Dover is the least interesting Chase race to me. No disrespect to Denis McGlynn and staff. I covered many boring 500-mile Dover marathons when I worked at the Philadelphia Daily News. With all the recent talk of NASCAR controversy, and Jimmie Johnson's track record win Sunday, it reminded me of a long-ago Dover race I covered. So, let's go back in time, to the Daily News story topped by my byline on Sept. 15, 1975.
DOVER, Del. -- Forget the mumbling about some boxing matches being fixed. Never mind the occasional inferences that there are pro football players who shave points in order to beat the betting-pool spreads.
Yesterday's Delaware 500 at Dover Downs International Speedway appeared to be a case of Petty larceny.
No one would point their finger directly at Richard Petty after his amazing win, coming from six laps behind the leaders after a pit stop to repair a broken steering arm with about 150 miles remaining. Rather, 37-year-old Buddy Arrington of Martinsville, Va., was said to be the driver wearing the black hat.
Petty, 38, the five-time NASCAR Grand National champion, was easily holding a one-lap edge over the field when Elmo Langley's Ford blew in turn three. The STP-Dodge driver was right behind.
"The crank, rods, pistons, you name it, came flying out," King Richard recalled after collecting the $14,725 first-place check. "I ran over it and it knocked a big hole, about like a good-sized cantaloupe, in the floorboard. They (his pit crew) had to reset the front end."
While Petty sat helplessly, Lennie Pond, Cale Yarborough, Dick Brooks and Benny Parsons diced for the lead on the high-banked, one-mile oval before a sun-warmed crowd of 28,000.
Showing the speed of a Saturn V booster lifting Apollo toward the moon, the Randleman N.C., rocket took up the chase and watched as Pond retired and Yarborough slowed with engine problems. Still, with 22 laps left, Petty was about 20 seconds behind Brooks and Parsons.
At that point, Arrington gently spun into the turn-four infield and waited for the yellow flag to appear. When it didn't, he drove through the pits and stopped next to the third-turn wall, like a frustrated center-city parker.
THAT brought out the day's fifth caution flag and allowed Petty to close on the two front-runners. When the green reappeared, he quickly zapped Brooks and Parsons and went on to take his 174th Winston Cup victory by two seconds.
"I don't think I would have ever caught up if it hadn't been for that last yellow," Petty admitted.
Brooks, who took second, and Parsons knew that. Heavens to Andy Granatelli, they knew that.
"I can't say there was teamwork or collusion, but I think we were robbed," Parsons, this year's Daytona 500 winner, said. "We didn't deserve to win but we should have been given a fair chance to win."
"I'd be glad to take his (Arrington's) car out right now and run faster than he did all day," said Brooks. "If I didn't, I'd give him my prize money ($9,000.)
"Maybe he was scared and just pulled off the track," Brooks said facetiously. "Or maybe he needed his truck paid for (Arrington recently purchased one of Petty's old transporters.)"
Bill France Jr., NASCAR president, and officials Lin Kuchler and Bill Gazaway inspected Arrington's racer and found no signs of the handling difficulties Buddy had used as an excuse for his actions.
Such shenanigans are not totally unheard of. One old-time driver remarked after the race, "I used to get paid more for spinning than for racing."
The media are calling it maybe the greatest comeback in American sports history. That's Oracle overcoming a huge win-loss record to claim the America's Cup. To me, though, the international sailing competition was an example of wretched excess where competitors get to write the rules on what is actually raced and thus the yachting sport lost touch with its base. Sound familiar, race fans? We saw it in CART. We saw it in the IRL. We saw it in NASCAR until the automakers got tough with Daytona Beach and the Gen-6 car was introduced this year, bringing back the visual connection between the showroom and the speedway.
What was generally passed off as "sailboats" (exotic catamarans speeding along on hydrofoils) in San Francisco had as much to do with what the weekend sailor pilots as NASCAR's CoT did with passenger models. Yes, I know, we live in a high-tech world and the younger generation is consumed with all-things tech -- but how many of them are out there actually sailing their own boats? Damn few, I bet. Meanwhile, the natural core base fan had zero emotional attachment to the America's Cup craft and crews. Competitor ego got in the way of common sense.
I much prefer the old days of sailing off Rhode Island with Ted Turner and Dennis Connor taking honors for the U.S. That seemed much more relevant. To me, last week's incredible Yankee Stadium ceremonies honoring the great and class act Mariano Rivera were much more important than some spaceship-cum-sailboat.
Let's just see how many of the low-information chatfans post apologies this week for all the inaccurate, nonsense, guesses about this Tuesday's Phoenix International Raceway announcement. As I've said many times, these days, you can't be a good race fan without knowing something about the business and politics of racing. That means you have to understand there is more to all of this than the actual racing. Let's see how many stand up (anonymously, of course)and say, "Boy, did I have that wrong." And use that as a lesson going forward.
I knew George Bignotti for many years. It was sometimes challenging to deal with him as a sanctioning body official. It was interesting to deal with him as a sponsor representative. I have to say that whenever I asked George to talk to a reporter, when I was with CART or repping Emerson Electric, he was gracious and did a great job. Bignotti died Friday at age 97 with the record of seven Indianapolis 500 wins and most Indy-series victories by a chief mechanic securing his place in the sport's history.
Breaking News: Marty Reid out at ESPN, effective immediately. Allen Bestwick to call rest of Nationwide series. New IndyCar host unannounced. (As first posted by me on Twitter Sunday.) Elsewhere: Jerry Archambeault, NHRA VP-PR and Communications, has left for an agency job.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Sunday, September 22, 2013
TOO LITTLE. TOO LATE?
Maybe, just maybe, Michael Waltrip finally gets it. Too bad it just might be too late.
It apparently took the multi-million dollar loss of his longtime NAPA sponsorship for Waltrip to understand the depth of his problems coming out of Richmond. Because, at first, he sure didn't sound like someone who understood the profound consequences of what happened in attempting to manipulate the Chase.
Waltrip was a posterboy for the modern pseudo-celebrity who gets in trouble. On his first TV interview, he whined about Twitter posters being "mean" to him. Chicagoland morning he cited the mistake as merely sending Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers down pit road on the last lap at Richmond. That was completely outrageous and proof the team owner wasn't honestly addressing the real issue. Even the statement issued on behalf of MWR after the NAPA decision came across with an undercurrent of defiance.
But then, finally, came a statement directly from Waltrip. For the first time, he apologized and accepted responsibility. “To the fans and those who made their voice heard through social media, as the owner, I am responsible for all actions of MWR. I sincerely apologize for the role our team played and for the lines NASCAR has ruled were crossed by our actions at Richmond." Waltrip then met the media Friday morning at New Hampshire. The Charlotte Observer's story began this way: "Sounding contrite and rattled . . . "
As I wrote on Twitter, in an age of declining standards, NAPA did the right thing. It stood tall for integrity, sportsmanship and -- yes -- its own image. I feel sorry for Martin Truex Jr., who has driven his can off with an injured wrist. Whether MWR can actually field a competitive No. 56 entry next year without major sponsorship is certainly questionable. And, have no doubt, such sponsorship will be extremely difficult to find this late in the game. And, let's be honest, it's going to take a brave CEO or marketing VP to take the place of a sponsor who opted-out of its deal early because of the team's ethical lapses.
If the team is shut down, if employees are laid off, then it is Michael Waltrip's responsibility to reach into his own pocket and pay them full salary and benefits for a full year if they can't find other employment. It's his name on the door. The buck stops with him.
And, let me close with this: Fox Sports cannot allow its employee, Waltrip, to use its network or cable channels as outlets to try to rehab his image. (And neither can brother Darrell.) Frankly, Fox management should have, by now, told Michael he's parked for the rest of the season.
Helio Castroneves will likely win this year's IndyCar series championship but hasn't been a real race winning threat at the Indianapolis 500 for 3-4 years. Will Power hasn't had the pace of the last three years and, having blown three consecutive championships, has shown himself to be more Kevin Cogan than Rick Mears. Those are the reasons Roger Penske signed Juan Pablo Montoya for an open-wheel return in 2014 even though there is no sponsorship in place and, let us remember, Penske has cited lack of sponsorship in the past for not running the likes of Ryan Briscoe and A.J. Allmendinger(both, like Power, are not mentally tough enough). Penske apparently felt Montoya was a better choice than available free agents Tony Kanaan and James Hinchcliffe, proclaimed by some in the media and the chatroom crowd as the new "face" of IndyCar, which made me laugh. No doubt Montoya himself is on a one-year deal with Penske-favorable options, and if he succeeds, non-performing Power or Castroneves could be on the outs depending on sponsorship with Helio a possible Indy-only driver.
Just asking: What was the point of ISC spending all that money to build an infield road course at Kansas Speedway but IMSA (i.e., NASCAR) not awarding the track a United SportsCar Series event for 2014? Says to me KS took a big financial bath on its Grand-Am race earlier this year.
Why we continue to despair about the media: Only months after the embarrassing examples of inaccurate "get it first, not necessarily right" reports after the Boston Marathon bombings, the mainstream media were right back at it again with last week's Washington, D.C. Navy Yard shootings. NBC and CBS were forced to retract false reports. Across the board, media went with an inaccurate description of the weapon. Nothing has been learned and I, for one, refuse to accept (and am sick of hearing) excuses about how mistakes are going to happen when covering breaking news. How about this? Waiting for confirmation of actual, real, truthful FACTS!
Twitter followers saw this last week: My new CompetitionPlus.com column -- Improving the Fan Experience is a Must!
http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/editorials/26431-michael-knight-improving-fan-experience-mandatory-for-nhra
[ more next Monday . . . ]
It apparently took the multi-million dollar loss of his longtime NAPA sponsorship for Waltrip to understand the depth of his problems coming out of Richmond. Because, at first, he sure didn't sound like someone who understood the profound consequences of what happened in attempting to manipulate the Chase.
Waltrip was a posterboy for the modern pseudo-celebrity who gets in trouble. On his first TV interview, he whined about Twitter posters being "mean" to him. Chicagoland morning he cited the mistake as merely sending Clint Bowyer and Brian Vickers down pit road on the last lap at Richmond. That was completely outrageous and proof the team owner wasn't honestly addressing the real issue. Even the statement issued on behalf of MWR after the NAPA decision came across with an undercurrent of defiance.
But then, finally, came a statement directly from Waltrip. For the first time, he apologized and accepted responsibility. “To the fans and those who made their voice heard through social media, as the owner, I am responsible for all actions of MWR. I sincerely apologize for the role our team played and for the lines NASCAR has ruled were crossed by our actions at Richmond." Waltrip then met the media Friday morning at New Hampshire. The Charlotte Observer's story began this way: "Sounding contrite and rattled . . . "
As I wrote on Twitter, in an age of declining standards, NAPA did the right thing. It stood tall for integrity, sportsmanship and -- yes -- its own image. I feel sorry for Martin Truex Jr., who has driven his can off with an injured wrist. Whether MWR can actually field a competitive No. 56 entry next year without major sponsorship is certainly questionable. And, have no doubt, such sponsorship will be extremely difficult to find this late in the game. And, let's be honest, it's going to take a brave CEO or marketing VP to take the place of a sponsor who opted-out of its deal early because of the team's ethical lapses.
If the team is shut down, if employees are laid off, then it is Michael Waltrip's responsibility to reach into his own pocket and pay them full salary and benefits for a full year if they can't find other employment. It's his name on the door. The buck stops with him.
And, let me close with this: Fox Sports cannot allow its employee, Waltrip, to use its network or cable channels as outlets to try to rehab his image. (And neither can brother Darrell.) Frankly, Fox management should have, by now, told Michael he's parked for the rest of the season.
Helio Castroneves will likely win this year's IndyCar series championship but hasn't been a real race winning threat at the Indianapolis 500 for 3-4 years. Will Power hasn't had the pace of the last three years and, having blown three consecutive championships, has shown himself to be more Kevin Cogan than Rick Mears. Those are the reasons Roger Penske signed Juan Pablo Montoya for an open-wheel return in 2014 even though there is no sponsorship in place and, let us remember, Penske has cited lack of sponsorship in the past for not running the likes of Ryan Briscoe and A.J. Allmendinger(both, like Power, are not mentally tough enough). Penske apparently felt Montoya was a better choice than available free agents Tony Kanaan and James Hinchcliffe, proclaimed by some in the media and the chatroom crowd as the new "face" of IndyCar, which made me laugh. No doubt Montoya himself is on a one-year deal with Penske-favorable options, and if he succeeds, non-performing Power or Castroneves could be on the outs depending on sponsorship with Helio a possible Indy-only driver.
Just asking: What was the point of ISC spending all that money to build an infield road course at Kansas Speedway but IMSA (i.e., NASCAR) not awarding the track a United SportsCar Series event for 2014? Says to me KS took a big financial bath on its Grand-Am race earlier this year.
Why we continue to despair about the media: Only months after the embarrassing examples of inaccurate "get it first, not necessarily right" reports after the Boston Marathon bombings, the mainstream media were right back at it again with last week's Washington, D.C. Navy Yard shootings. NBC and CBS were forced to retract false reports. Across the board, media went with an inaccurate description of the weapon. Nothing has been learned and I, for one, refuse to accept (and am sick of hearing) excuses about how mistakes are going to happen when covering breaking news. How about this? Waiting for confirmation of actual, real, truthful FACTS!
Twitter followers saw this last week: My new CompetitionPlus.com column -- Improving the Fan Experience is a Must!
http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/editorials/26431-michael-knight-improving-fan-experience-mandatory-for-nhra
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, September 15, 2013
THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN TO NASCAR
Despite all the progress NASCAR has made over the last two decades -- spreading its schedule to become a truly national sport, with big money, major network TV deals, impressive sponsorships and celebrity/star drivers -- it has never managed to escape the ignorance and bias of a significant group of elitist mainstream media people who still look down on stock car racing and its fans as too Southern, too blue-collar and too linked to its moonshiner past.
It was only a few years ago, for example, when well-known NASCAR expert Tony Kornheiser "reported" that he had been told Dale Earnhardt Jr. was allowed to win the Daytona 500 pole in an illegal car. No evidence was offered. Just he "heard" and to the likes of an elite egoist like Kornheiser, that was enough, it struck him as something that could easily happen. After all, it's NASCAR, you know.
Which is a big reason why NASCAR did not do enough to punish Michael Waltrip Racing after the Richmond disgrace. And, why, the absolute worst thing that could happen to the credibility of the sanction would be for Clint Bowyer to win -- or even seriously contend for -- the Sprint Cup championship.
You knew something big was up when NASCAR called journalists to its R&D Center at 8:15 p.m. Monday night. (The season-opening Monday Night Football doubleheader was well underway.) You all know by now the penalties that were issued, the main impact being Martin Truex Jr. knocked-out of the Chase and Ryan Newman put in.
For the sake of fairness, for the imperative that is maintaining its legitimacy at all costs, NASCAR did not do enough. Not nearly enough.
The Chase, after all, was created to give NASCAR an increased national media profile against football. If that increased media attention is there, that means more scrutiny. Those higher expectations come with it the need for higher standards from officials and competitors.
I'm good with the end result for Truex and spotter/Michael Waltrip Racing exec Ty Norris. (It's absolutely not credible that MWR didn't have pre-race scenarios to help Truex make the Chase -- totally bogus -- I've been in such team situations.) But the penalties, and the inadequate statement issued by Waltrip that didn't say a word about Bowyer's spin, didn't nearly do all that needed to be done to maintain any sense of non-professional wrestling conduct. To really make it right, I would have:
1. Docked Bowyer sufficient points to drop him to 11th in the regular-season standings, and thus, eliminated him from the Chase. (Jeff Gordon, who also got screwed in this deal, would have advanced.)Bowyer also would have been fined $250,000 and suspended from competing in the 2014 Daytona 500. Yes, I would have carried over a penalty to the following season (as CART Chief Steward Wally Dallenbach once did to Paul Tracy) to inflict the punishment of non-participation in the year's biggest race and the embarrassment of still being on-track in 2013, just not in the Chase. Let the booing begin.
2. A $250,000 fine to Bowyer crew chief Brian Pattie and suspension for the rest of the 2013 season. Supposedly, NASCAR makes the crew chief responsible for the whole team.
3. I don't know what an appropriate fine is for a spotter, but something.
4. The buck stops with Waltrip himself. Therefore, suspension from all NASCAR activities (and, to Fox Sports 1 executives, that should mean TV announcing) through Dec. 31, 2013.
5. A $1 million fine to Michael Waltrip Racing.
Not even the Kornheiser types could accuse NASCAR of not managing its competition is a most serious way.
I posted on Twitter about this, but Waltrip and Bowyer didn't do themselves any favors with their interviews on Race Hub or SportsCenter (respectively), either. Waltrip whined about people who were "mean" to him on Twitter. Bowyer whined about the "pressure" of the Chase. The most powerful impression to come across from both was: Self-absorbed. Ricky Craven, who should be hired by NBC Sports Network for its NASCAR team in 2015, was excellent in questioning Bowyer. Craven mentioned fans who felt cheated -- Bowyer didn't respond directly.
