Help Me: What Can NASCAR Do To Attract More Minority Fans and Minority Racers?

Skoalbandit33 said:
Maybe it is just a matter of introducing minorities to Nascar because they have not been exposed to it and with the significant loss of fans Nascar has endured it is worth turning over a few stones to see who might be interested.
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so you think that minorities don't know what a race car is? they don't care about race cars. I work in the hoods of DC and Baltimore, they have no interest in nascar.
 
ted@economy said:
You may be right ReturnTrip , trying to attract new fans to a sport that is alienating it's old fans to the point of losing them seems a bit odd. Nascar needs to get on a more solid fan base , then hope for new fans to hear about the good things that are happening. Making up silly new gimmicks isn't working.
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Everyone here has been to numerous races and the fact is this is a redneck, blue collar sport for the most part.
The fanbase at a race is recompletely different than what you see at an NFL or college football game. So why they continue to try to continue to attract a different type of fan while ignoring their core fanbase is beyond me.

Don't take your core fanbase or customers for granted. Cater to them first and foremost, and then start trying to attract other fans but don't lose sight of the former. And that's what NASCAR has done.
 
carolinabuff said:
Everyone here has been to numerous races and the fact is this is a redneck, blue collar sport for the most part.
The fanbase at a race is recompletely different than what you see at an NFL or college football game. So why they continue to try to continue to attract a different type of fan while ignoring their core fanbase is beyond me.

Don't take your core fanbase or customers for granted. Cater to them first and foremost, and then start trying to attract other fans but don't lose sight of the former. And that's what NASCAR has done.
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I'll tell you about one of my first races. Darlington maybe , I'm heading to the washroom under the stands and there's a bunch of redneck boys up above . They start hollering at a girl up ahead of me " Show us your t*ts " , "Show us your t*ts " ... Man it was brutal , maybe twenty guys yellin. I was a little afraid of gettin caught in the middle of a war. All of a sudden the girl lifts her top , all the guys cheers , everybody laughs and goes back to drinkin. I'm just lucky I didn't pee in my pants .
 
BOWTIE GUY said:
so you think that minorities don't know what a race car is? they don't care about race cars. I work in the hoods of DC and Baltimore, they have no interest in nascar.
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There are plenty of minorities that are not gang bangers, not on the dole and not a menace to society.
 
carolinabuff said:
Everyone here has been to numerous races and the fact is this is a redneck, blue collar sport for the most part.
The fanbase at a race is recompletely different than what you see at an NFL or college football game. So why they continue to try to continue to attract a different type of fan while ignoring their core fanbase is beyond me.

Don't take your core fanbase or customers for granted. Cater to them first and foremost, and then start trying to attract other fans but don't lose sight of the former. And that's what NASCAR has done.
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Exactly, well said :booya:
 
I think this issue is quite simple. People like to watch who they are. TO get minorities and women to watch more NASCAR we need more women drivers, minorities as well. More crew folks, etc.

NASCAR has a rep of being "old school boys network". IMHO, should NASCAR want to grow, that needs to be broken more. Strides have been made, but there is room for more.

Edit:also more "hunky" drivers according to my wife.
 
DanicaFreak said:
more like kasey khane :(
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Ahh, the eternally sad one... who couldn't feel sorry for those puppy eyes?
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Long time ago when you pulled into your local gas station a guy came out, pumped your gas, cleaned your windshield and checked your oil. Might even check tire pressures. A good number of them had 'jalopy's' belonging to the owner/mechanic/friend parked outside that drew kids like moths to a flame. You might even get a chance to sit behind the wheel for a moment too. And you were hooked.
All that is gone today. You can't go to a junk yard, bust out the glass and go racing. Fuel, cell, seat. belts, racing wheels etc all add up. Few years ago I scratched out the cost to go racing in a hobby stock type class for my son and his buddy. When I hit 10k they decided maybe not.
So the numbers of those with the desire, and the needed funds, has diminished greatly. Local short tracks fight off attacks every year, noise, pollution and traffic. Developers put pressure on the track owners to sell and offer the city/town riches in the form of taxes from their proposed new housing development..
Sad to say it's only a matter of time before tracks slowly disappear.
 
Bobw said:
Long time ago when you pulled into your local gas station a guy came out, pumped your gas, cleaned your windshield and checked your oil. Might even check tire pressures. A good number of them had 'jalopy's' belonging to the owner/mechanic/friend parked outside that drew kids like moths to a flame. You might even get a chance to sit behind the wheel for a moment too. And you were hooked.
All that is gone today. You can't go to a junk yard, bust out the glass and go racing. Fuel, cell, seat. belts, racing wheels etc all add up. Few years ago I scratched out the cost to go racing in a hobby stock type class for my son and his buddy. When I hit 10k they decided maybe not.
So the numbers of those with the desire, and the needed funds, has diminished greatly. Local short tracks fight off attacks every year, noise, pollution and traffic. Developers put pressure on the track owners to sell and offer the city/town riches in the form of taxes from their proposed new housing development..
Sad to say it's only a matter of time before tracks slowly disappear.
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Bummer . Did you ever tell Kasey Khane all this ?
 
