IndyCar Championship: Tight but no Tension

Three different drivers can win the 2009 IndyCar Series championship by winning and leading the most laps in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Needless to say that the battle between Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe is tight. Unfortunately, it seems that the resulting tension among auto racing consumers in the United States is less than palpable.

Talented as they are, the championship contenders have failed to establish a fan base. Why?

Let's return to IndyCar Maxim #4. I quote renowned marketing and strategy professor Clayton Christensen.

"...the job, not the customer, is the fundamental unit of analysis for the marketer who hopes to develop a product that consumers will buy." - Prof. Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School

Few consumers are buying the IndyCar racing product. I would suggest that the core problem is that the IRL has no clue about the "job" that prospective racing consumers want to get done.

Christensen continues:

"With few exceptions, every job people need or want to do has a social, functional, and emotional dimension."

This insight is extremely important. The IndyCar product is the brainchild of IRL Racing Operations Division President Brian Barnhart. The former racing mechanic possesses significant expertise with regard to the functional aspects of the product. One suspects that the social and emotional product dimensions might sound to Barnhart like so much gobbledygook.

If that is the case, then perhaps Barnhart should take a glance at the grandstands and the Nielsen numbers. This is why the IRL needs an IndyCar Series product manager. Sales and racing operations do not begin to cover the activities that are necessary if IndyCar is to ever succeed in the competitive marketplace.

Not just an Audience, a TV Audience

IndyCar's failure to attract an audience on television is attributable to multiple factors. Some are easily identified. For example, night races are consistently outperformed by daytime events. Viewership for at least three of the IRL's established oval events has declined as more road and street races - and therefore more international road racing drivers - have been added.

The IndyCar schedule is inconsistent, confused and arbitrary. Fans of NASCAR and Formula 1 know exactly what they can expect when they watch a race. IndyCar is hopelessly muddled - a predominantly road and street racing series that includes almost exclusively road racing drivers and that happens to include the world's most famous oval race. The schedule is a non-strategic amalgamation of events for which promoters will pay and teams will show up.

The cars and events are managed. The product is not.

NASCAR has mastered what sociologists call parasocial interaction: a relationship between two individuals in which only one is actively engaged. In the case of NASCAR, that individual is the fan. The object of the parasocial relationship is the driver. This is not the same as living vicariously through another. Parasocial interaction in NASCAR is about the fan perceiving that he or she and the driver share certain life experiences and values.

Interestingly, psychologists suggest that parasocial actors tend to be more solitary and detached than others. Watching racing on television is by definition a solitary activity. Yes, some watch in large gatherings, but most tend to view races either alone or in the company of immediate family. Therefore, those who tend to engage in parasocial relationships would seem to be outstanding candidates to watch racing - and they do watch NASCAR racing - week after week.

Conversely, fans who attend IndyCar street races are commonly believed to be seeking a vibrant and interactive social setting. They are therefore not interested in parasocial relations. Is it any wonder that few of them are willing to sit alone, watching an IndyCar race, when they are not actually attending the event?

NASCAR has a consistent culture that tends to attract natural television viewers. IndyCar has a variable and often contradictory culture that appeals to few who are likely to watch races on TV.

More Questions

Racing fans who like the kind of racing that produced Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe are not likely to watch a lot of racing on television. In addition, fans who might want to have parasocial relationships with IndyCar drivers are not likely able to do so because the fans and the drivers lack the types of shared life experiences upon which parasocial involvement is established.

The IRL is fond of showing its drivers participating in other sporting activities that they enjoy. Unfortunately, this typically entails some type of soccer, rugby or Australian Rules event. This is a waste of time because it says to the parasocial prospect, "You're right. These guys really are nothing like you. They're interested only in things that you don't care about."

Parasocial relations are essential in sports for which the players do not wear jerseys that identify their home city or school. Fans who lack a home team are event-goers. In that, there is no inherent harm.