Here's a Crisis Communications basic: When making a SINCERE apology, never use the word "but." Never!
Of course, it got worse for NASCAR as the week went along, with radio communications from David Gilliland's team implying there was a deal with Penske Racing to benefit Joey Logano. NASCAR put both teams on what has come to be viewed as meaningless probation. This cloud makes a Logano title the second worst thing that could happen to NASCAR. Jeff Gordon was added as a 13th Chase driver. If the exact situation existed but the driver involved was Travis Kvapil, not Gordon, would the same decision have been made? No doubt Gordon got screwed at Richmond in a season that hasn't been his, or his team's, best. But superstars are superstars in every sport and often get the benefit of the doubt. I'm accepting of that -- in the real world, they've earned it -- and OK with Jeff in the Chase. Besides everything else, it's good for business.
One talking point during NASCAR's growth period was it seemed to fans to be a safe harbor from societal ills that occurred in the stick-and-ball sports. It was often cited that protecting the interests and image of sponsors was an important reason for this. But just as NASCAR has worked to include more segments of the American public in its sport/industry, so have the lowered bar of acceptable standards evident throughout our society found their way into the garage area.
Why should anyone believe conduct away from the track doesn't carry over to it? If, generally speaking, competitors think it's OK to conduct their off-track lives a certain way, why would anyone think they change once inside a speedway? Ethics are always ethics. Ethics are not situational. There was a time when standard driver contracts contained a morals clause. Yes, I know, times change, and I'm no moralist, but one thing -- just as an example -- we've certainly seen is having children out of wedlock doesn't violate such clauses these days. Even as the sanction prides itself on being so into family values.
What happened at Richmond went far beyond the days of Junior Johnson's "innovative" cars and other things that have become cemented in NASCAR's heritage and lore. What happened at Richmond shows us the modern NASCAR sport isn't a better NASCAR sport. Or a more respectable one.
Talk about a lack of communication and/or cooperation: The Chase, PGA Tour's FedEx Cup semifinal, Bears and White Sox all played Sunday in the Chicago area. Ridiculous!
ESPN's SportsCenter on Tuesday morning, Sept. 10, lowered the bar in its own way. After Coach Chip Kelly's Philadelphia Eagles' fast-paced offense ran 53 plays in the first half of the previous night's game, some SC producer decided the show should go for 53 stories in its first hour. Consideration of importance, context, substance and other journalistic imperatives weren't acknowledged. Shame on ESPN. Shame on supposed "news" show SportsCenter. And shame on Hannah Storm, who punted her own journalistic credibility for a gimmick. She thus stepped dangerously close to Susan Rice/Jay Carney territory.
And, finally, when it comes to lowering the bar in the PR industry, Goodyear showed again last week it is a true leader. Once again I skipped coverage of a tire test at Phoenix International Raceway, refusing to accept insulting restrictions such as being escorted from the entrance tunnel to the media center and absolutely no access to the garage area. A mere 15-minute photo op was offered: at 4:45 p.m. (!) Of course, not one single word either verbally or in writing from Goodyear's so-called "PR" person even though local media is one of the foundational basics of publicity, something taught Day 1 to PR pre-schoolers. I've written before of G's fine corps of PR reps of decades ago. Dick Ralston and the rest would have known that all Goodyear does with such restrictions and non-communication (besides being unprofessional) is make itself look unconfident of the quality of its own product.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
It was only a few years ago, for example, when well-known NASCAR expert Tony Kornheiser "reported" that he had been told Dale Earnhardt Jr. was allowed to win the Daytona 500 pole in an illegal car. No evidence was offered. Just he "heard" and to the likes of an elite egoist like Kornheiser, that was enough, it struck him as something that could easily happen. After all, it's NASCAR, you know.
Which is a big reason why NASCAR did not do enough to punish Michael Waltrip Racing after the Richmond disgrace. And, why, the absolute worst thing that could happen to the credibility of the sanction would be for Clint Bowyer to win -- or even seriously contend for -- the Sprint Cup championship.
You knew something big was up when NASCAR called journalists to its R&D Center at 8:15 p.m. Monday night. (The season-opening Monday Night Football doubleheader was well underway.) You all know by now the penalties that were issued, the main impact being Martin Truex Jr. knocked-out of the Chase and Ryan Newman put in.
For the sake of fairness, for the imperative that is maintaining its legitimacy at all costs, NASCAR did not do enough. Not nearly enough.
The Chase, after all, was created to give NASCAR an increased national media profile against football. If that increased media attention is there, that means more scrutiny. Those higher expectations come with it the need for higher standards from officials and competitors.
I'm good with the end result for Truex and spotter/Michael Waltrip Racing exec Ty Norris. (It's absolutely not credible that MWR didn't have pre-race scenarios to help Truex make the Chase -- totally bogus -- I've been in such team situations.) But the penalties, and the inadequate statement issued by Waltrip that didn't say a word about Bowyer's spin, didn't nearly do all that needed to be done to maintain any sense of non-professional wrestling conduct. To really make it right, I would have:
1. Docked Bowyer sufficient points to drop him to 11th in the regular-season standings, and thus, eliminated him from the Chase. (Jeff Gordon, who also got screwed in this deal, would have advanced.)Bowyer also would have been fined $250,000 and suspended from competing in the 2014 Daytona 500. Yes, I would have carried over a penalty to the following season (as CART Chief Steward Wally Dallenbach once did to Paul Tracy) to inflict the punishment of non-participation in the year's biggest race and the embarrassment of still being on-track in 2013, just not in the Chase. Let the booing begin.
2. A $250,000 fine to Bowyer crew chief Brian Pattie and suspension for the rest of the 2013 season. Supposedly, NASCAR makes the crew chief responsible for the whole team.
3. I don't know what an appropriate fine is for a spotter, but something.
4. The buck stops with Waltrip himself. Therefore, suspension from all NASCAR activities (and, to Fox Sports 1 executives, that should mean TV announcing) through Dec. 31, 2013.
5. A $1 million fine to Michael Waltrip Racing.
Not even the Kornheiser types could accuse NASCAR of not managing its competition is a most serious way.
I posted on Twitter about this, but Waltrip and Bowyer didn't do themselves any favors with their interviews on Race Hub or SportsCenter (respectively), either. Waltrip whined about people who were "mean" to him on Twitter. Bowyer whined about the "pressure" of the Chase. The most powerful impression to come across from both was: Self-absorbed. Ricky Craven, who should be hired by NBC Sports Network for its NASCAR team in 2015, was excellent in questioning Bowyer. Craven mentioned fans who felt cheated -- Bowyer didn't respond directly.
Here's a Crisis Communications basic: When making a SINCERE apology, never use the word "but." Never!
Of course, it got worse for NASCAR as the week went along, with radio communications from David Gilliland's team implying there was a deal with Penske Racing to benefit Joey Logano. NASCAR put both teams on what has come to be viewed as meaningless probation. This cloud makes a Logano title the second worst thing that could happen to NASCAR. Jeff Gordon was added as a 13th Chase driver. If the exact situation existed but the driver involved was Travis Kvapil, not Gordon, would the same decision have been made? No doubt Gordon got screwed at Richmond in a season that hasn't been his, or his team's, best. But superstars are superstars in every sport and often get the benefit of the doubt. I'm accepting of that -- in the real world, they've earned it -- and OK with Jeff in the Chase. Besides everything else, it's good for business.
One talking point during NASCAR's growth period was it seemed to fans to be a safe harbor from societal ills that occurred in the stick-and-ball sports. It was often cited that protecting the interests and image of sponsors was an important reason for this. But just as NASCAR has worked to include more segments of the American public in its sport/industry, so have the lowered bar of acceptable standards evident throughout our society found their way into the garage area.
Why should anyone believe conduct away from the track doesn't carry over to it? If, generally speaking, competitors think it's OK to conduct their off-track lives a certain way, why would anyone think they change once inside a speedway? Ethics are always ethics. Ethics are not situational. There was a time when standard driver contracts contained a morals clause. Yes, I know, times change, and I'm no moralist, but one thing -- just as an example -- we've certainly seen is having children out of wedlock doesn't violate such clauses these days. Even as the sanction prides itself on being so into family values.
What happened at Richmond went far beyond the days of Junior Johnson's "innovative" cars and other things that have become cemented in NASCAR's heritage and lore. What happened at Richmond shows us the modern NASCAR sport isn't a better NASCAR sport. Or a more respectable one.
Talk about a lack of communication and/or cooperation: The Chase, PGA Tour's FedEx Cup semifinal, Bears and White Sox all played Sunday in the Chicago area. Ridiculous!
ESPN's SportsCenter on Tuesday morning, Sept. 10, lowered the bar in its own way. After Coach Chip Kelly's Philadelphia Eagles' fast-paced offense ran 53 plays in the first half of the previous night's game, some SC producer decided the show should go for 53 stories in its first hour. Consideration of importance, context, substance and other journalistic imperatives weren't acknowledged. Shame on ESPN. Shame on supposed "news" show SportsCenter. And shame on Hannah Storm, who punted her own journalistic credibility for a gimmick. She thus stepped dangerously close to Susan Rice/Jay Carney territory.
And, finally, when it comes to lowering the bar in the PR industry, Goodyear showed again last week it is a true leader. Once again I skipped coverage of a tire test at Phoenix International Raceway, refusing to accept insulting restrictions such as being escorted from the entrance tunnel to the media center and absolutely no access to the garage area. A mere 15-minute photo op was offered: at 4:45 p.m. (!) Of course, not one single word either verbally or in writing from Goodyear's so-called "PR" person even though local media is one of the foundational basics of publicity, something taught Day 1 to PR pre-schoolers. I've written before of G's fine corps of PR reps of decades ago. Dick Ralston and the rest would have known that all Goodyear does with such restrictions and non-communication (besides being unprofessional) is make itself look unconfident of the quality of its own product.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, September 08, 2013
THE MOST CHALLENGING TIME OF THE YEAR
Many fans I know think this is the most exciting time of the racing season: NASCAR's Sprint Cup Chase and NHRA's Countdown quasi-playoffs are about to begin. Elsewhere, in IndyCar, Nationwide, Trucks, the World of Outlaws and so forth, including the Grand-Am and ALMS sports car series competing separately for the last time, seasons are winding down with champions to be determined.
I understand the enthusiasm and passion of that fandom. To me, however, this is the racing industry's most challenging time of year.
The NFL and Big Time college football are back and, have no doubt, football remains America's most popular and dominant sport. Despite its own challenges with concussions and making politically correct rule changes which alter the game in the name of greater player safety. Whether there will be a fan backlash remains to be seen, but certainly, there's no evidence of it yet. The NFL wisely got the head injury issue out of the headlines, for now, with its $765 million legal settlement (paid over a number of years) with former players. Believe me, the NFL can afford it, with estimated annual revenues in the billion$.
NASCAR's best hope to stay in the mainstream media coverage and TV ratings game vs. football is a compelling, dramatic championship run involving more than a Jimmie Johnson runaway. Dale Jr. in the mix would help, but I'm not expecting that.
But it's not just about the actual racing. It's about the storylines -- either real or PR generated -- that can be picked-up by the media and then catch the attention of the public.
Saturday night's Richmond "regular season" finale ended with two controversies. ESPN, in its role of storyteller and news organization, reported one well and completely blew the other.
I'm not sure there can be any argument winner Carl Edwards accelerated too soon on the last restart. Booth analyst Dale Jarrett said it directly: "You can't do that." But there was no penalty and Edwards got to celebrate.
I was at Daytona in July 2001 when NBC debuted as a new NASCAR TV partner. A comment from a member of the NBC production crew was shared with me, this person calling pit reporter Dave Burns "lazy." I took that to mean intellectually, not physically, lazy. I remembered that conversation Saturday night when Burns completely botched the victory lane interview by not pressing the restart issue with Edwards. Nothing could have been more obvious. Nothing was more journalistically necessary. Not doing it was a complete disgrace.
One thing to watch when NBC returns in 2015 is what current ESPN "talent" the network will pick up. Allen Bestwick as the race caller should be a clear choice. But Burns leads the list of those who should not be. I like Dr. Jerry Punch -- he's always been kind to me and is a loyal, genuinely nice man -- but his habit (and Vince Welch's) of referring to interview subjects as "my friend" and other words of affection is outrageously unprofessional. Feel free to cite me an example of a network NFL or baseball sideline reporter doing something like that. It's not acceptable and doesn't do NASCAR any favors.
One of the most meaningful elements of the Richmond telecast always is the post-race interviews with the drivers who either made the Chase, or didn't. Ryan Newman throwing his pit crew under the bus and Kurt Busch nearly in tears were classic examples. As the TV types say, it "made for good television." I was left shaking my head at how unemotional Jeff Gordon seemed -- but it's been one of those seasons for the four-time champion, and I'm guessing he was expecting it.
Rusty Wallace and Ray Evernham bailed ESPN out of the journalistic hole dug by Burns in victory lane and the gushy post-race interview introductions by directly taking on the question: Did Clint Bowyer intentionally spin at the end to help Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. make the Chase? The video and team radio communication evidence made for a strong case. Even so, too often, we've seen former competitors punt on such controversies. Wallace and Evernham went at it head-on. As they should have. Great stuff.
That's the kind of honest reporting and commentary that will be needed over the next 10 weeks to give NASCAR a real foothold as football marches up and down the American sports landscape.
But ESPN should have put on Mike Helton or Robin Pemberton to explain NASCAR's side of the restart non-call as well as Bowyer's Chase-altering loop. Frankly, that was another botch to end the post-race coverage.
P.S. -- For the record, NASCAR did the right thing in denying access to its events to Kelly Heaphy, girlfriend of Truck series driver Mike Skeen. The now infamous Heaphy was the one who slapped Max Papis after the recent Mosport race. In my view, she should have been charged with assault. NASCAR also fined her $2,500 although I'm not sure how it can collect. I invite the likes of Heaphy, who lower the standards of conduct and thus the standards of the entire sport, to stay away -- permanently.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
I understand the enthusiasm and passion of that fandom. To me, however, this is the racing industry's most challenging time of year.
The NFL and Big Time college football are back and, have no doubt, football remains America's most popular and dominant sport. Despite its own challenges with concussions and making politically correct rule changes which alter the game in the name of greater player safety. Whether there will be a fan backlash remains to be seen, but certainly, there's no evidence of it yet. The NFL wisely got the head injury issue out of the headlines, for now, with its $765 million legal settlement (paid over a number of years) with former players. Believe me, the NFL can afford it, with estimated annual revenues in the billion$.
NASCAR's best hope to stay in the mainstream media coverage and TV ratings game vs. football is a compelling, dramatic championship run involving more than a Jimmie Johnson runaway. Dale Jr. in the mix would help, but I'm not expecting that.
But it's not just about the actual racing. It's about the storylines -- either real or PR generated -- that can be picked-up by the media and then catch the attention of the public.
Saturday night's Richmond "regular season" finale ended with two controversies. ESPN, in its role of storyteller and news organization, reported one well and completely blew the other.
I'm not sure there can be any argument winner Carl Edwards accelerated too soon on the last restart. Booth analyst Dale Jarrett said it directly: "You can't do that." But there was no penalty and Edwards got to celebrate.
I was at Daytona in July 2001 when NBC debuted as a new NASCAR TV partner. A comment from a member of the NBC production crew was shared with me, this person calling pit reporter Dave Burns "lazy." I took that to mean intellectually, not physically, lazy. I remembered that conversation Saturday night when Burns completely botched the victory lane interview by not pressing the restart issue with Edwards. Nothing could have been more obvious. Nothing was more journalistically necessary. Not doing it was a complete disgrace.
One thing to watch when NBC returns in 2015 is what current ESPN "talent" the network will pick up. Allen Bestwick as the race caller should be a clear choice. But Burns leads the list of those who should not be. I like Dr. Jerry Punch -- he's always been kind to me and is a loyal, genuinely nice man -- but his habit (and Vince Welch's) of referring to interview subjects as "my friend" and other words of affection is outrageously unprofessional. Feel free to cite me an example of a network NFL or baseball sideline reporter doing something like that. It's not acceptable and doesn't do NASCAR any favors.
One of the most meaningful elements of the Richmond telecast always is the post-race interviews with the drivers who either made the Chase, or didn't. Ryan Newman throwing his pit crew under the bus and Kurt Busch nearly in tears were classic examples. As the TV types say, it "made for good television." I was left shaking my head at how unemotional Jeff Gordon seemed -- but it's been one of those seasons for the four-time champion, and I'm guessing he was expecting it.
Rusty Wallace and Ray Evernham bailed ESPN out of the journalistic hole dug by Burns in victory lane and the gushy post-race interview introductions by directly taking on the question: Did Clint Bowyer intentionally spin at the end to help Michael Waltrip Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. make the Chase? The video and team radio communication evidence made for a strong case. Even so, too often, we've seen former competitors punt on such controversies. Wallace and Evernham went at it head-on. As they should have. Great stuff.
