship of Dan Gurney’s team, which later featured Bobby
Unser as driver.
“Jim was one of the most innovative and
imaginative PR men ever to grace a pit lane,” said Gurney. “Jim practically
invented most of what is now considered routine sponsor PR work. He was the
first, as far as I know, who thought of putting up a sponsor hospitality tent
alongside a racetrack (at the old Riverside International Raceway), filling it
with extravagant race car ice-sculptures, beautiful food and beautiful people
from the business, sports and movie industries. He started an ‘open house’
tradition in Ozzie’s hotel suite in Indianapolis, where journalists could rub
shoulders with John Wayne or (astronaut) Scott Carpenter.”
Chapman also directed Olsonite’s
sponsorship of the Driver of the Year award. He orchestrated all the details,
including the media panel voting, and an annual luncheon at New York City’s
famed ‘21’ Club. That gathering was considered so prestigious it was routinely
attended by leaders of all the major U.S. sanctioning organizations regardless
of what series the Driver of the Year competed in.
Chapman’s greatest professional acclaim
came from 1981-1992, as director of CART series sponsor PPG Industries’ program.
Chapman was instrumental in raising PPG’s prize fund from $250,000 to more than
$3.75 million at the time of his retirement in February 1993. The all-female PPG
Pace Car Driving Team was another Chapman innovation, as were the PPG Editors’
Days, when he brought business and feature writers to the tracks for lunch, pace
car rides, and driver interviews.
In 1982, Chapman negotiated a landmark
sponsorship for PPG with then- Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Joe
Cloutier, which formally made the Indy 500 a points-paying event in the PPG Indy
Car World Series, an arrangement that continued through the 1995 season. “That
was one of the most satisfying moments of my career,” Chapman recalled. “Roger
Penske, among others, told me it was the best thing that had ever happened to
CART.” In addition to a major contribution to the prize fund, PPG later became
sponsor of the $100,000 Indy 500 pole award, and paid a special winner’s bonus
in the early years of NASCAR’s Brickyard 400.
“With Jim, when he says ‘jump,’ we just
ask ‘how high?,” Indy 500 winner and PPG Cup champion Al Unser Jr. said on
behalf of his fellow drivers. “And we do it right then.”
Indy Car Racing magazine named Chapman
the sport’s “most influential” man of the 1980s, saying he turned “a public
relations assignment into an art form.” After his retirement, Chapman continued
to consult PPG, and agreed to Mario Andretti’s personal request that he serve as
honorary chairman of Andretti’s “Arrivederci, Mario” farewell tour in
1994.
Chapman's
professional achievements earned him vast recognition. The mayors of Detroit and Long
Beach , Calif. Indiana Michigan
“The true honor of this award is not the
plaque,” Knight concluded. “The true honor is having your name forever
associated with that of the great James P. Chapman.”
1991 – Michael
Knight
1992 – Tom
Blattler
1993-94 – Deke
Houlgate and Hank Ives
1995 – Kathi
Lauterbach
1996 – Marc
Spiegel
1997 – Mike
Zizzo
1998 – Tamy
Valkosky
1999 -- Carol Wilkins
2000-2003 – (Award
not presented)
2004 – Doug
Stokes
2005 – Susan
Arnold
2006 – Kevin
Kennedy
2007 – Dave Densmore
and Bob Carlson
2008 – Judy
Stropus
2009 – (Award not presented)
2010 -- Jim
Hunter
2011 -- Bill
York
2012 -- Judy
Kouba
Dominick and Nancy
Wager
2013 -- Anne
Fornoro
2014 -- Jon Edwards
and Elon Werner
[ more next week . . . ]
[ more next week . . . ]
Sunday, November 02, 2014
ELON WERNER WINS 2014 JIM CHAPMAN AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN MOTORSPORTS PR
Elon Werner, who directs the publicity and
communications for drag racing’s biggest
star John Force and Force’s championship team,
today was
announced as winner of the 2014 Jim Chapman Award for excellence in motorsports
public relations.
The Chapman Award is considered by many in
the industry as the highest honor in racing public relations. It is named in
memory of Chapman, the legendary PR executive and innovator, who worked with
Babe Ruth and was named Indy Car racing’s “most influential man” of the 1980s.
