Tony Stewart the Promoter/ USACLive Pulls the Plug/ PRA Exposure/ Bait and Switch
Tony Stewart the Promoter
This week we are prying into the mind of Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart, courtesy of an interview conducted by the General Motors PR staff. Today, we look at how the two-time NASCAR Cup Champion deals with the challenges of being a promoter and owner.
These days, more and more Cup drivers are investing in dirt tracks. Ken Schrader (I-55 Speedway), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (Paducah International Raceway), Dave Blaney (Sharon Speedway) and Stewart are all using their leverage with companies at the Cup level to bring sponsorship to the grassroots level.
“A lot of people that come to our facilities are families that can't afford to go to a NASCAR race,” said Stewart. “Having Crown Royal have involvement with what we are doing, not only at the short track level, but with what they are doing on the national level with NASCAR, really ties it all together and it really makes sense. They have been able to do things for the participants as well.”
Tony Stewart is hoping to grab the attention of corporate America and show them the value of investing in marketing programs with short track for a fraction of the cost of a larger NASCAR program.
“Even if they (a short track) only run through 100,000 or 150,000 people through their grandstands a year, that is very important because it is the same amount of people they run through on one Cup weekend at a lot of tracks. At that small of a level, it is an affordable price for corporate America that can make a huge impact on the sport. The response back from our sponsors last year, Old Spice, Home Depot, Coca Cola, those companies didn't realize how big it really could be. I think it has opened up the eyes of corporate American about not only what they can do in NASCAR racing, but for a fraction of the cost, what they can really gain at the short track level, how much value there really is at the local level.”
Stewart says, wearing the promoter’s hat is not as easy as the thought it would be. On opening night at Eldora Speedway a year ago, there was a problem with the women’s restrooms in the pits.
“The first night I realized it was a lot more than just turning on the lights, open the gates, sell tickets, hot dogs and the race goes fine. I have been there this week working on catchfence design. We are getting ready to expand the restrooms on the grandstand side; it is a big project to double the size to handle the capacity. I am just excited about it. Now that I own a race track, I kind of understand why things are done a little differently. I have been to Eldora as a driver, a crew member, a spectator, as a team owner and now as the promoter. When I go there, whoever comes up and talks to me, I can at least try to look at their side and understand their side.”
The USAC Triple Crown Champion says owning a track is something he can continue doing years down the road when his driving career is over.
“I love it. I really do enjoy it. There is going to be a day that I am not going to be able to drive race cars any more and you sit there and wonder “well what are you going to do with the rest of your life.” I have something now that I can dedicate the rest of my life to helping what got me to this level. To help other drivers come through Eldora Speedway in their quest to get here also.”
Being a promoter, Stewart also gets opportunities to scout for new talent.
”Man I hope there not another one like Tony Stewart, I hope they are more like Kasey Kahne, he never gets mad at any thing. No, he did get mad at Kyle Busch once. (go figure) Trust me, that's one thing as a short track owner that I look at. Who are the next guys coming up? And they are out there. The hard thing is that Cup teams are hiring these kids at the age of 15 and 16, it is starting to catch up to all professional sports.”
Tomorrow, we will take a look at Tony Stewart’s plans for the Kings Royal and the Prelude to The Dream.
USACLive Pulls the Plug
After a little over two years of bringing viewers live webcasts of USAC events free of charge, USACLive is no more. In a statement on their website, http://www.usaclive.com/seeya.html, Online Racing Services, the parent corporation of usaclive.com, said that they are seeking partners or parties interested in assisting with continued operation or outright acquisition of the usaclive.com property. ORS also thanked the viewers of the website as well as USAC officials who helped the website deliver live information. USAC Live provided coverage of USAC events with stories, photos, Live Race Audiocasts and Live Timing & Scoring.
On a personal note, I enjoyed working for and with the staff at Online Racing Services and USACLive, providing the live coverage that I hoped you enjoyed as well. There are no better people out there to solve technical problems, file accurate and immediate reports as well as quality photographs than the folks at ORS and USACLive.
IRP Gets SAFER Today
Indianapolis Raceway Park was scheduled to begin installing new SAFER barriers on the 0.686-mile oval today. The barriers will be installed in the corners but not on the front or backstretch. The installation should take six days to complete. The safety devices were pioneered by the little racetrack down the street from IRP, Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This season, every pavement track that the USAC Silver Crown Series visits will utilize the SAFER barrier system.