That's the kind of honest reporting and commentary that will be needed over the next 10 weeks to give NASCAR a real foothold as football marches up and down the American sports landscape.
But ESPN should have put on Mike Helton or Robin Pemberton to explain NASCAR's side of the restart non-call as well as Bowyer's Chase-altering loop. Frankly, that was another botch to end the post-race coverage.
P.S. -- For the record, NASCAR did the right thing in denying access to its events to Kelly Heaphy, girlfriend of Truck series driver Mike Skeen. The now infamous Heaphy was the one who slapped Max Papis after the recent Mosport race. In my view, she should have been charged with assault. NASCAR also fined her $2,500 although I'm not sure how it can collect. I invite the likes of Heaphy, who lower the standards of conduct and thus the standards of the entire sport, to stay away -- permanently.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Monday, September 02, 2013
A DISSATISFYING WEEKEND
Higher personal priorities means I have not had much time for this week's posting. But . . .
I found the traditional and prestigious Labor Day racing weekend to have been very, VERY dissatisfying.
I'll start with ESPN2's Monday presentation of NHRA's Big Go, the Chevy Performance U.S. Nationals. This has, in the past, largely been a "live" presentation so I just could not believe it when the first hour-plus of the show was wasted on pre-taped filler. I expected the show to immediately begin with "live" first-round action. WE WANT TO SEE RACING! Even in Glendora, Calif., it should be obvious (well, wait, this is NHRA) that the TV model is completely outmoded and outright broken. The collapsing TV audience numbers prove it. If the true definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then we'll know who really is insane if NHRA and ESPN come back in 2014 with the same format and people. Social media and the immediate nature of Internet news means taped-delayed sports events belong in a 20th century museum. And people changes are needed, too. The concept of keeping pit reporters locked up in a production trailer during qualifying is absolutely one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. They are REPORTERS. They need to be out in the pit lane REPORTING. I don't know how more obvious that could be. Except, of course, for the truly woeful Jamie Howe, who, if she ever asks a MEANINGFUL question, it will be the first. (Gary Scelzi as a guest analyst was great and Paul Page's return for essays and interviews was welcome.)
Get out the broom, NHRA and ESPN management!
I will say the Nationals again proved the completely unpredictable and fascinating nature of nitro drag racing. Just look at who lost in the first round Monday: Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher, the 1-2 Top Fuel qualifiers, and pole winner Matt Hagan and Courtney Force in Funny Car.
Elsewhere: I thought a lot of the driving in Sunday's Baltimore IndyCar event was just terrible, amateur-hour stuff . . . The on-going talk of an international off-season series in IndyCar is astoundingly ridiculous given the political and security and economic realities of the world and shows no learning has been done of open-wheel racing's past such misadventures and the team economics of such. Honestly, Mark Miles, it is simple: Most team sponsors use U.S. marketing budgets. Non-American races thus produce a ZERO (or near-0) ROI. I shake my head that time and effort continues to be wasted on such follies when the needs and problems here at home are so damn obvious . . . Finally, there was the depressing (not amusing, as too many TV heads portrayed it) spectacle of another driver's girlfriend slapping Max Papis (yes, Max is a friend of mine) after the Truck race. If that does not show how standards have declined, well -- Attention, NASCAR: Pull the credential and ban her from race sites for the rest of the season, at a minimum. To call her stupid is too polite.
Yes, dissatisfying.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
I found the traditional and prestigious Labor Day racing weekend to have been very, VERY dissatisfying.
I'll start with ESPN2's Monday presentation of NHRA's Big Go, the Chevy Performance U.S. Nationals. This has, in the past, largely been a "live" presentation so I just could not believe it when the first hour-plus of the show was wasted on pre-taped filler. I expected the show to immediately begin with "live" first-round action. WE WANT TO SEE RACING! Even in Glendora, Calif., it should be obvious (well, wait, this is NHRA) that the TV model is completely outmoded and outright broken. The collapsing TV audience numbers prove it. If the true definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, then we'll know who really is insane if NHRA and ESPN come back in 2014 with the same format and people. Social media and the immediate nature of Internet news means taped-delayed sports events belong in a 20th century museum. And people changes are needed, too. The concept of keeping pit reporters locked up in a production trailer during qualifying is absolutely one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. They are REPORTERS. They need to be out in the pit lane REPORTING. I don't know how more obvious that could be. Except, of course, for the truly woeful Jamie Howe, who, if she ever asks a MEANINGFUL question, it will be the first. (Gary Scelzi as a guest analyst was great and Paul Page's return for essays and interviews was welcome.)
Get out the broom, NHRA and ESPN management!
I will say the Nationals again proved the completely unpredictable and fascinating nature of nitro drag racing. Just look at who lost in the first round Monday: Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher, the 1-2 Top Fuel qualifiers, and pole winner Matt Hagan and Courtney Force in Funny Car.
Elsewhere: I thought a lot of the driving in Sunday's Baltimore IndyCar event was just terrible, amateur-hour stuff . . . The on-going talk of an international off-season series in IndyCar is astoundingly ridiculous given the political and security and economic realities of the world and shows no learning has been done of open-wheel racing's past such misadventures and the team economics of such. Honestly, Mark Miles, it is simple: Most team sponsors use U.S. marketing budgets. Non-American races thus produce a ZERO (or near-0) ROI. I shake my head that time and effort continues to be wasted on such follies when the needs and problems here at home are so damn obvious . . . Finally, there was the depressing (not amusing, as too many TV heads portrayed it) spectacle of another driver's girlfriend slapping Max Papis (yes, Max is a friend of mine) after the Truck race. If that does not show how standards have declined, well -- Attention, NASCAR: Pull the credential and ban her from race sites for the rest of the season, at a minimum. To call her stupid is too polite.
Yes, dissatisfying.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, August 25, 2013
THE NATIONALS MOOD
The Big Go is this weekend (finals Monday) but I doubt the Business of Drag Racing atmosphere surrounding the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals will be positive.
Amidst a season of plunging TV numbers and attendance, and sponsorship levels that have the gap between the top and bottom half of the nitro class ladders maybe larger than ever, came more bad news last week: Castrol will end its 29-year sponsorship of John Force Racing after next season. (That's one year less than Budweiser's record 30-year run with Kenny Bernstein.) This just weeks after Ford announced it will exit pro NHRA racing after 2014.
When NHRA's biggest name (John) with a daughter (Courtney) who stands at the foot of sports marketing superstardom admits his team can't survive as it currently exists without a new automaker partner and big sponsor, it's legitimate to question of biz health of the Mello Yello series. (A big problem is the lack of activation by the Coca-Cola Co. brand, which was publicly promised when the entitlement switch from Full Throttle was made.)
I won't be in Indy for the Big Go, but I have a feeling the private conversations among team owners and headliner drivers won't carry a good vibe. I know this: In any other properly run business enterprise, the Board of Directors would call in the CEO and ask for his views regarding the negative metrics. Then, they'd ask for his plan to address those problems.
Those conversations need to happen. I'm also going to hope, however, that the downers won't detract from the entertainment and competition of a great motorsports event. As I've said for years, even if you aren't a straight-line fan, you should get out and attend the Nationals. Or, at least, watch on ESPN2.
I Tweeted about this, but it's worth repeating here: Since basic common sense seems to be in such short supply in our everyday lives, last week's news that Mark Martin will sub for Tony Stewart the rest of this season (except Talladega) was refreshing. Martin was leaving the No. 55 after this year anyway and Brian Vickers already was confirmed as the full-time driver for 2014. Giving Stewart-Haas Racing a quality replacement in the No. 14 while allowing Vickers extra seat time with his new team, well, it just made common sense.
Even Martin noted what he called "the amazing amount of cooperation that it took to get this deal done by so many parties, and I haven't seen this much cooperation in the past, and I think it was largely in part for the incredible amount of respect that everyone has in the sport for Tony Stewart."
Applause to Michael Waltrip Racing, Aaron's, Toyota, Chevrolet, Mobil 1, Bass Pro Shops and everyone else who had to give the green light.
Regular readers know I'm a sprint car fan and am a National Sprint Car Hall of Fame voter. But it's important to be honest and admit it's been a tough few months within this exciting, daring -- and dangerous -- sport. Jason Leffler and HoF driver Kramer Williamson have died in crashes. Stewart broke his leg in his third big wreck of the year and is out for the rest of the season.
The economic scale of sprint car racing means the reality is more limited resources for safety measures. I'd love to see USAC and the World of Outlaws step forward in a leadership position and help fund some new initiatives. But the best bet in improving the safety of the cars themselves might well be Stewart and Kasey Kahne, who have access to things and people most sprint car owners don't.
Just wondering: With ESPN to be out of the NASCAR game come 2015, what will it do with Jayski, which it owns?
Here's the downside to social media: Comments on Ben Affleck as Batman. Consider all the other important news out there. Ridiculous. Sad.
[ more next week . . . ]
Amidst a season of plunging TV numbers and attendance, and sponsorship levels that have the gap between the top and bottom half of the nitro class ladders maybe larger than ever, came more bad news last week: Castrol will end its 29-year sponsorship of John Force Racing after next season. (That's one year less than Budweiser's record 30-year run with Kenny Bernstein.) This just weeks after Ford announced it will exit pro NHRA racing after 2014.
When NHRA's biggest name (John) with a daughter (Courtney) who stands at the foot of sports marketing superstardom admits his team can't survive as it currently exists without a new automaker partner and big sponsor, it's legitimate to question of biz health of the Mello Yello series. (A big problem is the lack of activation by the Coca-Cola Co. brand, which was publicly promised when the entitlement switch from Full Throttle was made.)
I won't be in Indy for the Big Go, but I have a feeling the private conversations among team owners and headliner drivers won't carry a good vibe. I know this: In any other properly run business enterprise, the Board of Directors would call in the CEO and ask for his views regarding the negative metrics. Then, they'd ask for his plan to address those problems.
Those conversations need to happen. I'm also going to hope, however, that the downers won't detract from the entertainment and competition of a great motorsports event. As I've said for years, even if you aren't a straight-line fan, you should get out and attend the Nationals. Or, at least, watch on ESPN2.
I Tweeted about this, but it's worth repeating here: Since basic common sense seems to be in such short supply in our everyday lives, last week's news that Mark Martin will sub for Tony Stewart the rest of this season (except Talladega) was refreshing. Martin was leaving the No. 55 after this year anyway and Brian Vickers already was confirmed as the full-time driver for 2014. Giving Stewart-Haas Racing a quality replacement in the No. 14 while allowing Vickers extra seat time with his new team, well, it just made common sense.
Even Martin noted what he called "the amazing amount of cooperation that it took to get this deal done by so many parties, and I haven't seen this much cooperation in the past, and I think it was largely in part for the incredible amount of respect that everyone has in the sport for Tony Stewart."
Applause to Michael Waltrip Racing, Aaron's, Toyota, Chevrolet, Mobil 1, Bass Pro Shops and everyone else who had to give the green light.
Regular readers know I'm a sprint car fan and am a National Sprint Car Hall of Fame voter. But it's important to be honest and admit it's been a tough few months within this exciting, daring -- and dangerous -- sport. Jason Leffler and HoF driver Kramer Williamson have died in crashes. Stewart broke his leg in his third big wreck of the year and is out for the rest of the season.
The economic scale of sprint car racing means the reality is more limited resources for safety measures. I'd love to see USAC and the World of Outlaws step forward in a leadership position and help fund some new initiatives. But the best bet in improving the safety of the cars themselves might well be Stewart and Kasey Kahne, who have access to things and people most sprint car owners don't.
Just wondering: With ESPN to be out of the NASCAR game come 2015, what will it do with Jayski, which it owns?
Here's the downside to social media: Comments on Ben Affleck as Batman. Consider all the other important news out there. Ridiculous. Sad.
[ more next week . . . ]
Sunday, August 18, 2013
LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN
It has been a momentous few weeks in the media business.
You've seen the headlines: The Graham family, sainted patrons of investigative journalism and Social Washington, agreed to sell the Washington Post to Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos for $250 million. The D.C. insiders wailed about the "end of an era." The New York Times Co. dumped-off the Boston Globe to John Henry, Red Sox' and Roush Fenway Racing partner, for a mere $70 mil, a tiny fraction of what it paid for the paper. Big Mouth/Bigger Ego Should-Have-Been-Farmed-Out-to-Pasture-Long-Ago Globe columnist Bob Ryan called it "scary." I would suggest Ryan deal with it or quit.
Given the troubled state of the newspaper and print businesses, I bet those who get to keep their jobs thanks to Henry will have a vastly different opinion.
We'll see what much-needed new ideas Bezos and Henry will bring to these iconic enterprises. And how the actual journalism is impacted. It's difficult to imagine how the Globe could increase its reporting on the Sox. But will criticism be tolerated by ownership? I got an E-mail asking if I thought NASCAR would now get more coverage in the Globe. I said: No.
Not to worry. NASCAR recently completed its long-term TV deals with more races (eventually, including part of the Nationwide series schedule) on the various Fox networks and a move off ABC/ESPN to NBC/NBCSN. At a reported total of more than $8 billion, this again proves the MONEY in U.S. motorsports is in NASCAR. The chatroomers can criticize all they want, but that is the true bottom line.
But the REAL action began Saturday with the launch of Fox Sports 1, which replaced fade-to-black Speed Channel. Combine FS1 with NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus, becoming just NBCSN) and CBS Sports cable channel, and suddenly, ESPN has REAL competition for the first time. EVER. This reminds me of when CNN had the cable news space all to itself and basically dictated terms of what was -- and wasn't -- "news." And how that "news" was covered. Then, along came MSNBC, and -- far more importantly and successfully -- Fox News Channel.
That's the way it's been for decades with ESPN. It could arrogantly do as it pleased and decided what "news" was "worthwhile" for SportsCenter. I'm hoping competition will make that a thing of the past. I remember when I worked at the Philadelphia Daily News and we, for a time, had four competing daily newspapers. It made us better.
Besides various NASCAR programming and, starting next year, the United SportsCar Series, FS1 has loaded-up on popular sports, including baseball. Last week, Fox grabbed the rights to USGA golf from NBC -- golf being a new venture for the network. I'm hoping the additional resources and higher emphasis from management will lead to better auto racing production. (Are Phil Parsons and Hermie Sadler the best it can do in the Truck series? Really?) It's a new era and, in part, that should mean the end of the weak pit-road microphone-holders who make speeches instead of asking crisp, meaningful, to-the-point Chris Economaki-esque questions. THAT'S what viewers APPRECIATE. THAT'S what viewers WANT.
More than anything, I'm hoping for some good, honest news reporting from FS1. That will largely come from its late-night version of SportsCenter. Will sports whose rights aren't owned by Fox get the bottom-feeder treatment we've come to expect from ESPN over the years? That would be a mistake, for a lot of reasons. CREDIBILITY needs to be established at FS1 and I'm hoping all involved know that and will act accordingly.
Yes, I know, there will be gimmicks and nonsense. But, please, FS1, not to the degree now found on SportsCenter. NFL guy Sal Paolantonio is actually a very good reporter, but he's recently taken a big back, back, back step with his Chris (Buffoon) Berman style. Why the NFL and Pro Football Hall of Fame permits an MC with an ego that overshadows the HoF honorees is beyond me.
Finally, sadly, is the impending Howard Beale ESPN2 show. A few days ago I saw an interview with ESPN President John Skipper in which he said the hiring of Beale is in keeping with the net's tradition of "smart." I guess Rutledge Wood was otherwise occupied.
Here's an easy prediction: Skipper, in the end, won't look too smart in giving Beale yet another chance.
Oh, how standards have fallen. Please, may true competition raise the bar.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
You've seen the headlines: The Graham family, sainted patrons of investigative journalism and Social Washington, agreed to sell the Washington Post to Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos for $250 million. The D.C. insiders wailed about the "end of an era." The New York Times Co. dumped-off the Boston Globe to John Henry, Red Sox' and Roush Fenway Racing partner, for a mere $70 mil, a tiny fraction of what it paid for the paper. Big Mouth/Bigger Ego Should-Have-Been-Farmed-Out-to-Pasture-Long-Ago Globe columnist Bob Ryan called it "scary." I would suggest Ryan deal with it or quit.
Given the troubled state of the newspaper and print businesses, I bet those who get to keep their jobs thanks to Henry will have a vastly different opinion.
We'll see what much-needed new ideas Bezos and Henry will bring to these iconic enterprises. And how the actual journalism is impacted. It's difficult to imagine how the Globe could increase its reporting on the Sox. But will criticism be tolerated by ownership? I got an E-mail asking if I thought NASCAR would now get more coverage in the Globe. I said: No.
Not to worry. NASCAR recently completed its long-term TV deals with more races (eventually, including part of the Nationwide series schedule) on the various Fox networks and a move off ABC/ESPN to NBC/NBCSN. At a reported total of more than $8 billion, this again proves the MONEY in U.S. motorsports is in NASCAR. The chatroomers can criticize all they want, but that is the true bottom line.