Just don't expect them to look for your product on television. And don't be surprised when a tight championship battle fails to induce tension.

Roggespierre

IndyCar Translator: Can't Sell these Guys

The Republic shall now examine another gem from IRL Commercial Division President Terry Angstadt. Read Bruce Martin's complete story at Versus.com.

On Other Drivers Sharing in the Attention that Danica Gets

"We have our three points leaders going to Miami Tuesday because they have earned it. We have had stability in our name drivers and it is up to PR to shed the light on those that deserve it. Ryan Briscoe is a really fair guy and a phenomenal race car driver. He is really unbelievable." - Terry Angstadt

Translation: I Can't Sell these Guys

This speaks volumes. Angstadt effectively concedes that Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon have had ample opportunity to establish market demand for their talents, but have failed. Apparently, being "a really fair guy and a phenomenal race car driver" does not suffice when the goal is mass market acceptance.

If anyone should be taken aback by Angstadt's comments, then it is IRL Public Relations chief John Griffin. The Big Cheese just threw down the gauntlet, deflecting blame to Griffin for past, present and future failures to promote drivers whose talent is not in demand. Thanks, buddy.

We do not judge markets here; we observe and analyze them. If the market demands U.S. oval racers, as Tim Cindric and Michael Andretti have in essence admitted, then the IRL should do everything in its power to furnish U.S. oval racers. Why should NASCAR (sans-culottes!) be permitted to have a monopoly on drivers that U.S. racing fans want to see?

Roggespierre

Scott Dixon: IndyCar is a Spectator Sport

The Committee of Public Safety was informed today that Scott Dixon is less than pleased with the style of racing we witnessed Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway. We can only assume that the defending IndyCar champion became frustrated the moment he realized that he could not win the event by making fuel. Dixon went public with his complaints on Speed Report.

A supposed star of IndyCar racing, Scott Dixon has failed to achieve nominal acceptance in the consumer marketplace. His complaints about the most scintillating race of the season allow all citizens to better understand why.

When will IndyCar drivers and teams recognize that in order to succeed, the IRL must attract lots of U.S. racing fans? Dixon is to IndyCar racing what Ivan Lendl was to men's tennis - a skilled participant whose immediate retirement would, at worst, have no effect on the sport's ability to compete in the marketplace.

Functionaries in every business must do things that they don't enjoy. It's called earning a living, and Scott Dixon earns a good one. If he dislikes high speed, wheel-to-wheel racing, then there are many other options - sports car racing, for example - where spectator support and mass market acceptance are not necessary.

Dixon, like most IndyCar drivers, wants to make NFL money for playing soccer in the MLS. Sorry, guys, but that's not the way it works. You and your teams do not get to determine what is valued in the marketplace and what is not.

We sympathize with Scott Dixon. As difficult as it might be to believe, he is not the first to discover that there is a very limited market for his talents and wants. Try getting a job as a political philosopher, and you'll know what we mean.

Roggespierre

Franchitti & Dixon Part of IndyCar Problem

The Republic loves Pressdog. Good-natured satire is hard to find in the Age of Colbert, but the Dog does it right. We also appreciate his ability to blend fan-based insight and hilarious one-liners.

Reporting from Chicagoland this weekend, P-dog subtly identified the primary obstacles that prevent IndyCar racing from producing a racing product that is competitive in the marketplace. These, of course, are the series' own drivers and teams.

"Dario is not a fan of Chicagoland. Questioners
after qualifying asked Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon how Chicagoland ranked among their favorite tracks. Dario said it wasn't high on his list, although he did give it credit for entertaining fans. I think Dixon felt about the same."

The Republic would like to know why citizens should give a damn whether or not Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon enjoy racing at Chicagoland? They probably don't like Texas, either, but that race actually draws a legitimately competitive audience at the track and on television.

When the IRL first announced that it would race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Roggespierre asked a league official to explain the decision. The response was chilling.

"We're doing it because our teams want it."

