Tuesday, May 31, 2016

POST-INDY 'MOST INFLUENTIAL' LIST

POWER PLAYERS for the week of  May 29:This week's 10 most influential
people in the Business and Politics of Motorsports, as selected by long-time journalist/publicist and industry insider Michael Knight. 

  1. Art St. Cyr -- Honda Performance Development boss gets great comeback from recent struggles, winning both the Indy 500 pole and race.

  2. Alexander Rossi -- Who did what???? Now the real pressure is on, as the shocking Indy 500 winner does his national media tour and tries to boost IndyCar's appeal.

  3. Michael Andretti and Bryan Herta -- Combined forces to field Rossi's car, and got a last-minute (at a bargain rate for NAPA) sponsorship, and Herta called the fuel strategy perfectly to win the 100th Indy 500.

  5. Barney Visser -- Furniture Row team owner shows Toyota made the right move to bring him into their fold with Martin Truex Jr.'s great Charlotte 600 victory. 

  6Mark Miles -- The 100th Indy 500 was a massive commercial success -- all tickets sold and hugely long lines at the souvenir stores -- but TV numbers disappoint. Now what?

  7. Lewis Hamilton  -- F1's biggest star wins glamorous Monaco Grand Prix. His public appeal matters as F1 comes to Canada.  

  8. Roger Penske -- He didn't win the 100th Indy 500 but hosts the IndyCar series with a weekend doubleheader on Detroit's Belle Isle. 

  9. T.E. McHale and Dan Layton -- Honda's PR duo wins 2016 Jim Chapman Award for excellence in motorsports public relations. Well deserved. Congratulations. 

[ more next week  . . . ]