But the REAL action began Saturday with the launch of Fox Sports 1, which replaced fade-to-black Speed Channel. Combine FS1 with NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus, becoming just NBCSN) and CBS Sports cable channel, and suddenly, ESPN has REAL competition for the first time. EVER. This reminds me of when CNN had the cable news space all to itself and basically dictated terms of what was -- and wasn't -- "news." And how that "news" was covered. Then, along came MSNBC, and -- far more importantly and successfully -- Fox News Channel.
That's the way it's been for decades with ESPN. It could arrogantly do as it pleased and decided what "news" was "worthwhile" for SportsCenter. I'm hoping competition will make that a thing of the past. I remember when I worked at the Philadelphia Daily News and we, for a time, had four competing daily newspapers. It made us better.
Besides various NASCAR programming and, starting next year, the United SportsCar Series, FS1 has loaded-up on popular sports, including baseball. Last week, Fox grabbed the rights to USGA golf from NBC -- golf being a new venture for the network. I'm hoping the additional resources and higher emphasis from management will lead to better auto racing production. (Are Phil Parsons and Hermie Sadler the best it can do in the Truck series? Really?) It's a new era and, in part, that should mean the end of the weak pit-road microphone-holders who make speeches instead of asking crisp, meaningful, to-the-point Chris Economaki-esque questions. THAT'S what viewers APPRECIATE. THAT'S what viewers WANT.
More than anything, I'm hoping for some good, honest news reporting from FS1. That will largely come from its late-night version of SportsCenter. Will sports whose rights aren't owned by Fox get the bottom-feeder treatment we've come to expect from ESPN over the years? That would be a mistake, for a lot of reasons. CREDIBILITY needs to be established at FS1 and I'm hoping all involved know that and will act accordingly.
Yes, I know, there will be gimmicks and nonsense. But, please, FS1, not to the degree now found on SportsCenter. NFL guy Sal Paolantonio is actually a very good reporter, but he's recently taken a big back, back, back step with his Chris (Buffoon) Berman style. Why the NFL and Pro Football Hall of Fame permits an MC with an ego that overshadows the HoF honorees is beyond me.
Finally, sadly, is the impending Howard Beale ESPN2 show. A few days ago I saw an interview with ESPN President John Skipper in which he said the hiring of Beale is in keeping with the net's tradition of "smart." I guess Rutledge Wood was otherwise occupied.
Here's an easy prediction: Skipper, in the end, won't look too smart in giving Beale yet another chance.
Oh, how standards have fallen. Please, may true competition raise the bar.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, August 11, 2013
SEE YA, SPEED
I think it was back in the early 1990s. Paul Page and I were talking about various TV topics and, somehow, the question came up: Could there be an all-auto racing channel?
I think we both thought NO, mainly because the overall fan base, while large, was broken down into too many sub-niches. Page, as I remember, said he thought an all-golf channel might work, though.
Not that many years later, along came SpeedVision. I found it on my DirecTV dish and loved it: Brock Yates, Leon Mandel with a TV version of AutoWeek, Le Mans, classic Formula One races and other goodies. In a way it was too raw, too pure and that made it too good to be true. Sure enough, the programming evolved over the years, and the name changed to Speed when it came under Fox ownership. It will end Aug. 16 and the network will be transformed into Fox Sports 1.
Motorsports -- make that NASCAR -- will continue to be an important programming element, especially in light of the new TV contract Fox has done with our friends in Daytona Beach. Gone, though, will be Speed Center and Dave Despain's Wind Tunnel.
Speed, maybe surprisingly, never got a consistent grasp on a hard-news show. I never thought SC got traction on that front. And a very surprising number of its microphone-holders never learned how to ask a MEANINGFUL question. (That's Reporting 101 and something I hope FS1 producers will deal with, starting with Hermie Sadler.) There were The Big Mouths dressed in Empty Suits, Kenny Wallace and Jimmy Spencer. And the true embarrassment of Rutledge Wood, who single-handedly lowered-the-bar of professional standards for everyone else holding a mike. As for WT, I well remember when it debuted late on a Friday night for 30 minutes. That quickly grew into an hour. At its zenith, WT was on for two hours Sunday nights and then another hour Monday-thru-Thursday. When I did PR for Robby Gordon's 2004 Indy 500 effort, we officially announced his attempt at "The Double" on WT. I had Sam Schmidt out on Indy's pit road late one Sunday night in 1995 for a WT chat.
Despain guided the show through quite a few solid interviews and memorable debates, including those between Robin Miller and Ed Hinton. The whole idea of WT was viewer participation and the quality of those comments ranged from stupid to superb. Krista Voda became a star on Speed and her career survived an embarrassing guest-host appearance, which began with her explaining how Despain's bathroom posture was different from hers. (A multi-Emmy Award winning sports announcer told me she should have been fired for that.) There are ways to end a run and it's been disturbing to me to see the mail-it-in final year of what, in some ways, was a landmark show.
Speed was at its best in live race coverage and gave us a chance to see events that likely wouldn't have had a TV outlet. (Oh, for those years of live Knoxville Nationals.) Those who complained it became the de facto NASCAR Network simply ignored the business realities of the overall Fox contract and the fact that NASCAR became where the money -- and audience -- were. Speed also did well with some of its specials, such as Despain's On Assignment productions, and documentaries, such as the one about Hendrick Motorsports that ran last year. Speed was at its worst in the alternative weeknight shows it tried to develop, with the Michael Waltrip co-hosted "talent" competition the all-time low.
Something I've certainly appreciated, and has been good for Speed, has been Megan Englehart's excellent media relations work.
For many, Speed going to black is sad. It's fair to debate what its demise says about the health of the overall racing, motorsports and automotive industries. Meanwhile, Paul Page (who is doing some Sportbike and Superbike events for CBS Sports' cable channel), was right about a golf channel -- The Golf Channel -- succeeding.
Beside Fox Sports 1 (which, with FS2, which was Fuel, will be where you'll find the United SportsCar Series), NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) and CBS Sports' less-visible cable channel have become home to various racing properties. As of now, ESPN will only have NHRA come 2015.
Thanks to all who made a professional effort over the years. See ya, Speed.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
I think we both thought NO, mainly because the overall fan base, while large, was broken down into too many sub-niches. Page, as I remember, said he thought an all-golf channel might work, though.
Not that many years later, along came SpeedVision. I found it on my DirecTV dish and loved it: Brock Yates, Leon Mandel with a TV version of AutoWeek, Le Mans, classic Formula One races and other goodies. In a way it was too raw, too pure and that made it too good to be true. Sure enough, the programming evolved over the years, and the name changed to Speed when it came under Fox ownership. It will end Aug. 16 and the network will be transformed into Fox Sports 1.
Motorsports -- make that NASCAR -- will continue to be an important programming element, especially in light of the new TV contract Fox has done with our friends in Daytona Beach. Gone, though, will be Speed Center and Dave Despain's Wind Tunnel.
Speed, maybe surprisingly, never got a consistent grasp on a hard-news show. I never thought SC got traction on that front. And a very surprising number of its microphone-holders never learned how to ask a MEANINGFUL question. (That's Reporting 101 and something I hope FS1 producers will deal with, starting with Hermie Sadler.) There were The Big Mouths dressed in Empty Suits, Kenny Wallace and Jimmy Spencer. And the true embarrassment of Rutledge Wood, who single-handedly lowered-the-bar of professional standards for everyone else holding a mike. As for WT, I well remember when it debuted late on a Friday night for 30 minutes. That quickly grew into an hour. At its zenith, WT was on for two hours Sunday nights and then another hour Monday-thru-Thursday. When I did PR for Robby Gordon's 2004 Indy 500 effort, we officially announced his attempt at "The Double" on WT. I had Sam Schmidt out on Indy's pit road late one Sunday night in 1995 for a WT chat.
Despain guided the show through quite a few solid interviews and memorable debates, including those between Robin Miller and Ed Hinton. The whole idea of WT was viewer participation and the quality of those comments ranged from stupid to superb. Krista Voda became a star on Speed and her career survived an embarrassing guest-host appearance, which began with her explaining how Despain's bathroom posture was different from hers. (A multi-Emmy Award winning sports announcer told me she should have been fired for that.) There are ways to end a run and it's been disturbing to me to see the mail-it-in final year of what, in some ways, was a landmark show.
Speed was at its best in live race coverage and gave us a chance to see events that likely wouldn't have had a TV outlet. (Oh, for those years of live Knoxville Nationals.) Those who complained it became the de facto NASCAR Network simply ignored the business realities of the overall Fox contract and the fact that NASCAR became where the money -- and audience -- were. Speed also did well with some of its specials, such as Despain's On Assignment productions, and documentaries, such as the one about Hendrick Motorsports that ran last year. Speed was at its worst in the alternative weeknight shows it tried to develop, with the Michael Waltrip co-hosted "talent" competition the all-time low.
Something I've certainly appreciated, and has been good for Speed, has been Megan Englehart's excellent media relations work.
For many, Speed going to black is sad. It's fair to debate what its demise says about the health of the overall racing, motorsports and automotive industries. Meanwhile, Paul Page (who is doing some Sportbike and Superbike events for CBS Sports' cable channel), was right about a golf channel -- The Golf Channel -- succeeding.
Beside Fox Sports 1 (which, with FS2, which was Fuel, will be where you'll find the United SportsCar Series), NBC Sports Network (formerly Versus) and CBS Sports' less-visible cable channel have become home to various racing properties. As of now, ESPN will only have NHRA come 2015.
Thanks to all who made a professional effort over the years. See ya, Speed.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, August 04, 2013
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
There are more technical problems with Blogger that are beyond my ability to fix. So, please just allow me to report that I picked up two medals in the 2012 International Automotive Media Awards, results announced last week. My Arizona Republic feature examining how the relationship between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson has changed over the years won the gold for newspaper personality profile. And this blog got the silver for Internet commentary. My thanks to all involved, especially you, the reader. Meanwhile, if you haven't looked at CompetitionPlus.com in the last week, or don't follow me on Twitter @SpinDoctor500 please go to CP and read my business analysis of Ford's withdrawal from NHRA pro racing. Fingers crossed, Blogger will get fixed and we'll be back to normal here next week. Thanks.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
LEARNING FROM THE 'WOW MOMENTS'
We've seen some more "Wow Moments" recently, as Brian France famously called them last year. If you take yourself past the immediate emotions they evoke, however, there are things to be learned.
WOW! You didn't have to be a golf fan to find Phil Mickelson's final round in the British Open to be really exciting. His joy, and that of his family, caddy and even the ESPN announcers came through Loud and Clear. That was real Reality TV. LESSONS: The pompous R&A executives would make terrible racing sponsorship managers. Only arrogance would lead them to willingly give up the "British" (links-style golf) branding in favor of their "The Open Championship" name. I don't think Formula One will be changing the British Grand Prix to "The Grand Prix." Also, word is Mickelson's $2.16 million for winning both the British and Scottish Opens is subject to over 60 percent in U.K. taxes! Gotta pay for that new prince, I guess!
WOW! Baseball had what I'm figuring will be the first of several unfortunate ones by suspending former MVP Ryan Braun. Daily media speculation about A-Rod (and others) followed. Maybe baseball's sad history of PED use has dulled the senses of some, but to me, it was attention getting. LESSON: Public, media and political pressure (remember those congressional hearings a few years ago?) can result in change. Otherwise, I don't think baseball's extremely powerful players' union would have agreed to the level of drug testing that now is routine. But they had no choice. The pressure to do so, and the threat of congressonal action, was too great.
WOW! Detroit went bankrupt. Honestly, it should have happened years ago. When I lived outside Detroit while working for CART from 1980-1983, I observed at close-range the fiefdom Mayor Coleman Young established for himself and his cronies. LESSONS: The city, in any way we once thought of it, is forever finished. No Super Bowl or race weekend will ever change that. And, if I were a conservative (not necessarily Republican) candidate for any elective office in America, every speech about the economy would reference the damage done by Democrats, liberals, union leaders and tax-and-spenders over six consecutive decades in the Motor City and include these words: "Just look at Detroit."
WOW! NASCAR returned to the dirt at Eldora and while I don't think there were any individual "Wows" I'd give the event as a whole one. Mike Helton said he was attending pretty much as a "fan" and I get that. I enjoyed watching. LESSON: Unquestionably the biggest dud of the night -- and honestly, this wasn't a surprise to me given his attitude -- was Scott Bloomquist in the otherwise ultra-competitive Kyle Busch-owned Toyota.
WOW! NASCAR left long-time network partners ESPN and Turner behind for billions from NBC and NBC Sports Network. Cash aside, there is no doubt ESPN lost favor in Daytona Beach over the years by seeming to treat the Nationwide series as as bother rather than the "diamond in the rough" it claimed that property to be when the rights were first acquired. And de-emphasizing NASCAR Now. LESSONS: Fox Sports 1 and NBCSN mean ESPN is no longer unchallenged with the ability to lay down "take it or leave it" terms. And, while it's still popular in various media and fan circles to criticize NASCAR, the simple fact is NASCAR is where the money is in American auto racing. P.S. 1: It was crap for certain IndyCar officials to claim the NASCAR deal proves how smart they were (actually, it was an entirely different group of people) to sign with NBCSN. It was Versus back then and unless they were able to offer proof of knowing all those years ago that Comcast would take over NBC and rebrand the cable network, I, as an interviewer, absolutely would not have let them get away with that bogus line of BS. P.S. 2: How will ESPN's loss of NASCAR affect NHRA? Here's a link to my breaking news analysis column on CompetitionPlus.com, posted last Wednesday. (Followers on @SpinDoctor500 saw this first) --
http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/25848-michael-knight-how-espn-losing-nascar-could-affect-nhra
Wow! WOW! Ford withdrawing from NHRA pro racing after existing contracts expire following the 2014 season. That's the biggest news of the week and -- there's no spinning this one -- a vote of No Confidence in NHRA's short and mid-term ability to sell sufficient product to justify the investment. LESSON: If the Ford news, combined with an alarming number of empty seats at National events, and the alarming decline in TV audience doesn't result in major changes within NHRA, a lot more people and companies will be losing confidence in the sanction, too.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
WOW! You didn't have to be a golf fan to find Phil Mickelson's final round in the British Open to be really exciting. His joy, and that of his family, caddy and even the ESPN announcers came through Loud and Clear. That was real Reality TV. LESSONS: The pompous R&A executives would make terrible racing sponsorship managers. Only arrogance would lead them to willingly give up the "British" (links-style golf) branding in favor of their "The Open Championship" name. I don't think Formula One will be changing the British Grand Prix to "The Grand Prix." Also, word is Mickelson's $2.16 million for winning both the British and Scottish Opens is subject to over 60 percent in U.K. taxes! Gotta pay for that new prince, I guess!
WOW! Baseball had what I'm figuring will be the first of several unfortunate ones by suspending former MVP Ryan Braun. Daily media speculation about A-Rod (and others) followed. Maybe baseball's sad history of PED use has dulled the senses of some, but to me, it was attention getting. LESSON: Public, media and political pressure (remember those congressional hearings a few years ago?) can result in change. Otherwise, I don't think baseball's extremely powerful players' union would have agreed to the level of drug testing that now is routine. But they had no choice. The pressure to do so, and the threat of congressonal action, was too great.
WOW! Detroit went bankrupt. Honestly, it should have happened years ago. When I lived outside Detroit while working for CART from 1980-1983, I observed at close-range the fiefdom Mayor Coleman Young established for himself and his cronies. LESSONS: The city, in any way we once thought of it, is forever finished. No Super Bowl or race weekend will ever change that. And, if I were a conservative (not necessarily Republican) candidate for any elective office in America, every speech about the economy would reference the damage done by Democrats, liberals, union leaders and tax-and-spenders over six consecutive decades in the Motor City and include these words: "Just look at Detroit."
WOW! NASCAR returned to the dirt at Eldora and while I don't think there were any individual "Wows" I'd give the event as a whole one. Mike Helton said he was attending pretty much as a "fan" and I get that. I enjoyed watching. LESSON: Unquestionably the biggest dud of the night -- and honestly, this wasn't a surprise to me given his attitude -- was Scott Bloomquist in the otherwise ultra-competitive Kyle Busch-owned Toyota.