Chapman died in 1996 at age 80.
The announcement and presentation were
made at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before Sunday’s NHRA national
event by Michael Knight, chairman of the selection committee, and one of
Chapman’s closest friends. The award is determined by a vote of national media
members, most of who knew Chapman, and is authorized by the Chapman family. PR
representatives from all forms of motorsports are eligible for
consideration.
Werner not only works directly with the
16-time NHRA Funny Car champion, but also Force’s rising-star driver daughters.
Ashley Force Hood twice won the U.S. Nationals before stepping aside to start a
family. Courtney Force has won eight Funny Car races while Brittany Force was
last year’s top NHRA rookie in the Top Fuel class. Robert Hight, Force’s
son-in-law, was the 2009 Funny Car titlist.
“Elon’s work in developing successful
relationships with the media is reminiscent of Jim Chapman and so this honor is
most appropriate,” said Knight, the longtime journalist/publicist and award
rights-holder.
“Jim set the ultimate standard of
professionalism, class and dignity. He knew that building good one-on-one
professional relationships with journalists was important in good times and
absolutely essential in bad times. That’s too often missing today in a
communications age where an E-mail or text message or over-reliance on social
media is incorrectly considered ‘relationship-building.’ Jim was a true ‘people
person’ and knew nothing could replace a handshake, a face-to-face conversation,
or the sound of another person’s voice.
“John Force has been NHRA’s greatest
cheerleader for decades, working to create new fans and new customers for his
sponsors. Elon has done more than coordinate the numerous interview requests for
John. Just as importantly, he’s provided wise guidance to Ashley, Courtney,
Brittany and Robert, as they have followed John’s example. Elon’s outreach to
motorsports-oriented reporters, and well as to those in the mainstream media,
has helped produce a vast amount of news coverage for the sport, Force and his
team, and their corporate partners.”
Werner worked for the NBA’s Dallas
Mavericks before joining the Texas Motorplex as PR manager in 1993. He
eventually became that track’s general manager. After positions with several
Dallas-based sports agencies and coordinating media for a number of motorsports
clients, he became John Force Racing’s PR director in 2007.
Significant national media placements have
included Courtney Force’s ESPN The
Magazine cover, The Tonight Show with
Jay Leno, CBS Sunday Morning,
National Public Radio and virtually every major motorsports publication. Werner
also has built JFR’s social media presence.
With longtime Force publicist Dave
Densmore the 2007 Chapman Award winner, this is the first time that the honor
has been earned by two people from the same racing organization.
Knight also announced that, as has
happened before, the selection committee has chosen two equally-deserving
Chapman Award recipients this year. Announcement and presentation of that person
will be made next weekend at Phoenix International
Raceway.
Established in 1991
by media and publicists within the CART series, the Chapman Award originally
focused on achievement in CART. After a hiatus of several years, the award was
resumed in 2004, with eligibility expanded to anyone working in racing
PR.
Chapman started as sports editor or
managing editor of several Southern newspapers before joining the New York Times. He served in the U.S.
Air Force during World War II. He entered the PR business in 1946, as regional
PR director for Ford Motor Co. in Detroit.
Soon thereafter, Chapman hired Ruth as
consultant to the automaker’s sponsorship of American Legion Junior Baseball.
They traveled together for more than two years for personal appearances and
became close friends. Chapman was one of only three friends at Ruth’s bedside
when he died in August 1948 and then officially announced Ruth’s death to the
press corps that had maintained an around-the-clock vigil at New York’s Memorial
Hospital.
Chapman proudly
showcased several photos of Ruth in his office.
One was inscribed: "To a pal that is a pal." Chapman also displayed a
framed letter, written on Ruth's personal stationery from Memorial Hospital,
dated July 13, 1948, inviting him to the July 26 premier of the film, The Babe Ruth Story. That letter read,
in part, "That evening would not be complete without your being my guest. To you, Jimmy, I say you must be with me that
evening."
