2010 Indianapolis 500 - Wish You Were Here!

A.J. Allmendinger

Alex Barron

Colin Braun

Patrick Carpentier

Bryan Clauson

Conor Daly

John Edwards

Jeff Gordon

Robby Gordon

Daniel Herrington

J.R. Hildebrand

Tracy Hines

Sam Hornish, Jr.

Kasey Kahne

Buddy Lazier

Jaques Lazier

Casey Mears

Juan Pablo Montoya

Robbie Pecorari

Buddy Rice

Joey Saldana

Scott Speed

Tony Stewart

Jonathan Summerton

Brad Sweet

Kevin Swindell

Paul Tracy

Josh Wise

J.J. Yeley

Bernard must shift gears to grow IndyCar

Before I head to Indianapolis for my 33rd consecutive Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, I want to discuss the challenges that face new IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard.

Curt Cavin's in-depth discussion of Bernard in Friday's Indianapolis Star reignited my interest in this topic. As one might expect, the portrayal of Bernard is glowing. Bernard's past success with Professional Bull Riders has earned him the benefit of the doubt, not to mention a significant Honeymoon Period.

I do not take issue with that in any way. The man deserves credit for the good work that he has done. Furthermore, I am encouraged by his work ethic and his results.

PBR vs. IndyCar: a different brew

That said, with Professional Bull Riders, Bernard essentially created a business enterprise where there had not been one. Building something out of nothing is difficult, to be sure. However, working from a clean sheet of paper does provide some advantages.

1. Low cost basis
2. Little or no direct competition
3. Low expectations
   

Unfortunately, Bernard can look forward to enjoying exactly none of those advantages as he attempts to revive IndyCar, where...

• The cost basis is exponentially greater than the value of the end product.
• Direct competition abounds both nationally and internationally.
• Perceptions of past success and the existence of successful firms in the motorsports space make for unreasonably high expectations among buyers and suppliers.

To summarize, Mr. Bernard is sure to discover - if he hasn't already - that Professional Bull Riders and IndyCar are very different animals.

PBR - NASCAR with Horns?

The good news is that Professional Bull Riders succeeded because Bernard effectively sold it to a quasi-mass market. This conclusion is supported by the types of sponsors - Wrangler, Jack Daniel's - that signed on. Thus, PBR would seem to be positioned similarly to NASCAR. Apparently, those folks still have time to watch something on TV in addition to Cup and Grand National. PBR's 2.4 rating with its NBC time buy further supports this conclusion.

One wonders, then, why Bernard would embrace a very different approach to marketing IndyCar.

Yes, the product is different. Then again, Bernard would seem to have authority to change the product in order to attract a large audience. Instead, it seems that he is attempting to create an entirely new breed of U.S. racing fan.

That - the Clamor for Glamour - shall be the topic of an upcoming post.

My next post, however, shall be one of longing.

Wish You Were Here - the 2010 Indianapolis 500 Edition - is forthcoming!

Roggespierre

Now THIS is Creative Promotion!!!

Congratulations to Mark Dill, a personal acquaintance who happens to be the new marketing guru at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Mark has a track record of success.

Check out this video and you'll see why!

Great job, Mark!

Fans Reject Izod IndyCar at Kansas

I'm sorry. The headline is harsh but true.

What's more, today's horrid turnout at Kansas was entirely predictable.

The market is naturally segmented. Oval racing enthusiasts have rejected this product yet again. Is there any reason to believe that Chicagoland will be better?

IndyCar has been transformed into an international road racing product, one that has no business staging races at large oval facilities.

Good luck, Randy Bernard. Sadly, it seems that you're going to need a huge dose of it.

Bring on the (subsidized) Streets of Baltimore!

Roggespierre

Two IRL Advisory Board Reps Revealed

This might be old news to some, but at least half of it is good news in my opinion.

The Republic has learned that the IRL Chassis Advisory Board - we shall avoid calling it the Looney Board - has at least two members signed, sealed and delivered.

The first is Eddie Gossage, President of Bruton Smith's Texas Motor Speedway. This makes perfect sense, not just because I suggested that either Smith or his emissary should be offered the race promoter's seat on the board, but also because TMS pays by far the steepest sanction fee of any race track or temporary circuit in the IndyCar Series.

That Gossage accepted IRL President Randy Bernard's offer is seen as nothing but good news in these quarters. Gossage sells tickets and corporate sponsorships more ably than any race promoter in North America. The IRL event at Texas continues to draw more race fans than any other IndyCar event, including those that enjoy millions in public subsidies.

You can like his tactics or not, but you must admit that Gossage is good at his job. Let's hope that those who want to turn IndyCar into the kind of series that has failed repeatedly in the U.S. marketplace will be willing to listen to someone who forgets more about marketing every day than they'll ever know.


The second appointment is more curious. I am a fan of Gentleman Gil de Ferran. He was an outstanding technical racing driver and a magnanimous Indianapolis 500 Champion.

The oddity is not that de Ferran was selected for a leadership role. He is a business-minded, intelligent man whose cool temperament will be appreciated by other members of the Advisory Board.

No, the strange thing is that de Ferran, the newly named president and managing partner of Luczo Dragon Racing, was chosen to represent the car owners. Because he is a "partner" in his racing team, we can assume that de Ferran is in fact a car owner. But we're left to wonder why his contemporaries selected one of the IRL's least experienced owners to represent them.

To that end, I have a theory, as you might have imagined.

Several IRL car owners are aligned with the various would-be chassis suppliers. Gil likely has no such conflict of interest. Perhaps even more important, he was not perceived to have had a conflict. In cases such as these, appearances are often at least as important as facts.

As a fan, I appreciate that de Ferran does not carry the baggage that some of his more seasoned IndyCar team owners must carry around. Is that sufficient to make up for inexperience?

My guess is that, given de Ferran's understated, cosmopolitan demeanor, yes, it probably is.

Best of luck to both men. The future of a once-great sport depends on them.

Roggespierre