WOW! NASCAR left long-time network partners ESPN and Turner behind for billions from NBC and NBC Sports Network. Cash aside, there is no doubt ESPN lost favor in Daytona Beach over the years by seeming to treat the Nationwide series as as bother rather than the "diamond in the rough" it claimed that property to be when the rights were first acquired. And de-emphasizing NASCAR Now. LESSONS: Fox Sports 1 and NBCSN mean ESPN is no longer unchallenged with the ability to lay down "take it or leave it" terms. And, while it's still popular in various media and fan circles to criticize NASCAR, the simple fact is NASCAR is where the money is in American auto racing. P.S. 1: It was crap for certain IndyCar officials to claim the NASCAR deal proves how smart they were (actually, it was an entirely different group of people) to sign with NBCSN. It was Versus back then and unless they were able to offer proof of knowing all those years ago that Comcast would take over NBC and rebrand the cable network, I, as an interviewer, absolutely would not have let them get away with that bogus line of BS. P.S. 2: How will ESPN's loss of NASCAR affect NHRA? Here's a link to my breaking news analysis column on CompetitionPlus.com, posted last Wednesday. (Followers on @SpinDoctor500 saw this first) --
http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/25848-michael-knight-how-espn-losing-nascar-could-affect-nhra
Wow! WOW! Ford withdrawing from NHRA pro racing after existing contracts expire following the 2014 season. That's the biggest news of the week and -- there's no spinning this one -- a vote of No Confidence in NHRA's short and mid-term ability to sell sufficient product to justify the investment. LESSON: If the Ford news, combined with an alarming number of empty seats at National events, and the alarming decline in TV audience doesn't result in major changes within NHRA, a lot more people and companies will be losing confidence in the sanction, too.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, July 21, 2013
A REAL 'WOW MOMENT'
(Brief this week due to more urgent personal demands on my time.)
Brian France drew a fair amount of attention last year when he proclaimed that NASCAR needs more "Wow moments." It was hoped that the new Gen-6 Sprint Cup car would, in part, help produce this sort of attention-getting, water-cooler talk happenings.
I can't honestly say I think that's occurred. NASCAR, of course, has prided itself over the decades on its ability to help create such showbiz. And, let me admit this based on my own experiences in the wonderful world of public/media relations and publicity: Under a limited and very special set of circumstances, with some sophisticated and well-thought out manipulation techniques, it is possible to artifically create "Wow moments." But such times are the exception, beyond even NASCAR's full control.
Real "Wow moments" are real, genuine, almost always spontaneous. Alex Zanardi creating the contemporary donuts VICTORY celebration at Long Beach in 1997 certainly is an example. Sebastien Bourdais doing donuts for finishing SECOND at Toronto most certainly is not. (I got an E-mail the other day from someone saying Courtney Force's magazine photos are a "Wow moment," but that's a different sort of "wow.")
The sports world enjoyed a honest-to-God "Wow moment" last week. It came when Mariano Rivera ran onto the field in the eighth inning of baseball's All-Game Game in New York City. Rivera, by statistical objectivity the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history who has announced he'll retire from the Yankees at the end of this season, not only received a much-deserved standing ovation from the Citi Field fans. His American League teammates intentionally stayed off the diamond so Rivera could have the stage to himself. They applauded from the dugout. As did the National Leaguers. You could see the tears welling in Rivera's eyes. He then pitched a classic three-and-out inning.
It was special. It was real. It was a true "Wow moment." You didn't have to be from New York or a Yankees' or even a baseball fan to get emotionally connected to the scene. I watched and, yes, said out loud: "WOW!"
I don't think fans are getting enough of that in racing this season. Maybe, perhaps, Wednesday night's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on the dirt at Eldora Speedway will change that. I know I'll be watching, waiting, and hoping . . .
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Brian France drew a fair amount of attention last year when he proclaimed that NASCAR needs more "Wow moments." It was hoped that the new Gen-6 Sprint Cup car would, in part, help produce this sort of attention-getting, water-cooler talk happenings.
I can't honestly say I think that's occurred. NASCAR, of course, has prided itself over the decades on its ability to help create such showbiz. And, let me admit this based on my own experiences in the wonderful world of public/media relations and publicity: Under a limited and very special set of circumstances, with some sophisticated and well-thought out manipulation techniques, it is possible to artifically create "Wow moments." But such times are the exception, beyond even NASCAR's full control.
Real "Wow moments" are real, genuine, almost always spontaneous. Alex Zanardi creating the contemporary donuts VICTORY celebration at Long Beach in 1997 certainly is an example. Sebastien Bourdais doing donuts for finishing SECOND at Toronto most certainly is not. (I got an E-mail the other day from someone saying Courtney Force's magazine photos are a "Wow moment," but that's a different sort of "wow.")
The sports world enjoyed a honest-to-God "Wow moment" last week. It came when Mariano Rivera ran onto the field in the eighth inning of baseball's All-Game Game in New York City. Rivera, by statistical objectivity the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history who has announced he'll retire from the Yankees at the end of this season, not only received a much-deserved standing ovation from the Citi Field fans. His American League teammates intentionally stayed off the diamond so Rivera could have the stage to himself. They applauded from the dugout. As did the National Leaguers. You could see the tears welling in Rivera's eyes. He then pitched a classic three-and-out inning.
It was special. It was real. It was a true "Wow moment." You didn't have to be from New York or a Yankees' or even a baseball fan to get emotionally connected to the scene. I watched and, yes, said out loud: "WOW!"
I don't think fans are getting enough of that in racing this season. Maybe, perhaps, Wednesday night's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on the dirt at Eldora Speedway will change that. I know I'll be watching, waiting, and hoping . . .
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, July 14, 2013
NO COMPARISON
(Technical problems solved. I've edited this Tuesday to reflect usual format.)
UP FRONT: Let's get this straight: Courtney Force's "appearance" in the ESPN the Magazine Body Issue does not equate to Danica Patrick's pictorials. We can begin with the fact that Patrick first posed for FHM in April 2003 -- while a Formula Atlantic driver -- two years before her IndyCar debut. To go for that "exposure" was an early marketing decision by Team Danica. She, of course, has gone on to do several Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues. That was Danica's choice and Courtney made her choice. I will point out that Courtney currently has three Funny Car victories -- two this season -- and is a legitimate championship contender come NHRA's Countdown. I have yet to hear a knowledgeable person claim Courtney isn't a real "racer." I have heard that said of Danica, who is a mid-fielder in NASCAR. The chatroom yap about this detracting from the notion of taking female drivers seriously is nonsense. Let me repeat: Courtney is a THREE-TIME RACE WINNER in perhaps the most brutish cars (along with sprint cars) in all of racing. And female drivers of earlier times didn't have as many options for such publicity because the times, the available opportunities -- and sponsor attitudes -- were very different. When Playboy wanted to do a major feature article on Nigel Mansell in 1993, we had to sound-out the team's sponsors if they were OK with that. (They were.) I'm sure John Force Racing did the same before Courtney made her call. I know Courtney was asked to do this last year and she declined, saying she wanted to establish her driving credentials and accomplishments before wading in to such a public media project. I respect that a TON. (If she had posed while still a sportsman driver, my opinion would be different.) So, having worked on the sponsorship, marketing, management, PR and media sides of the Business of Racing, let me repeat for the benefit of the superficially-minded: Courtney vs. Danica does not equate. And the talking point of nudity vs. scant clothing is a distinction without a difference in this context. Look at the pictures or don't look at them, as you wish. But the arguments against I've read and heard are thinly considered and don't add up to much of substance.
In a related matter, well, the times sure have changed in other ways, too. In the early 1990s when Ed Hinton wrote a long, back-of-the-magazine pre-Indy 500 Sports Illustrated feature on the Andrettis, I worked directly with the SI promotions department to have advance copies sent to national media and I (then Newman/Haas Racing PR director) did a mass distribution in the IMS media center. I expected the same for the ESPN mag. It sure would have helped NHRA's cause with the otherwise completely uninterested national media. Honestly, all involved, I just 100 percent flat-out do not get not doing this. A true head-shaker and, frankly, a huge disappointment to me.
FAST LINES: In last week's seventh anniversary blog, I wrote Mark Miles had one of the most difficult jobs in the sports industry, working out plans for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's renovation. Miles since announced his new management structure, with Jeff Belskus now assigned "development of the master facilities plan to bring some $100 million in improvements . . . It’s a huge job and tremendously important as we work on improving our fan experience and upgrading IMS." The task is to create the modern conveniences fans expect but not strip away the Brickyard's historical aura. Some very, VERY difficult decisions are forthcoming. They could be make-or-break decisions . . . In the The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same Dept.: It took 24 years for IndyCar to return to Pocono International Raceway but apparently the traditional traffic mess didn't miss a beat. Pocono President Brandon Igdalsky was forced to issue an apology to fans who, he admitted, "expressed their disappointment, almost immediately, via social media posts, phone calls and through e-mails." Igdalsky said he was meeting with local and state officials to determine the reason for what he called a "breakdown." Sounds a lot like what I wrote in the Philadelphia Daily News back in the 1970s! . . . I hope this was just an unfortunate typo: In the July 8 AutoWeek is an RM Auctions ad for an upcoming event in Monterey and offering a 1974 McLaren Indy Car. According to the ad the car is "Winner of the 1979 Indianapolis 500." That would be a NO! Rick Mears won the '79 I500 in a Penske PC-6, not a McLaren. I sure hope they meant the 1974 race, won by McLaren's Johnny Rutherford . . . The SCCA Runoffs -- the national championship races -- will rotate from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2014, to Daytona in 2015, and Mid-Ohio in 2016. Yes, travel costs for competitors to the West Coast are a consideration, but this decision represents a rare good move by the SCCA. I must say, though, I'm sorry the Runoffs are leaving Elkhart Lake, which in many ways is the near-ideal setting for this amazing competition.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
UP FRONT: Let's get this straight: Courtney Force's "appearance" in the ESPN the Magazine Body Issue does not equate to Danica Patrick's pictorials. We can begin with the fact that Patrick first posed for FHM in April 2003 -- while a Formula Atlantic driver -- two years before her IndyCar debut. To go for that "exposure" was an early marketing decision by Team Danica. She, of course, has gone on to do several Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues. That was Danica's choice and Courtney made her choice. I will point out that Courtney currently has three Funny Car victories -- two this season -- and is a legitimate championship contender come NHRA's Countdown. I have yet to hear a knowledgeable person claim Courtney isn't a real "racer." I have heard that said of Danica, who is a mid-fielder in NASCAR. The chatroom yap about this detracting from the notion of taking female drivers seriously is nonsense. Let me repeat: Courtney is a THREE-TIME RACE WINNER in perhaps the most brutish cars (along with sprint cars) in all of racing. And female drivers of earlier times didn't have as many options for such publicity because the times, the available opportunities -- and sponsor attitudes -- were very different. When Playboy wanted to do a major feature article on Nigel Mansell in 1993, we had to sound-out the team's sponsors if they were OK with that. (They were.) I'm sure John Force Racing did the same before Courtney made her call. I know Courtney was asked to do this last year and she declined, saying she wanted to establish her driving credentials and accomplishments before wading in to such a public media project. I respect that a TON. (If she had posed while still a sportsman driver, my opinion would be different.) So, having worked on the sponsorship, marketing, management, PR and media sides of the Business of Racing, let me repeat for the benefit of the superficially-minded: Courtney vs. Danica does not equate. And the talking point of nudity vs. scant clothing is a distinction without a difference in this context. Look at the pictures or don't look at them, as you wish. But the arguments against I've read and heard are thinly considered and don't add up to much of substance.
In a related matter, well, the times sure have changed in other ways, too. In the early 1990s when Ed Hinton wrote a long, back-of-the-magazine pre-Indy 500 Sports Illustrated feature on the Andrettis, I worked directly with the SI promotions department to have advance copies sent to national media and I (then Newman/Haas Racing PR director) did a mass distribution in the IMS media center. I expected the same for the ESPN mag. It sure would have helped NHRA's cause with the otherwise completely uninterested national media. Honestly, all involved, I just 100 percent flat-out do not get not doing this. A true head-shaker and, frankly, a huge disappointment to me.
FAST LINES: In last week's seventh anniversary blog, I wrote Mark Miles had one of the most difficult jobs in the sports industry, working out plans for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's renovation. Miles since announced his new management structure, with Jeff Belskus now assigned "development of the master facilities plan to bring some $100 million in improvements . . . It’s a huge job and tremendously important as we work on improving our fan experience and upgrading IMS." The task is to create the modern conveniences fans expect but not strip away the Brickyard's historical aura. Some very, VERY difficult decisions are forthcoming. They could be make-or-break decisions . . . In the The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same Dept.: It took 24 years for IndyCar to return to Pocono International Raceway but apparently the traditional traffic mess didn't miss a beat. Pocono President Brandon Igdalsky was forced to issue an apology to fans who, he admitted, "expressed their disappointment, almost immediately, via social media posts, phone calls and through e-mails." Igdalsky said he was meeting with local and state officials to determine the reason for what he called a "breakdown." Sounds a lot like what I wrote in the Philadelphia Daily News back in the 1970s! . . . I hope this was just an unfortunate typo: In the July 8 AutoWeek is an RM Auctions ad for an upcoming event in Monterey and offering a 1974 McLaren Indy Car. According to the ad the car is "Winner of the 1979 Indianapolis 500." That would be a NO! Rick Mears won the '79 I500 in a Penske PC-6, not a McLaren. I sure hope they meant the 1974 race, won by McLaren's Johnny Rutherford . . . The SCCA Runoffs -- the national championship races -- will rotate from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in 2014, to Daytona in 2015, and Mid-Ohio in 2016. Yes, travel costs for competitors to the West Coast are a consideration, but this decision represents a rare good move by the SCCA. I must say, though, I'm sorry the Runoffs are leaving Elkhart Lake, which in many ways is the near-ideal setting for this amazing competition.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, July 07, 2013
7th ANNIVERSARY BLOG
It's always interesting to look back into the past as a way to understand what's happening now and anticipate what the future may hold.
I've done that recently in preparation for this, the seventh anniversary of this blog.
Back on July 10, 2006 -- the first posting -- and in the immediate time afterwards, we were already pondering items such as Danica Patrick's NASCAR future and the folly that was the proposed Champ Car race in downtown Phoenix and legitimate criticism based on facts and experience vs. personal attacks from the chatroom crowd.
That non-starter Phoenix race foreshadowed things to come. Its cancellation about 100 days out with about 1,000 tickets sold with at least a $20 million loss (including that year's Las Vegas street event put on by the same group) was the final straw for Big Time Champ Car backers like Paul Newman and provided a powerful shove to Kevin Kalkhoven to take Tony George's money and combine into the IRL. It also demonstrated the financial perils for so many promoters which continue to hinder IndyCar today. As one Business of Racing insider said to me recently, "If these races were making money, they (series) wouldn't have any problem scheduling plenty of races."
Other B or R (remember, our primary audience here remains those directly involved in the motorsports and sports marketing industry -- there are plenty of fan sites out there) topics covered here include promotions, marketing, media and public relations standards. I'm sorry to say, especially with the last two, the problems have gotten worse. But at least Gene Simmons no longer is involved.
Thinking back, analyzing the present, and pondering what's ahead, here are what I consider to be the five most important issues facing the racing sport and industry seven years into this Great Adventure of learning and information sharing:
1. Leadership: Yes, in some ways (Wall St.) the national economy is getting better -- at least for now. Brian France, Tom Compton and others led their series through the tough years starting in the fall of 2008 but the slow -- at least as measured by historical standards -- recovery demands continued forward-thinking and innovative leadership. There are more and more people who seem to believe motorsports no longer holds the inherent fascination for the American public it once did -- they say the country's love affair with the automobile has diminished -- and it's up to the industry's leaders to deal with this real or perceived issue. Brian France will always face a more skeptical community due to the accomplishments of his grandfather and father. Many eyes now are on IndyCar's Mark Miles -- whatever 2014 schedule he's able to put together (New venues? Schedule realignment? Playoffs?) will be a strong signal of how he's doing. Ed Bennett and Scott Atherton, meanwhile, will guide U.S. sports car racing into its Brave New World. The bottom line throughout the industry: There is no substitute for strong, effective, confident, inspiring leadership.
2. Making New Fans: NASCAR's maneuvering from the mid-2000s to broaden its fan base with generic cars and tradition-bending rules proved just how dangerous it can be to alienate the established hard-core fan base. But to grow and prosper, those fans must eventually be replaced, and fresh ones created. That's much easier said than done. NASCAR is trying with its aggressive five-year Industry Action Plan and social-media heavy Integrated Marketing Communications Dept. Any new ideas Miles brings to this endeavor will be crucial for IndyCar. NHRA still doesn't get the help it needs from its series sponsor (which has plenty of resources to do just that) but made an important gain recently with the successful opening of the New England market. Sports car racing has spun its wheels for decades trying to move beyond its ultra-niche audience and now will be relying on NASCAR's resources to help with the task. Too many empty seats across the racing world prove the job isn't getting done. A huge project will be improving spectator facilities so the in-person experience can compete with the comforts of home and a large-screen HD TV. Daytona has made its commitment. A run-down looking Indianapolis Motor Speedway is next up and how Miles makes the Brickyard modern without blowing-up its traditional aura might be the most difficult job anyone in motorsports confronts.
3. Who/What Is The Next Big Thing?: NHRA -- perhaps alone among the major series -- seems to have its answer: Courtney Force. She combines results with look and personality and attitude and, properly managed with some extra guidance from experts outside drag racing, there's absolutely no reason why Courtney should not be a mainstream MAJOR American sports star/personality. IndyCar thought it had it with Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti but, while they have the right last names, they still don't have the on-track results. NASCAR's gotten most of what it can out of Danica Patrick -- barring winning -- and has promoted its new Gen-6 car thus far this season. The stock car sanction's continued investment in minority driver development and its established feeder system from the K&N Pro, Trucks and Nationwide series likely will continue to suit its need for future racer-personalities like Carl Edwards.