PRA Exposure
The Premier Racing Association received big time exposure for their Big Car Series in this article http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/2006-04-08-premier-series_x.htm in USA Today. The article is basically a recap of what appeared in the Anderson, Indiana newspaper last week that we reported on. Hopefully the national exposure will aid the new series as they look for marketing partner and additional tracks for 2007.
Jason Leffler adds Sponsor
Jason Leffler, who drives for Braun Racing will share his new sponsorship with fellow Open Wheeler and teammate, AJ Foyt IV. Great Clips has been on the hood of the No. 38 Busch Series car for several years and will share time on Leffler’s No. 32.
Bait and Switch
It seems that current Memphis head basketball coach John Calipari pulled a bait and switch last night.
Image Courtesy of the University of Memphis
Andy Katz reported on ESPN.com that Cal and his staff visited NC State late last night, who is courting him to become their next head coach. If that is true and Katz is usually correct, Coach Cal and his staff would have to travel on a private jet to Raleigh. Flight Aware.com reports that there were two private flights to the Raleigh area Monday afternoon. The first http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N615HP flew from Raleigh to Nashville to Memphis and then back to Raleigh. The flight I believe (My gut tells me this) Cal and his assistant coaches were on was http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N27XP. That flight flew in from it’s home base of Moore County, arriving in Memphis to pick up it’s passengers at 3:19pm.
File Image, (Not actual plane Cal was on).
A Beechcraft Beechjet which looks like this aircraft, left Memphis for Chapel Hill's airport around 5:32pm arriving in North Carolina at 8pm, thus avoiding the media. Who would have thought the potential next Wolfpack coach would fly into the home of the Tar Heals? The plane then moved to Raleigh Durham Int'l for the flight home. The flight left Raleigh at 11:27pm for Olive Branch, Mississippi. The Olive Branch Airport is located in a suburb of Memphis. That is where the bait and switch happened. While a few members of the media gathered at Olive Branch, the plane turned and landed at Memphis International. Flight Aware reports the conclusion of the Raleigh to Olive Branch as “result unknown.” The website then shows the aircraft departing Memphis for its presumed home base of Moore County airport in North Carolina at 12:39am. Katz reports on ESPN.com that Memphis is working on a new contract with Cal and his staff that will pay both more to compete with the NC State offer.
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of R.E. Technologies and The University of Memphis.
This week we are prying into the mind of Eldora Speedway owner Tony Stewart, courtesy of an interview conducted by the General Motors PR staff. Today, we look at how the two-time NASCAR Cup Champion deals with the challenges of being a promoter and owner.
These days, more and more Cup drivers are investing in dirt tracks. Ken Schrader (I-55 Speedway), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (Paducah International Raceway), Dave Blaney (Sharon Speedway) and Stewart are all using their leverage with companies at the Cup level to bring sponsorship to the grassroots level.
“A lot of people that come to our facilities are families that can't afford to go to a NASCAR race,” said Stewart. “Having Crown Royal have involvement with what we are doing, not only at the short track level, but with what they are doing on the national level with NASCAR, really ties it all together and it really makes sense. They have been able to do things for the participants as well.”
Tony Stewart is hoping to grab the attention of corporate America and show them the value of investing in marketing programs with short track for a fraction of the cost of a larger NASCAR program.
“Even if they (a short track) only run through 100,000 or 150,000 people through their grandstands a year, that is very important because it is the same amount of people they run through on one Cup weekend at a lot of tracks. At that small of a level, it is an affordable price for corporate America that can make a huge impact on the sport. The response back from our sponsors last year, Old Spice, Home Depot, Coca Cola, those companies didn't realize how big it really could be. I think it has opened up the eyes of corporate American about not only what they can do in NASCAR racing, but for a fraction of the cost, what they can really gain at the short track level, how much value there really is at the local level.”
Stewart says, wearing the promoter’s hat is not as easy as the thought it would be. On opening night at Eldora Speedway a year ago, there was a problem with the women’s restrooms in the pits.
“The first night I realized it was a lot more than just turning on the lights, open the gates, sell tickets, hot dogs and the race goes fine. I have been there this week working on catchfence design. We are getting ready to expand the restrooms on the grandstand side; it is a big project to double the size to handle the capacity. I am just excited about it. Now that I own a race track, I kind of understand why things are done a little differently. I have been to Eldora as a driver, a crew member, a spectator, as a team owner and now as the promoter. When I go there, whoever comes up and talks to me, I can at least try to look at their side and understand their side.”
The USAC Triple Crown Champion says owning a track is something he can continue doing years down the road when his driving career is over.