In 1950, Chapman left Ford to start his
own PR firm. One of his first clients was Avis founder Warren Avis. Chapman
devoted much of his time to financial PR, which he once called his “favorite
form of PR,” and helped companies get recognition among analysts and even gain
admission to the New York and American stock exchanges.
Chapman’s first venture into motorsports
was in 1951, when he joined with NASCAR founder Bill France to promote the Motor
City 250. The race was part of Detroit’s 250th birthday celebration,
a Chapman client. In 1967, Chapman entered Indy Car racing with client Ozzie
Olson’s Olsonite sponsorship of Dan Gurney’s team, which later featured Bobby
Unser as driver.
“Jim was one of the most innovative and
imaginative PR men ever to grace a pit lane,” said Gurney. “Jim practically
invented most of what is now considered routine sponsor PR work. He was the
first, as far as I know, who thought of putting up a sponsor hospitality tent
alongside a racetrack (at the old Riverside International Raceway), filling it
with extravagant race car ice-sculptures, beautiful food and beautiful people
from the business, sports and movie industries. He started an ‘open house’
tradition in Ozzie’s hotel suite in Indianapolis, where journalists could rub
shoulders with John Wayne or (astronaut) Scott Carpenter.”
Chapman also directed Olsonite’s
sponsorship of the Driver of the Year award. He orchestrated all the details,
including the media panel voting, and an annual luncheon at New York City’s
famed ‘21’ Club. That gathering was considered so prestigious it was routinely
attended by leaders of all the major U.S. sanctioning organizations regardless
of what series the Driver of the Year competed in.
Chapman’s greatest professional acclaim
came from 1981-1992, as director of CART series sponsor PPG Industries’ program.
Chapman was instrumental in raising PPG’s prize fund from $250,000 to more than
$3.75 million at the time of his retirement in February 1993. The all-female PPG
Pace Car Driving Team was another Chapman innovation, as were the PPG Editors’
Days, when he brought business and feature writers to the tracks for lunch, pace
car rides, and driver interviews.
In 1982, Chapman negotiated a landmark
sponsorship for PPG with then- Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Joe
Cloutier, which formally made the Indy 500 a points-paying event in the PPG Indy
Car World Series, an arrangement that continued through the 1995 season. “That
was one of the most satisfying moments of my career,” Chapman recalled. “Roger
Penske, among others, told me it was the best thing that had ever happened to
CART.” In addition to a major contribution to the prize fund, PPG later became
sponsor of the $100,000 Indy 500 pole award, and paid a special winner’s bonus
in the early years of NASCAR’s Brickyard 400.
“With Jim, when he says ‘jump,’ we just
ask ‘how high?,” Indy 500 winner and PPG Cup champion Al Unser Jr. said on
behalf of his fellow drivers. “And we do it right then.”
Indy Car Racing magazine named Chapman
the sport’s “most influential” man of the 1980s, saying he turned “a public
relations assignment into an art form.” After his retirement, Chapman continued
to consult PPG, and agreed to Mario Andretti’s personal request that he serve as
honorary chairman of Andretti’s “Arrivederci, Mario” farewell tour in
1994.
Chapman's
professional achievements earned him vast recognition. The mayors of Detroit and Long
Beach , Calif. Indiana Michigan
“The true honor of this award is not the
plaque,” Knight concluded. “The true honor is having your name forever
associated with that of the great James P. Chapman.”
JIM
CHAPMAN AWARD HONOREES:
1991 – Michael
Knight
1992 – Tom
Blattler
1993-94 – Deke
Houlgate and Hank Ives
1995 – Kathi
Lauterbach
1996 – Marc
Spiegel
1997 – Mike
Zizzo
1998 – Tamy
Valkosky
1999 -- Carol Wilkins
2000-2003 – (Award
not presented)
2004 – Doug
Stokes
2005 – Susan
Arnold
2006 – Kevin
Kennedy
2007 – Dave Densmore
and Bob Carlson
2008 – Judy
Stropus
2009 – (Award not presented)
2010 -- Jim
Hunter
2011 -- Bill
York
2012 -- Judy
Kouba
Dominick and Nancy
Wager
2013 -- Anne
Fornoro
2014 -- Elon Werner
and TBA.
[ second Chapman Award announcement here Friday . . . ]
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