4. Spreading the Word: Perhaps nothing has changed as much in the last seven years as communication tools. Who knew Twitter and social media in 2006? As noted above, NASCAR has invested in a pro-active capability to understand and utilize the communications revolution. The traditional mainstream media corps has diminished due to the economy, changes in consumer habits, and technology. What NASCAR is doing can't as yet be called "successful," but that company is way, far ahead of everyone else combined working this new frontier. But that doesn't mean old-fashioned methods still don't have a place. As noted here many times, when so-called "PR people" don't even bother to visit the media center, don't bother building good professional relationships with the media, and in some cases don't even know how to write a basic news release, it's a flashing red alarm. Too many appear to be too lazy or too unqualified to even know how to "pitch" a story. Why doesn't every series have a media "hot list" -- especially sports talk radio -- that can be tapped on short notice to offer driver interviews when practice/qualifying days are rained out? That's just one example. Racing is far behind entities like the NFL, which require some basic professional standards in PR and media relations from its teams. NASCAR and IndyCar absolutely must do so and PR people who really are just helmet-carriers need to have their "PR" title stripped. And those who act annoyed when asked by a journalist to arrange a driver interview, and who think E-mail is a substitute for conversation, must GO OUT THE GARAGE GATE, NEVER TO RETURN. It's especially embarrassing that some such people collect paychecks from some of the biggest teams in motorsports.
5. Standards: The changing media landscape and a decline of acceptable social values has, sadly, brought along a lower bar. Too many sports reporters, and too many of their editors, think a story about Dale Jr.'s potato chips is more important than real racing NEWS. The lazy practice of simply repeating what someone else has reported, without obtaining separate, independent, confirmation, is a terrible commonplace occurrence. Gossip and rumor seem to have more entertainment traction than actual fact. The public, the readers and watchers and listeners and audience -- the CUSTOMERS -- will have to demand better or the situation will only get worse. And we'll all be worse-off if that happens.
Thank you to all who take time to read this blog. I am grateful. Year Eight, here we come . . .
"Positives" -- my new July CompetitionPlus.com column (those who follow me on Twitter @SpinDoctor500 saw this first):
[ more next Monday . . . ]
I've done that recently in preparation for this, the seventh anniversary of this blog.
Back on July 10, 2006 -- the first posting -- and in the immediate time afterwards, we were already pondering items such as Danica Patrick's NASCAR future and the folly that was the proposed Champ Car race in downtown Phoenix and legitimate criticism based on facts and experience vs. personal attacks from the chatroom crowd.
That non-starter Phoenix race foreshadowed things to come. Its cancellation about 100 days out with about 1,000 tickets sold with at least a $20 million loss (including that year's Las Vegas street event put on by the same group) was the final straw for Big Time Champ Car backers like Paul Newman and provided a powerful shove to Kevin Kalkhoven to take Tony George's money and combine into the IRL. It also demonstrated the financial perils for so many promoters which continue to hinder IndyCar today. As one Business of Racing insider said to me recently, "If these races were making money, they (series) wouldn't have any problem scheduling plenty of races."
Other B or R (remember, our primary audience here remains those directly involved in the motorsports and sports marketing industry -- there are plenty of fan sites out there) topics covered here include promotions, marketing, media and public relations standards. I'm sorry to say, especially with the last two, the problems have gotten worse. But at least Gene Simmons no longer is involved.
Thinking back, analyzing the present, and pondering what's ahead, here are what I consider to be the five most important issues facing the racing sport and industry seven years into this Great Adventure of learning and information sharing:
1. Leadership: Yes, in some ways (Wall St.) the national economy is getting better -- at least for now. Brian France, Tom Compton and others led their series through the tough years starting in the fall of 2008 but the slow -- at least as measured by historical standards -- recovery demands continued forward-thinking and innovative leadership. There are more and more people who seem to believe motorsports no longer holds the inherent fascination for the American public it once did -- they say the country's love affair with the automobile has diminished -- and it's up to the industry's leaders to deal with this real or perceived issue. Brian France will always face a more skeptical community due to the accomplishments of his grandfather and father. Many eyes now are on IndyCar's Mark Miles -- whatever 2014 schedule he's able to put together (New venues? Schedule realignment? Playoffs?) will be a strong signal of how he's doing. Ed Bennett and Scott Atherton, meanwhile, will guide U.S. sports car racing into its Brave New World. The bottom line throughout the industry: There is no substitute for strong, effective, confident, inspiring leadership.
2. Making New Fans: NASCAR's maneuvering from the mid-2000s to broaden its fan base with generic cars and tradition-bending rules proved just how dangerous it can be to alienate the established hard-core fan base. But to grow and prosper, those fans must eventually be replaced, and fresh ones created. That's much easier said than done. NASCAR is trying with its aggressive five-year Industry Action Plan and social-media heavy Integrated Marketing Communications Dept. Any new ideas Miles brings to this endeavor will be crucial for IndyCar. NHRA still doesn't get the help it needs from its series sponsor (which has plenty of resources to do just that) but made an important gain recently with the successful opening of the New England market. Sports car racing has spun its wheels for decades trying to move beyond its ultra-niche audience and now will be relying on NASCAR's resources to help with the task. Too many empty seats across the racing world prove the job isn't getting done. A huge project will be improving spectator facilities so the in-person experience can compete with the comforts of home and a large-screen HD TV. Daytona has made its commitment. A run-down looking Indianapolis Motor Speedway is next up and how Miles makes the Brickyard modern without blowing-up its traditional aura might be the most difficult job anyone in motorsports confronts.
3. Who/What Is The Next Big Thing?: NHRA -- perhaps alone among the major series -- seems to have its answer: Courtney Force. She combines results with look and personality and attitude and, properly managed with some extra guidance from experts outside drag racing, there's absolutely no reason why Courtney should not be a mainstream MAJOR American sports star/personality. IndyCar thought it had it with Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti but, while they have the right last names, they still don't have the on-track results. NASCAR's gotten most of what it can out of Danica Patrick -- barring winning -- and has promoted its new Gen-6 car thus far this season. The stock car sanction's continued investment in minority driver development and its established feeder system from the K&N Pro, Trucks and Nationwide series likely will continue to suit its need for future racer-personalities like Carl Edwards.
4. Spreading the Word: Perhaps nothing has changed as much in the last seven years as communication tools. Who knew Twitter and social media in 2006? As noted above, NASCAR has invested in a pro-active capability to understand and utilize the communications revolution. The traditional mainstream media corps has diminished due to the economy, changes in consumer habits, and technology. What NASCAR is doing can't as yet be called "successful," but that company is way, far ahead of everyone else combined working this new frontier. But that doesn't mean old-fashioned methods still don't have a place. As noted here many times, when so-called "PR people" don't even bother to visit the media center, don't bother building good professional relationships with the media, and in some cases don't even know how to write a basic news release, it's a flashing red alarm. Too many appear to be too lazy or too unqualified to even know how to "pitch" a story. Why doesn't every series have a media "hot list" -- especially sports talk radio -- that can be tapped on short notice to offer driver interviews when practice/qualifying days are rained out? That's just one example. Racing is far behind entities like the NFL, which require some basic professional standards in PR and media relations from its teams. NASCAR and IndyCar absolutely must do so and PR people who really are just helmet-carriers need to have their "PR" title stripped. And those who act annoyed when asked by a journalist to arrange a driver interview, and who think E-mail is a substitute for conversation, must GO OUT THE GARAGE GATE, NEVER TO RETURN. It's especially embarrassing that some such people collect paychecks from some of the biggest teams in motorsports.
5. Standards: The changing media landscape and a decline of acceptable social values has, sadly, brought along a lower bar. Too many sports reporters, and too many of their editors, think a story about Dale Jr.'s potato chips is more important than real racing NEWS. The lazy practice of simply repeating what someone else has reported, without obtaining separate, independent, confirmation, is a terrible commonplace occurrence. Gossip and rumor seem to have more entertainment traction than actual fact. The public, the readers and watchers and listeners and audience -- the CUSTOMERS -- will have to demand better or the situation will only get worse. And we'll all be worse-off if that happens.
Thank you to all who take time to read this blog. I am grateful. Year Eight, here we come . . .
"Positives" -- my new July CompetitionPlus.com column (those who follow me on Twitter @SpinDoctor500 saw this first):
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, June 30, 2013
RETURN TO POCONO
I actually walked some of the spinach farm that would give rise to Pocono International Raceway. I was given a tour, by then track General Manager Bill Marvel, of the 2.5-mile triangle oval while it was under construction. One memorable moment that day was when I asked about the "press box" and Marvel pointed to where it would be and corrected me that it would be called the "media box" because electronic and well as print journalists would be housed there. (Bill was ahead of his time.) Duly noted by me. This was more than four decades ago.
I attended the dinner in Philadelphia where the "Triple Crown" (Indy, Pocono, Ontario) was announced. I was there for the first Schaefer (beer) 500 in 1971, when Mark Donohue dominated but was passed by Joe Leonard in tricky Turn 2 in the closing laps, then learned Leonard's line and repassed him for the inaugural victory. I was there for the first USAC stock car race and the debut of NASCAR. I was there for Formula 5000 and IMSA road races and even the ill-fated World Series of Auto Racing, where midgets and sprints ran the infield three-quarter mile oval in the snow! I reported on most of those happenings for the Philadelphia Daily News. Frequent rainy days and a leaky infield media center led us to call it "Poco-No-Go."
I covered a lot of weird Pocono stories in those 1970s days. Deer ran onto the track, forcing yellows. A National Anthem singer, apparently under the influence of adult beverages, got booed. Pancho Carter let loose with a long list of complaints about the track that got him in hot water with his sponsor when I and others quoted him at length. A.J. Foyt invited me and one other writer into his garage one afternoon and offered his opinion on subjects ranging from Ted Kennedy to international wars to yes, the media. There were many traffic nightmares so Dr. Joseph Mattioli asked me to join him on a race-morning helicopter flight to survey the scene -- we wound-up making an emergency landing in a nearby open field. Roger Penske's helicopter wasn't allowed to land in the infield one year because -- no, I'm not making this up -- management claimed it was guarding against people sneaking in on helicopters without buying a ticket. (!)
I was there when USAC ran without CART in 1979. I was CART's communications director when that happened again in 1981 and lawsuits were filed. I was there when those issues were settled -- but hard feelings remained -- and CART leased the track for a 1983 race, the Domino's Pizza 500, which we promoted and staged on about 90 days notice. (Try that some time!) And I was there for CART's last race in 1989. The cars of Indy for which Pocono originally was built would not return.
Until this weekend. Last year Randy Bernard negotiated with new track leader Brandon Igdalsky to bring IndyCar back to Pocono. It's an important Business of Racing moment for both organizations. Bernard is gone, of course, but it's essential for IndyCar's future in the northeast (where we used to have races not just at Pocono, but also Langhorne, Trenton and Nazareth) to have an entertaining show. The kind that generates positive word-of-mouth buzz. It can't be another New Hampshire one-and-done deal. The series is too fragile as it is to take that sort of blow.
Doc Joe vowed open-wheel machines would never return to Pocono under his watch, but Igdalsky has made bold moves since Mattioli's death, including the much-needed call to shorten the Sprint Cup races to 400 miles. Now he's welcomed IndyCar back and is trying to sell tickets to three major events in a short period of time -- never an easy task.
I'm not buying the storyline that the "Triple Crown" has returned (with Auto Club Speedway's 500) because, due to TV time limitations, Pocono will only be 400 miles. But, I guess you could say for sentimental reasons, I'll be watching Pocono more closely than any race this season aside from the Indy 500 itself.
I wish I could have gone back to Pennsylvania to see it first-hand and remember again some of those strange stories I wrote about and was a part of. But that's not doable. If the racing is good, if the track's numerous facility and safety improvements work, if the crowd is at least respectable, I'll be glad. Good luck to all.
I joined other members of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame nominating and voting committee for a lively and passionate one-hour teleconference last week. The Hall's Board of Directors has revised the process which likely will mean a maximum of eight people will join the Hall in any given year (from the usual 12): Three drivers, two people from the "vehicles" category (owners, mechanics, etc.) and two from the "events" category (promoters, PA announcers, media, etc.) plus another person involved in the sport prior to 1945.
I support these changes. So should avid sprint car fans. Sprint car racing is hard and it should be hard to get into the Hall. As several voters mentioned, there are many people worthy of consideration, but it's that very kind of debate over who is nominated and elected and who isn't that is healthy for the process, the sport, and the Hall.
I'm a strong avocate of honoring those who didn't have a "hands-on" role with the cars but who otherwise made important contributions to sprint car racing's success and helped bring a wider public attention to this thrilling type of motorsports. Such as sponsor/manufacturer representatives, promoters, officials, PA announcers, PR people and media. I spoke up for that during the call and will continue to encourage due consideration for those who helped make it happen.
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame is located in Knoxville, Iowa. To learn more, go to the website: www.sprintcarhof.com
[ more next Monday, special thoughts on the seventh anniversary of this blog . . . ]
I attended the dinner in Philadelphia where the "Triple Crown" (Indy, Pocono, Ontario) was announced. I was there for the first Schaefer (beer) 500 in 1971, when Mark Donohue dominated but was passed by Joe Leonard in tricky Turn 2 in the closing laps, then learned Leonard's line and repassed him for the inaugural victory. I was there for the first USAC stock car race and the debut of NASCAR. I was there for Formula 5000 and IMSA road races and even the ill-fated World Series of Auto Racing, where midgets and sprints ran the infield three-quarter mile oval in the snow! I reported on most of those happenings for the Philadelphia Daily News. Frequent rainy days and a leaky infield media center led us to call it "Poco-No-Go."
I covered a lot of weird Pocono stories in those 1970s days. Deer ran onto the track, forcing yellows. A National Anthem singer, apparently under the influence of adult beverages, got booed. Pancho Carter let loose with a long list of complaints about the track that got him in hot water with his sponsor when I and others quoted him at length. A.J. Foyt invited me and one other writer into his garage one afternoon and offered his opinion on subjects ranging from Ted Kennedy to international wars to yes, the media. There were many traffic nightmares so Dr. Joseph Mattioli asked me to join him on a race-morning helicopter flight to survey the scene -- we wound-up making an emergency landing in a nearby open field. Roger Penske's helicopter wasn't allowed to land in the infield one year because -- no, I'm not making this up -- management claimed it was guarding against people sneaking in on helicopters without buying a ticket. (!)
I was there when USAC ran without CART in 1979. I was CART's communications director when that happened again in 1981 and lawsuits were filed. I was there when those issues were settled -- but hard feelings remained -- and CART leased the track for a 1983 race, the Domino's Pizza 500, which we promoted and staged on about 90 days notice. (Try that some time!) And I was there for CART's last race in 1989. The cars of Indy for which Pocono originally was built would not return.
Until this weekend. Last year Randy Bernard negotiated with new track leader Brandon Igdalsky to bring IndyCar back to Pocono. It's an important Business of Racing moment for both organizations. Bernard is gone, of course, but it's essential for IndyCar's future in the northeast (where we used to have races not just at Pocono, but also Langhorne, Trenton and Nazareth) to have an entertaining show. The kind that generates positive word-of-mouth buzz. It can't be another New Hampshire one-and-done deal. The series is too fragile as it is to take that sort of blow.
Doc Joe vowed open-wheel machines would never return to Pocono under his watch, but Igdalsky has made bold moves since Mattioli's death, including the much-needed call to shorten the Sprint Cup races to 400 miles. Now he's welcomed IndyCar back and is trying to sell tickets to three major events in a short period of time -- never an easy task.
I'm not buying the storyline that the "Triple Crown" has returned (with Auto Club Speedway's 500) because, due to TV time limitations, Pocono will only be 400 miles. But, I guess you could say for sentimental reasons, I'll be watching Pocono more closely than any race this season aside from the Indy 500 itself.
I wish I could have gone back to Pennsylvania to see it first-hand and remember again some of those strange stories I wrote about and was a part of. But that's not doable. If the racing is good, if the track's numerous facility and safety improvements work, if the crowd is at least respectable, I'll be glad. Good luck to all.
I joined other members of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame nominating and voting committee for a lively and passionate one-hour teleconference last week. The Hall's Board of Directors has revised the process which likely will mean a maximum of eight people will join the Hall in any given year (from the usual 12): Three drivers, two people from the "vehicles" category (owners, mechanics, etc.) and two from the "events" category (promoters, PA announcers, media, etc.) plus another person involved in the sport prior to 1945.
I support these changes. So should avid sprint car fans. Sprint car racing is hard and it should be hard to get into the Hall. As several voters mentioned, there are many people worthy of consideration, but it's that very kind of debate over who is nominated and elected and who isn't that is healthy for the process, the sport, and the Hall.