This is gross negligence with regard to product management. The personal tastes of suppliers are irrelevant to strategic decisions further up the supply chain.

Serve the Firm, not the Suppliers

For example, Wal-Mart does not consider the wishes of Mattel, Samsung and Wrangler when it selects new store locations. Wal-Mart is hated by suppliers because its market share gives it power to dictate pricing, scheduling and payment terms. Suppliers can either live with the unfavorable terms or not sell their products at Wal-Mart.

IRL management can't match Wal-Mart, but it does possess more buying power than it seems to recognize. IRL cars and engines can't be used anywhere else. Other racing series are downsizing. Some teams might want to leave IndyCar, but they really have nowhere else to go. And it isn't as if IndyCar teams are furnishing a racing product that's easy to sell.

Franchitti and Dixon: Non-Performing Assets

Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon are two of the biggest stars in IndyCar. Unfortunately, in the greater sports entertainment marketplace, they are not stars at all. IndyCar is not a competitive product, and one reason is that Franchitti and Dixon are not competitive with Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, Venus and Serena Williams, and so on.

There is a very good option for road racers who don't make it to Formula 1. It is called sports car racing, and it's a good fit.

1. High tech cars


2. Road and street courses


3. Financing not contingent on spectator support or market demand for the product

Franchitti and Dixon are talented racing drivers who have been rejected in the marketplace. If they and other top IndyCar drivers and teams were attracting fans in droves, then the Committee of Public Safety would advise IRL management to keep them happy. But that is not the case.

Would the IndyCar racing product become less competitive if Franchitti and Dixon were replaced by Paul Tracy and Buddy Rice? Casey Mears and A.J. Allmendinger? A.J. Foyt IV and Al Unser III?

TV ratings were better and attendance was similar when Greg Ray and Scott Sharp were the stars. The product was therefore more competitive in the marketplace despite the presence of CART, an entrenched and well capitalized direct competitor that no longer exists.

Franchitti and Dixon are talented but not valuable. NASCAR (sans-culottes!) has demonstrated where U.S. customer demand for motorsports can be found. The locations include lots of tracks that Franchitti and Dixon probably don't like. Ironically, they also include two road courses, so long as domestic oval racers are doing the driving.

Is that fair? No, but that's the marketplace. Despite their wishes, IRL management and IndyCar drivers and teams aren't going to change it. Past attempts ended in financial ruin. IndyCar will grow after it adapts to market demand, whether Franchitti and Dixon like it or not.

Roggespierre

Dixon Dominates Mid-Ohio

Defending IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon drove away from the field in Sunday's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Dixon regained the series points lead by three points over second-place Ryan Briscoe, who took the checkers almost 30 seconds behind the winner.

Dixon's Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Dario Franchitti, finished third, the same position he currently occupies in the season standings, 20 points behind Dixon.

The Republic was pleased to see Ryan Hunter-Reay finish fourth in A.J. Foyt's ABC Supply Co. entry. It was Hunter-Reay's best result since finishing second for Vision Racing at the season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida. Andretti Green Racing's Hideki Mutoh logged a credible fifth-place finish.

The crowd appeared to be solid if not quite as big as in recent years at Mid-Ohio. The Versus coverage was not up to its usual standard. In an event that featured few on-track passes for position, Versus seemed to switch away from the all too rare developing battle to show a car entering the pits or the leader running by himself. The announcers touted the "overtake assist option" as if it would make a difference in this race. That it did not rendered the discussion, as well as the technology itself, little more than a gimmick, if only for this particular event. We shall see.

Interesting moments came courtesy of Mike Conway, who punted Danica Patrick into the sand trap; Justin Wilson, who gallantly attacked first Briscoe and then Dixon until a poor fuel stop ruined his race; and Milka Duno, whose (slowly) moving pick, enabling Dixon to get by Wilson, would have made Bill Laimbeer proud, had he been in attendance.

Roggespierre