“I love it. I really do enjoy it. There is going to be a day that I am not going to be able to drive race cars any more and you sit there and wonder “well what are you going to do with the rest of your life.” I have something now that I can dedicate the rest of my life to helping what got me to this level. To help other drivers come through Eldora Speedway in their quest to get here also.”
Being a promoter, Stewart also gets opportunities to scout for new talent.
”Man I hope there not another one like Tony Stewart, I hope they are more like Kasey Kahne, he never gets mad at any thing. No, he did get mad at Kyle Busch once. (go figure) Trust me, that's one thing as a short track owner that I look at. Who are the next guys coming up? And they are out there. The hard thing is that Cup teams are hiring these kids at the age of 15 and 16, it is starting to catch up to all professional sports.”
Tomorrow, we will take a look at Tony Stewart’s plans for the Kings Royal and the Prelude to The Dream.
USACLive Pulls the Plug
After a little over two years of bringing viewers live webcasts of USAC events free of charge, USACLive is no more. In a statement on their website, http://www.usaclive.com/seeya.html, Online Racing Services, the parent corporation of usaclive.com, said that they are seeking partners or parties interested in assisting with continued operation or outright acquisition of the usaclive.com property. ORS also thanked the viewers of the website as well as USAC officials who helped the website deliver live information. USAC Live provided coverage of USAC events with stories, photos, Live Race Audiocasts and Live Timing & Scoring.
On a personal note, I enjoyed working for and with the staff at Online Racing Services and USACLive, providing the live coverage that I hoped you enjoyed as well. There are no better people out there to solve technical problems, file accurate and immediate reports as well as quality photographs than the folks at ORS and USACLive.
IRP Gets SAFER Today
Indianapolis Raceway Park was scheduled to begin installing new SAFER barriers on the 0.686-mile oval today. The barriers will be installed in the corners but not on the front or backstretch. The installation should take six days to complete. The safety devices were pioneered by the little racetrack down the street from IRP, Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This season, every pavement track that the USAC Silver Crown Series visits will utilize the SAFER barrier system.
PRA Exposure
The Premier Racing Association received big time exposure for their Big Car Series in this article http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor/2006-04-08-premier-series_x.htm in USA Today. The article is basically a recap of what appeared in the Anderson, Indiana newspaper last week that we reported on. Hopefully the national exposure will aid the new series as they look for marketing partner and additional tracks for 2007.
Jason Leffler adds Sponsor
Jason Leffler, who drives for Braun Racing will share his new sponsorship with fellow Open Wheeler and teammate, AJ Foyt IV. Great Clips has been on the hood of the No. 38 Busch Series car for several years and will share time on Leffler’s No. 32.
Bait and Switch
It seems that current Memphis head basketball coach John Calipari pulled a bait and switch last night.
Image Courtesy of the University of Memphis
Andy Katz reported on ESPN.com that Cal and his staff visited NC State late last night, who is courting him to become their next head coach. If that is true and Katz is usually correct, Coach Cal and his staff would have to travel on a private jet to Raleigh. Flight Aware.com reports that there were two private flights to the Raleigh area Monday afternoon. The first http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N615HP flew from Raleigh to Nashville to Memphis and then back to Raleigh. The flight I believe (My gut tells me this) Cal and his assistant coaches were on was http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N27XP. That flight flew in from it’s home base of Moore County, arriving in Memphis to pick up it’s passengers at 3:19pm.
File Image, (Not actual plane Cal was on).
A Beechcraft Beechjet which looks like this aircraft, left Memphis for Chapel Hill's airport around 5:32pm arriving in North Carolina at 8pm, thus avoiding the media. Who would have thought the potential next Wolfpack coach would fly into the home of the Tar Heals? The plane then moved to Raleigh Durham Int'l for the flight home. The flight left Raleigh at 11:27pm for Olive Branch, Mississippi. The Olive Branch Airport is located in a suburb of Memphis. That is where the bait and switch happened. While a few members of the media gathered at Olive Branch, the plane turned and landed at Memphis International. Flight Aware reports the conclusion of the Raleigh to Olive Branch as “result unknown.” The website then shows the aircraft departing Memphis for its presumed home base of Moore County airport in North Carolina at 12:39am. Katz reports on ESPN.com that Memphis is working on a new contract with Cal and his staff that will pay both more to compete with the NC State offer.
Images appearing in this blog courtesy of R.E. Technologies and The University of Memphis.
posted by Blake Johnson at 1:57 PM
<< Home