I'm a strong avocate of honoring those who didn't have a "hands-on" role with the cars but who otherwise made important contributions to sprint car racing's success and helped bring a wider public attention to this thrilling type of motorsports. Such as sponsor/manufacturer representatives, promoters, officials, PA announcers, PR people and media. I spoke up for that during the call and will continue to encourage due consideration for those who helped make it happen.
The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame is located in Knoxville, Iowa. To learn more, go to the website: www.sprintcarhof.com
[ more next Monday, special thoughts on the seventh anniversary of this blog . . . ]
Sunday, June 23, 2013
NHRA WON THE WEEK
The political pundits love to proclaim the "winner" and "loser" of each week. Good or bad, right or wrong, that's the nature of today's non-stop media cycle.
In motorsports, NHRA was the clear winner last week. The Mello Yello series made its New England debut in Epping, N.H., to by all accounts huge and enthusiastic crowds. There was a media luncheon in Boston and Courtney Force was among the drivers who visited ESPN HQ in Bristol, CT. The inaugural national featured a Force Final -- John vs. Courtney for the first time -- with CF winning for the second time this season.
The Boston Globe ran a long, good piece on NHRA that included a line I really liked: "The sport has its quirks. But the atmosphere is infectious."
Also, NHRA made it official that it will return to the Phoenix-area as the Arizona Nationals will continue at Wild Horse Motorsports Park, formerly Firebird International Raceway. I broke the details in a Friday Arizona Republic exclusive. I also had an expanded version on CompetitionPlus.com. If you didn't grab these off my Twitter feed, here are the links to those two stories:
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/articles/20130621firebird-raceway-keeps-nhra-event-changes-management-name.html
http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/25442-firebird-raceway-becomes-wild-horse-motorsports-park-will-return-for-21014-arizona-nats
After meeting with Paul Clayton and Dick Hahne, the two main men on the Wild Horse project, I'm bullish on the future of that facility. I'll tell you more about them in my July CP.com column, coming in a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile: There was a driver fatality at Le Mans, Audi won again as predicted and almost 25 percent of the event was run under full-course yellow. IndyCar had heat races with no TV and Mark Miles accepted the failed business reality of Indy Lights and moved to dump off that series elsewhere. NASCAR (see below on the Nationwide race) had an OK road race with an unexpected winner in Martin Truex Jr. at Sonoma.
The dominance of NASCAR and the current realities of mainstream media coverage in America means NHRA doesn't offen win the week. But it did last week, even with the unfortunate parking of Erica Enders-Stevens' winning Pro Stock team due to lack of sponsorship. Smiles are deserved by Tom Compton & Co.
Road America is one of my five favorite tracks and the original Can-Am and high-horsepower CART cars were awesome there. But the ending of Saturday's Nationwide series race was just plain annoying. It reminded me of an NBA game where it takes a half-hour to play the final two minutes. NASCAR should not use its Green-White-Checker rule at Elkhart Lake -- the four-mile laps just drag-out the finish way, WAY too long. Oh, the other thing I took away from the race was winner A.J. Allmendinger didn't know how to correctly pronounce the last name of the vice chairman of Penske Racing. (!) Somehow, that didn't surprise me.
Sign of the PR Times: I received a post-Le Mans news release that had plenty -- too many -- quotes from drivers and team executives, but -- BUT -- never gave the actual FINISHING POSITIONS of its cars. (!)
[ more next Monday . . . ]
In motorsports, NHRA was the clear winner last week. The Mello Yello series made its New England debut in Epping, N.H., to by all accounts huge and enthusiastic crowds. There was a media luncheon in Boston and Courtney Force was among the drivers who visited ESPN HQ in Bristol, CT. The inaugural national featured a Force Final -- John vs. Courtney for the first time -- with CF winning for the second time this season.
The Boston Globe ran a long, good piece on NHRA that included a line I really liked: "The sport has its quirks. But the atmosphere is infectious."
Also, NHRA made it official that it will return to the Phoenix-area as the Arizona Nationals will continue at Wild Horse Motorsports Park, formerly Firebird International Raceway. I broke the details in a Friday Arizona Republic exclusive. I also had an expanded version on CompetitionPlus.com. If you didn't grab these off my Twitter feed, here are the links to those two stories:
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/articles/20130621firebird-raceway-keeps-nhra-event-changes-management-name.html
http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/25442-firebird-raceway-becomes-wild-horse-motorsports-park-will-return-for-21014-arizona-nats
After meeting with Paul Clayton and Dick Hahne, the two main men on the Wild Horse project, I'm bullish on the future of that facility. I'll tell you more about them in my July CP.com column, coming in a couple of weeks.
Meanwhile: There was a driver fatality at Le Mans, Audi won again as predicted and almost 25 percent of the event was run under full-course yellow. IndyCar had heat races with no TV and Mark Miles accepted the failed business reality of Indy Lights and moved to dump off that series elsewhere. NASCAR (see below on the Nationwide race) had an OK road race with an unexpected winner in Martin Truex Jr. at Sonoma.
The dominance of NASCAR and the current realities of mainstream media coverage in America means NHRA doesn't offen win the week. But it did last week, even with the unfortunate parking of Erica Enders-Stevens' winning Pro Stock team due to lack of sponsorship. Smiles are deserved by Tom Compton & Co.
Road America is one of my five favorite tracks and the original Can-Am and high-horsepower CART cars were awesome there. But the ending of Saturday's Nationwide series race was just plain annoying. It reminded me of an NBA game where it takes a half-hour to play the final two minutes. NASCAR should not use its Green-White-Checker rule at Elkhart Lake -- the four-mile laps just drag-out the finish way, WAY too long. Oh, the other thing I took away from the race was winner A.J. Allmendinger didn't know how to correctly pronounce the last name of the vice chairman of Penske Racing. (!) Somehow, that didn't surprise me.
Sign of the PR Times: I received a post-Le Mans news release that had plenty -- too many -- quotes from drivers and team executives, but -- BUT -- never gave the actual FINISHING POSITIONS of its cars. (!)
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, June 16, 2013
THINKING ABOUT . . .
Thinking about this and that . . . and USAC champion Jason Leffler.
Here's an early nominee for Auto Racing Story of the Year: What's going on at Penske Racing .
To be the most polite and generous as possible, there seems to be a serious lack of attention to detail and quality control.
First, the Fords of Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were found by NASCAR to have illegal rear-end housing modifications at Texas. That produced big fines and penalties, although crew chief suspensions were reduced on appeal. Then Brad K got docked again because his car was out-of-spec after Dover.
Helio Castroneves' IndyCar Texas win was clouded by a fine and points loss due to an underwing violation. And the Keselowski-owned Camping World Truck series entry driven by Ryan Blaney got nailed because it didn't meet minimum height at Texas.
What the . . . ???
My institutional memory goes back to when the team operated out of Newtown Square, Pa., and then Reading. I remember dry ice in fuel tanks and acid-dipping bodywork in the Trans-Am in the days before live TV and more-intense media and social media scrutiny.
But for a team and owner which/who prides itself/himself on image, this turn of events is incredible.
The team's invisible "media relations" people just might find out what some of us have known for years: Good relationships with journalists is always important. It's especially important when trouble hits and you -- and your sponsors -- could use the benefit of the doubt.
Throw in Keselowski's blunt comments, one of which before Daytona resulted in him being called into a private meeting with NASCAR's hierarchy, and the 2013 season is rapidly becoming a case study of how not to act as champions.
NHRA's return to New England comes this weekend at Epping, N.H., and, candidly, the sanction could use a jump-start. To me, at least, it's been a somewhat lackluster Mello Yello season on and off the track. (Still waiting for all that Big Activation Coca-Cola's responsible executive promised on a media conference call last year.) Things got off to an exciting start with Courtney Force's win at Pomona, but since then, I've noted Jeg Coughlin Jr.'s and Bob Vandergriff Jr.'s welcome return to the winner's circle, but not much else, other than Robert Hight's flying bodywork at Charlotte. A Funny Car win by Rhode Island's Bob Tasca III no doubt would be memorable for the NE fans.
Remember that Beaux Barfield was a Randy Bernard hire and now IndyCar is run by Mark Miles with Derrick Walker in charge of all-things competition. Making the Gasoline Alley rounds at IMS a few weeks ago, I got an earful about Barfield from one influential credential holder. Yes, it was just one person, but someone who is accomplished and knows the political lay of the IndyCar land. Stay tuned.
Many Business of Racing eyes are on Pocono International Raceway CEO Brandon Igdalsky these days. He's trying to sell tickets to two NASCAR Cup races and the return of IndyCar, all three events coming in an eight-week period. That's going to take a lot of promoting and a lot of selling.
Here's two suggestions for the NASCAR Hall of Fame voters the next time they gather: 1) Some of you need to learn appropriate business attire is called for on such an occasion; 2) Recognize the reality -- and importance -- of the Business of Racing and elect the late T. Wayne Robertson. NASCAR's Cup series got to the level it did, in good measure, because of T. Wayne's leadership of the RJR sports marketing team.
United SportsCar Racing, which is what the merged Grand-Am and ALMS will be called next year, continues to stress that a key part of its operation will be maxing synergy opportunities with NASCAR. Since sports car racing gets even less national media attention than drag racing, here's what looks to me to be a quick and easy way to ease the way for more coverage: Make NASCAR's media hard card credential valid in USCR, or automatically issue a USCR media hard card to everyone who has one from NASCAR.
Mark Miles admitted in the Indianapolis Star that there are not as many good options for new IndyCar venues as he would have hoped. From a common sense and business standpoint, to me, that means he best find a way to cut a creative financial deal with Phoenix International Raceway. When I talked with Miles before the Indy 500, he admitted an oval before Indy "could be interesting." Yes, of course, but of even greater importance is getting back into a big and demo-diverse market. Especially with what he admits are limited options elsewhere. Whether or not this gets done will be a key test of Miles' biz philosophy and leadership.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Here's an early nominee for Auto Racing Story of the Year: What's going on at Penske Racing .
To be the most polite and generous as possible, there seems to be a serious lack of attention to detail and quality control.
First, the Fords of Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano were found by NASCAR to have illegal rear-end housing modifications at Texas. That produced big fines and penalties, although crew chief suspensions were reduced on appeal. Then Brad K got docked again because his car was out-of-spec after Dover.
Helio Castroneves' IndyCar Texas win was clouded by a fine and points loss due to an underwing violation. And the Keselowski-owned Camping World Truck series entry driven by Ryan Blaney got nailed because it didn't meet minimum height at Texas.
What the . . . ???
My institutional memory goes back to when the team operated out of Newtown Square, Pa., and then Reading. I remember dry ice in fuel tanks and acid-dipping bodywork in the Trans-Am in the days before live TV and more-intense media and social media scrutiny.
But for a team and owner which/who prides itself/himself on image, this turn of events is incredible.
The team's invisible "media relations" people just might find out what some of us have known for years: Good relationships with journalists is always important. It's especially important when trouble hits and you -- and your sponsors -- could use the benefit of the doubt.
Throw in Keselowski's blunt comments, one of which before Daytona resulted in him being called into a private meeting with NASCAR's hierarchy, and the 2013 season is rapidly becoming a case study of how not to act as champions.
NHRA's return to New England comes this weekend at Epping, N.H., and, candidly, the sanction could use a jump-start. To me, at least, it's been a somewhat lackluster Mello Yello season on and off the track. (Still waiting for all that Big Activation Coca-Cola's responsible executive promised on a media conference call last year.) Things got off to an exciting start with Courtney Force's win at Pomona, but since then, I've noted Jeg Coughlin Jr.'s and Bob Vandergriff Jr.'s welcome return to the winner's circle, but not much else, other than Robert Hight's flying bodywork at Charlotte. A Funny Car win by Rhode Island's Bob Tasca III no doubt would be memorable for the NE fans.
Remember that Beaux Barfield was a Randy Bernard hire and now IndyCar is run by Mark Miles with Derrick Walker in charge of all-things competition. Making the Gasoline Alley rounds at IMS a few weeks ago, I got an earful about Barfield from one influential credential holder. Yes, it was just one person, but someone who is accomplished and knows the political lay of the IndyCar land. Stay tuned.
Many Business of Racing eyes are on Pocono International Raceway CEO Brandon Igdalsky these days. He's trying to sell tickets to two NASCAR Cup races and the return of IndyCar, all three events coming in an eight-week period. That's going to take a lot of promoting and a lot of selling.
Here's two suggestions for the NASCAR Hall of Fame voters the next time they gather: 1) Some of you need to learn appropriate business attire is called for on such an occasion; 2) Recognize the reality -- and importance -- of the Business of Racing and elect the late T. Wayne Robertson. NASCAR's Cup series got to the level it did, in good measure, because of T. Wayne's leadership of the RJR sports marketing team.
United SportsCar Racing, which is what the merged Grand-Am and ALMS will be called next year, continues to stress that a key part of its operation will be maxing synergy opportunities with NASCAR. Since sports car racing gets even less national media attention than drag racing, here's what looks to me to be a quick and easy way to ease the way for more coverage: Make NASCAR's media hard card credential valid in USCR, or automatically issue a USCR media hard card to everyone who has one from NASCAR.
Mark Miles admitted in the Indianapolis Star that there are not as many good options for new IndyCar venues as he would have hoped. From a common sense and business standpoint, to me, that means he best find a way to cut a creative financial deal with Phoenix International Raceway. When I talked with Miles before the Indy 500, he admitted an oval before Indy "could be interesting." Yes, of course, but of even greater importance is getting back into a big and demo-diverse market. Especially with what he admits are limited options elsewhere. Whether or not this gets done will be a key test of Miles' biz philosophy and leadership.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, June 09, 2013
ANOTHER PROBLEM FOR MARK MILES TO FIX
I had need to go deep into my vast racing files recently and, there it was, a thick folder marked "CART Public Relations Task Force."
One thing CART did well was organize the annual "Winter Meetings" where sponsors, promoters, team owners, drivers, marketers, PR people, TV talent and production folks and media would gather with the sanction's execs, officials and staff. Locations were in enjoyable cities like Tucson, Las Vegas and Palm Springs. There were general meetings, specialized workshops, good opportunities for networking and it always began with a classy cocktail party organized by Jim Chapman on behalf of series sponsor PPG.
At the January 1988 meeting, Frank Yodice, then head of Marlboro's racing program, stood up and said he'd been doing a lot of thinking about how much untapped potential the series had, especially in the media. He proposed the formation of a PR Task Force to learn more about this and try to find solutions. I was chosen as Frank's vice chairman and, later, when he moved on to other pursuits, became Task Force chairman.
Our group went out and talked to media decision makers -- sports editors and directors, program and station managers, etc. -- to find out why they did or didn't cover CART. This research was put into a written set of conclusions. And we didn't leave it at that. We also wrote a set of recommendations to address the problems. Collectively, our volunteer bunch put hundreds of hours into this work -- for the good of the series, sport and industry.
We formally reported on our findings at the following year's Winter Meetings. CART leadership at that time gave it lip-service support. (Which didn't surprise me.) When Bill Stokkan became CART's chairman, he took a far-more active interest in the TF, and met with us regularly. A lack of resources and political will ultimately meant a lot of what we put on the table went undone.
But, in re-reading these documents a quarter-century later, it struck me how many of our conclusions and recommendations remain valid to this day. And, candidly, part of that is because they were common sense things.
My recent lengthy conversation with new Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles and on-site experiences at the Indianapolis 500 got me to thinking about this all over again. Much of what was contained in our TF documents was nuts-and-bolts, blocking-and-tackling stuff. In other words, the BASICS. And I'm not sure how much more basic it gets than for team/sponsor "publicists" to spend plenty of time in the track media center. After all, that's where their "customers" or "potential customers" are!
In three days at Indy, I saw only one team PRer on the IMS tower fourth floor: Anne Fornoro, of A.J. Foyt Racing. I saw four or five others elsewhere on the grounds. (I'm not including manufacturer reps from Honda, Firestone or Chevy or series/IMS people here.) Think about that! Where were the others? What were they doing? What results and Return On Investment were they working to deliver for their sponsors?
It might have been easier to find Osama bin Laden than any of the so-called "PR" representatives from Penske Racing and other supposed "top" teams. Last year Merrill Shame told me Penske PR people don't often come to the media center because they have so many hospitality visits to do with their drivers. Whether that truly embarrassing excuse was his, or came as a result of the behind-the-scenes puppeteering visible to my experienced eye, one can only wonder. Pathetic. Funny thing but, when I was PR director for Newman/Haas Racing handling both Mario Andretti and Nigel Mansell -- with no assistants -- somehow there was time to visit the media center, provide that personal service, build those one-on-one relationships, and still get the drivers to hospitality for Kmart, Texaco, Ford, Dirt Devil, Energizer, Gillette and other sponsors. Any media people from that time would verify I wasn't hard to find.
I can tell you for sure that, if Mr. Chapman were still alive, he'd be face-to-face with team owners about this massive professional failure. What's obvious to me is there is a jaw-dropping lack of pride in this PR work. For too many, it's simply a by-rote exercise, the only purpose of which is to collect a paycheck.
For Mark Miles to achieve what he wants for the IndyCar series, he will have to directly address this serious problem with his team owners and sponsor managers. The IndyCar staff can't do it alone. As I said to former CART Chair Andrew Craig many years ago, the team and sponsor publicists are the front-line soldiers for the series with media on a daily basis.
So, it's not acceptable for them to be AWOL or MIA. Other leagues insist on acceptable and professional standards from their teams in all phases of business operations. IndyCar must do the same.
"The Old Gray Lady" is an often-used reference for the New York Times. I'm sorry to say it could now also be used for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
As a 35-year veteran of the Indy 500, it's been obvious to me for several Mays that budget cuts have taken a noticeable toll on the IMS grounds. After a year away, it especially struck me a few weeks ago how old, gray, and in some cases downright dingy the place looks. History and tradition are great, but those do not give ownership a pass to allow the historic facility to become a visually depressing place. Fenway Park and Wrigley Field have/are getting the upgrades they need and Yankee Stadium got to the point where it had to be replaced.
The Indiana legislature has approved a bill where the Speedway will receive a "loan" from the state for up to $5 million per year for 20 years to complete capital improvement projects. This is to be repaid through anticipated increases in income and sales tax collections at IMS and will be guaranteed by Hulman & Co. Also, IMS is to spend $2 million per year, $40 million total, over 20 years for improvements.
Those projects need to happen ASAP and not one penny can be wasted. I saw a lot of things that have to be a higher priority than lights, for example, and I hope all involved realize the facility's physical decline contributes to the downturn in ticket sales. The Speedway, quite candidly, at this age and state of disrepair, is not guest friendly. They could start with some paint to brighten things up.
Al Speyer worked his final Indy 500 as Bridgestone/Firestone racing boss before retiring. I was glad to spend a few minutes thanking him for his personal kindness as well as all he has done for IndyCar racing.
Racing history will record that, under Al's leadership, Firestone achieved a truly remarkable level of performance, consistency and safety. Its tires rarely made news due to problems and you can easily contrast that to what happens in NASCAR and Formula One, for example. This is why the drivers got so upset when Randy Bernard was negotiating for a new supplier. Speyer also ensured that Firestone continued a proper, professional media/PR effort and that definitely is in stark difference to NASCAR's tire company.
A good guy with a great career and a fabulous product goes out on a very high and respected note. And that is how it should be. He deserves it.
Finally: One of the best things I've ever seen at IMS was Boston Marathon runners allowed to cross the Yard of Bricks to "finish" their race. Great idea, Doug Boles . . . One of the worst things I've ever seen at IMS was the moronic Will Buxton-Marty Snider "red pants, yellow hat" act during the non-bump Bump Day TV show. Time was when cameras would have been focused on the track to see the drivers, who got in and who went home, not a pair of egoist microphone-holding clowns.
Change can be good, which is why NHRA should pay attention to what Mark Miles is doing. If you missed the link on Twitter, here's my new CompetitionPlus.com column:
http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/editorials/25318-michael-knight-change-can-be-good
[ more next Monday . . . ]
One thing CART did well was organize the annual "Winter Meetings" where sponsors, promoters, team owners, drivers, marketers, PR people, TV talent and production folks and media would gather with the sanction's execs, officials and staff. Locations were in enjoyable cities like Tucson, Las Vegas and Palm Springs. There were general meetings, specialized workshops, good opportunities for networking and it always began with a classy cocktail party organized by Jim Chapman on behalf of series sponsor PPG.
At the January 1988 meeting, Frank Yodice, then head of Marlboro's racing program, stood up and said he'd been doing a lot of thinking about how much untapped potential the series had, especially in the media. He proposed the formation of a PR Task Force to learn more about this and try to find solutions. I was chosen as Frank's vice chairman and, later, when he moved on to other pursuits, became Task Force chairman.
Our group went out and talked to media decision makers -- sports editors and directors, program and station managers, etc. -- to find out why they did or didn't cover CART. This research was put into a written set of conclusions. And we didn't leave it at that. We also wrote a set of recommendations to address the problems. Collectively, our volunteer bunch put hundreds of hours into this work -- for the good of the series, sport and industry.
We formally reported on our findings at the following year's Winter Meetings. CART leadership at that time gave it lip-service support. (Which didn't surprise me.) When Bill Stokkan became CART's chairman, he took a far-more active interest in the TF, and met with us regularly. A lack of resources and political will ultimately meant a lot of what we put on the table went undone.
But, in re-reading these documents a quarter-century later, it struck me how many of our conclusions and recommendations remain valid to this day. And, candidly, part of that is because they were common sense things.
My recent lengthy conversation with new Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles and on-site experiences at the Indianapolis 500 got me to thinking about this all over again. Much of what was contained in our TF documents was nuts-and-bolts, blocking-and-tackling stuff. In other words, the BASICS. And I'm not sure how much more basic it gets than for team/sponsor "publicists" to spend plenty of time in the track media center. After all, that's where their "customers" or "potential customers" are!
In three days at Indy, I saw only one team PRer on the IMS tower fourth floor: Anne Fornoro, of A.J. Foyt Racing. I saw four or five others elsewhere on the grounds. (I'm not including manufacturer reps from Honda, Firestone or Chevy or series/IMS people here.) Think about that! Where were the others? What were they doing? What results and Return On Investment were they working to deliver for their sponsors?
It might have been easier to find Osama bin Laden than any of the so-called "PR" representatives from Penske Racing and other supposed "top" teams. Last year Merrill Shame told me Penske PR people don't often come to the media center because they have so many hospitality visits to do with their drivers. Whether that truly embarrassing excuse was his, or came as a result of the behind-the-scenes puppeteering visible to my experienced eye, one can only wonder. Pathetic. Funny thing but, when I was PR director for Newman/Haas Racing handling both Mario Andretti and Nigel Mansell -- with no assistants -- somehow there was time to visit the media center, provide that personal service, build those one-on-one relationships, and still get the drivers to hospitality for Kmart, Texaco, Ford, Dirt Devil, Energizer, Gillette and other sponsors. Any media people from that time would verify I wasn't hard to find.
I can tell you for sure that, if Mr. Chapman were still alive, he'd be face-to-face with team owners about this massive professional failure. What's obvious to me is there is a jaw-dropping lack of pride in this PR work. For too many, it's simply a by-rote exercise, the only purpose of which is to collect a paycheck.
For Mark Miles to achieve what he wants for the IndyCar series, he will have to directly address this serious problem with his team owners and sponsor managers. The IndyCar staff can't do it alone. As I said to former CART Chair Andrew Craig many years ago, the team and sponsor publicists are the front-line soldiers for the series with media on a daily basis.
So, it's not acceptable for them to be AWOL or MIA. Other leagues insist on acceptable and professional standards from their teams in all phases of business operations. IndyCar must do the same.
"The Old Gray Lady" is an often-used reference for the New York Times. I'm sorry to say it could now also be used for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
As a 35-year veteran of the Indy 500, it's been obvious to me for several Mays that budget cuts have taken a noticeable toll on the IMS grounds. After a year away, it especially struck me a few weeks ago how old, gray, and in some cases downright dingy the place looks. History and tradition are great, but those do not give ownership a pass to allow the historic facility to become a visually depressing place. Fenway Park and Wrigley Field have/are getting the upgrades they need and Yankee Stadium got to the point where it had to be replaced.
The Indiana legislature has approved a bill where the Speedway will receive a "loan" from the state for up to $5 million per year for 20 years to complete capital improvement projects. This is to be repaid through anticipated increases in income and sales tax collections at IMS and will be guaranteed by Hulman & Co. Also, IMS is to spend $2 million per year, $40 million total, over 20 years for improvements.
Those projects need to happen ASAP and not one penny can be wasted. I saw a lot of things that have to be a higher priority than lights, for example, and I hope all involved realize the facility's physical decline contributes to the downturn in ticket sales. The Speedway, quite candidly, at this age and state of disrepair, is not guest friendly. They could start with some paint to brighten things up.
Al Speyer worked his final Indy 500 as Bridgestone/Firestone racing boss before retiring. I was glad to spend a few minutes thanking him for his personal kindness as well as all he has done for IndyCar racing.
Racing history will record that, under Al's leadership, Firestone achieved a truly remarkable level of performance, consistency and safety. Its tires rarely made news due to problems and you can easily contrast that to what happens in NASCAR and Formula One, for example. This is why the drivers got so upset when Randy Bernard was negotiating for a new supplier. Speyer also ensured that Firestone continued a proper, professional media/PR effort and that definitely is in stark difference to NASCAR's tire company.
A good guy with a great career and a fabulous product goes out on a very high and respected note. And that is how it should be. He deserves it.
Finally: One of the best things I've ever seen at IMS was Boston Marathon runners allowed to cross the Yard of Bricks to "finish" their race. Great idea, Doug Boles . . . One of the worst things I've ever seen at IMS was the moronic Will Buxton-Marty Snider "red pants, yellow hat" act during the non-bump Bump Day TV show. Time was when cameras would have been focused on the track to see the drivers, who got in and who went home, not a pair of egoist microphone-holding clowns.
Change can be good, which is why NHRA should pay attention to what Mark Miles is doing. If you missed the link on Twitter, here's my new CompetitionPlus.com column:
http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/editorials/25318-michael-knight-change-can-be-good
[ more next Monday . . . ]
Sunday, June 02, 2013
MARK MILES Q & A
Let me begin at the end.
The last question I asked new Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles as I was about to conclude an almost 45-minute one-on-one visit with him in his Indianapolis Motor Speedway office Friday afternoon before the Indy 500 was: Considering the many disappointments loyal fans have experienced during and after the IRL-CART split, why should they believe his leadership will be different? His answer was the most impressive thing I've heard from anyone, anywhere, in IndyCar in at least 15 years:
"Time will tell to see if it is. To that hard-core fan who has been disappointed for so long we almost have to start by saying, 'We're sorry. We owe you an apology.' Then, the very next thing will be to say, 'Let's get on with it. If you really love this sport, as our hard-core fans do, then it's time to quit looking back. It is what it is and there's not a thing we can do about that.'
"If I have an advantage at all in not being from racing, it's that I'm not going to spend a lot of time worrying about who was on which side in the past and who said what to whom. We're going to try to connect with fans. I hope I have the track record with events and sports of trying to look at the things that will matter most and be really focused on those things and being open to new talent and ideas to pursue them. We'll see if it works.
"Look, it's very tough to be successful in any business. Sports and entertainment are particularly competitive. The media landscape is like sand, it's shifting so quickly. I know how to build the kind of organization we need to build here to have a chance of being successful. We will do that. Then it's about what the right strategies are and the right partners to execute with. I think we have a really good chance."
I then told Miles I have suggested, for years, to various IndyCar execs that as a PR gesture they apologize for the damage done by the split. Fans were divided, industry jobs lost, sponsors forced elsewhere. Among those I suggested this to were Tony George and Randy Bernard. Now, finally, an IndyCar CEO has done what should have been done five years ago when reunification happened. America is a forgiving society willing to give people a second chance. That's what this series needs. That Miles knew to do this is a source of hope that things will get better.
Here's a link to my Friday Arizona Republic Q&A with Miles. Space limitations didn't allow me to use all I had. His talk of revenue sharing is the first time I've heard that idea in the context of major races. So, after reading this (including his thoughts of returning to Phoenix), please continue with Miles' comments on other subjects:
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/articles/20130529indycar-chief-mark-miles-talks-sports-future.html
On being viewed as IndyCar's latest "savior": "I don't think in those terms. My view is we've got to do 200 things really well and I don't see why we can't do what we have to to make ourselves a high performing organization able to execute on strategy. My focus is entirely on that and putting the optimum team together. I have zero desire to have a public profile in any particular life. I'll do what I have to if it's helpful to our business, the series and the sport.
"People apparently need to feel this sense that there's the one person that they can look to. If that's the case, they can look to me. I'm sure Derrick (Walker, new president of competition), the person on the commercial side, will be close-knit. There will be no sense that there's one superhero in the organization."
As a racing outsider -- and importantly, recruited by the non-family Hulman & Co. Board members -- his thoughts on the IndyCar show: "I absolutely love this product. The closer I get to it the more I believe there are ways to make people understand this is a sophisticated, extreme sport, that will be more attractive than it is. If you look at the history, it's makes me optimistic. We just haven't been able to get out of our own way as a sport for a long time."
On his political ability and authority to work around tradition to fit the needs of the modern sports marketing world: "I think about Wimbledon. It just exudes tradition. But if you actually know Wimbledon -- I had this privileged seat to see it develop over 20 years. The alchemy to them is the traditional outfacing brand with passionate insistence on being cutting-edge. So you have to see what they've done with their facilities over time. How they've adapted to the changing media landscape.
"Especially for the Speedway, more so than IndyCar where tradition is much less the brand, we've got to understand our tradition and history will be our brand, but we have to figure out what's inviolate about that and then feel perfectly free to innovate around that."
Mark Miles is a serious, driven, disciplined business executive. He's not looking for personal publicity as some of those before him have. To me, he appears to be the most powerful and capable non-Hulman-George family member to lead the company. I wish him good luck.
I have a few more important items in my Indy notebook and will get to those next week.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
The last question I asked new Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles as I was about to conclude an almost 45-minute one-on-one visit with him in his Indianapolis Motor Speedway office Friday afternoon before the Indy 500 was: Considering the many disappointments loyal fans have experienced during and after the IRL-CART split, why should they believe his leadership will be different? His answer was the most impressive thing I've heard from anyone, anywhere, in IndyCar in at least 15 years:
"Time will tell to see if it is. To that hard-core fan who has been disappointed for so long we almost have to start by saying, 'We're sorry. We owe you an apology.' Then, the very next thing will be to say, 'Let's get on with it. If you really love this sport, as our hard-core fans do, then it's time to quit looking back. It is what it is and there's not a thing we can do about that.'
"If I have an advantage at all in not being from racing, it's that I'm not going to spend a lot of time worrying about who was on which side in the past and who said what to whom. We're going to try to connect with fans. I hope I have the track record with events and sports of trying to look at the things that will matter most and be really focused on those things and being open to new talent and ideas to pursue them. We'll see if it works.
"Look, it's very tough to be successful in any business. Sports and entertainment are particularly competitive. The media landscape is like sand, it's shifting so quickly. I know how to build the kind of organization we need to build here to have a chance of being successful. We will do that. Then it's about what the right strategies are and the right partners to execute with. I think we have a really good chance."
I then told Miles I have suggested, for years, to various IndyCar execs that as a PR gesture they apologize for the damage done by the split. Fans were divided, industry jobs lost, sponsors forced elsewhere. Among those I suggested this to were Tony George and Randy Bernard. Now, finally, an IndyCar CEO has done what should have been done five years ago when reunification happened. America is a forgiving society willing to give people a second chance. That's what this series needs. That Miles knew to do this is a source of hope that things will get better.
Here's a link to my Friday Arizona Republic Q&A with Miles. Space limitations didn't allow me to use all I had. His talk of revenue sharing is the first time I've heard that idea in the context of major races. So, after reading this (including his thoughts of returning to Phoenix), please continue with Miles' comments on other subjects:
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/speed/articles/20130529indycar-chief-mark-miles-talks-sports-future.html
On being viewed as IndyCar's latest "savior": "I don't think in those terms. My view is we've got to do 200 things really well and I don't see why we can't do what we have to to make ourselves a high performing organization able to execute on strategy. My focus is entirely on that and putting the optimum team together. I have zero desire to have a public profile in any particular life. I'll do what I have to if it's helpful to our business, the series and the sport.
"People apparently need to feel this sense that there's the one person that they can look to. If that's the case, they can look to me. I'm sure Derrick (Walker, new president of competition), the person on the commercial side, will be close-knit. There will be no sense that there's one superhero in the organization."
As a racing outsider -- and importantly, recruited by the non-family Hulman & Co. Board members -- his thoughts on the IndyCar show: "I absolutely love this product. The closer I get to it the more I believe there are ways to make people understand this is a sophisticated, extreme sport, that will be more attractive than it is. If you look at the history, it's makes me optimistic. We just haven't been able to get out of our own way as a sport for a long time."
On his political ability and authority to work around tradition to fit the needs of the modern sports marketing world: "I think about Wimbledon. It just exudes tradition. But if you actually know Wimbledon -- I had this privileged seat to see it develop over 20 years. The alchemy to them is the traditional outfacing brand with passionate insistence on being cutting-edge. So you have to see what they've done with their facilities over time. How they've adapted to the changing media landscape.
"Especially for the Speedway, more so than IndyCar where tradition is much less the brand, we've got to understand our tradition and history will be our brand, but we have to figure out what's inviolate about that and then feel perfectly free to innovate around that."
Mark Miles is a serious, driven, disciplined business executive. He's not looking for personal publicity as some of those before him have. To me, he appears to be the most powerful and capable non-Hulman-George family member to lead the company. I wish him good luck.
I have a few more important items in my Indy notebook and will get to those next week.
[ more next Monday . . . ]
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