Ain't thinkin' tellin' Kahne is necessary. He's probably invested wisely enough to avoid the need to work at a fillin' station to fulfill his racin' desries with rescued junk yard parts.
 
You can forget an international fan base of large numbers, they like cars that turn right also. They also like their "taxi cabs" to look like real autos. That's one reason that touring cars and V8 supercars have a good worldwide following. The best way to get new fans is to get them to the track. The sights, sounds, and smells of a racing event is the thing that hooks people. Part of the problem, as mentioned before is cost. NASCAR tries to squeeze every last penny out of everything, making it difficult for a lot of people to go. Eighty five dollars was the cheapest ticket at Sonoma last year. By the time you are done, a group of 4 people, will spend close to five hundred dollars, not counting transportation and parking. The person that suggested opening the paddock area on a Friday, for free is on the right track. (No pun intended.) Just get them to the track, and the sport will do the rest.
 
DanicaFreak said:
I think this issue is quite simple. People like to watch who they are. TO get minorities and women to watch more NASCAR we need more women drivers, minorities as well. More crew folks, etc.

NASCAR has a rep of being "old school boys network". IMHO, should NASCAR want to grow, that needs to be broken more. Strides have been made, but there is room for more.

Edit:also more "hunky" drivers according to my wife.
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I like watching the best of the best perform regardless of sex, national origin or skin color but I am afraid you are right in that a lot of people prefer to watch people from their same group.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
I like watching the best of the best perform regardless of sex, national origin or skin color but I am afraid you are right in that a lot of people prefer to watch people from their same group.
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But you already aren't getting that. A lot of the drivers moving into Cup are average drivers with rich parents or good sponsors. For every Chase Elliott, there's going to be several Austin Dillons.

So, why shouldn't the sport try to get more women and more minorities up the ranks?
 
From a marketing standpoint, the sport should want more women in NASCAR and want them winning. And if they offer incentives to teams or anything to make it happen, it wouldn't bother me.

Kate Dallenbach's win at Hickory got a ton of press as well from my site (Short Track Scene) and later by ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Fox Sports did something on Taylor Robbins, the young lady who won at Bowman Gray a few weeks ago. Karsyn Elledge has been on NBC Nightly News.

A woman winning in Cup would be one of the biggest moments in sports history and would inspire a lot of young women. Danica's already inspired a lot of young women and there are a lot more women racing. And this is a good thing.

But NASCAR "fans" constantly ****mouth Danica and her fans, so they stand in the way of progress.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
From a marketing standpoint, the sport should want more women in NASCAR and want them winning. And if they offer incentives to teams or anything to make it happen, it wouldn't bother me.

Kate Dallenbach's win at Hickory got a ton of press as well from my site (Short Track Scene) and later by ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Fox Sports did something on Taylor Robbins, the young lady who won at Bowman Gray a few weeks ago. Karsyn Elledge has been on NBC Nightly News.

A woman winning in Cup would be one of the biggest moments in sports history and would inspire a lot of young women. Danica's already inspired a lot of young women and there are a lot more women racing. And this is a good thing.

But NASCAR "fans" constantly ****mouth Danica and her fans, so they stand in the way of progress.
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Given Johanna Long's success in mediocre equipment in Nationwide, you'd think that someone would've signed her. Johanna NOT being in a top-tier ride is a crime in itself.
 
It would be really interesting to see a women's league/division created and run during the middle of the week. Then they could also try to qualify into the men's races, kind of how some women golfers tried to compete on the men's tour. I would love to see how Danica does against other female drivers. Would she dominate? She does pretty well against the men.
 
Greg Biffle and MIS president Roger Curtis talked about attendance decline yesterday:

http://www.mlive.com/autoracing/index.ssf/2016/06/greg_biffle_mis_president_offe.html

TL;DR Curtis gets it and Biffle doesn't.

Biffle apparently hasn't looked at TV ratings in the last decade and thinks the fans are still there, just not buying tickets due to the recession and boring racing. Curtis essentially says the opposite. "Curtis said the sport, including promoters, failed to address the problems when attendance first nosedived, giving the fallout from the recession too much credit for the decline. Those fundamental problems were numerous."

I think what MIS has done to build an entire weekend of entertainment around the race is a great first step that many tracks should copy.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
From a marketing standpoint, the sport should want more women in NASCAR and want them winning. And if they offer incentives to teams or anything to make it happen, it wouldn't bother me.

Kate Dallenbach's win at Hickory got a ton of press as well from my site (Short Track Scene) and later by ESPN and Sports Illustrated. Fox Sports did something on Taylor Robbins, the young lady who won at Bowman Gray a few weeks ago. Karsyn Elledge has been on NBC Nightly News.

A woman winning in Cup would be one of the biggest moments in sports history and would inspire a lot of young women. Danica's already inspired a lot of young women and there are a lot more women racing. And this is a good thing.

But NASCAR "fans" constantly ****mouth Danica and her fans, so they stand in the way of progress.
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I quit reading when you said Austin Dillon was an average driver
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
But NASCAR "fans" constantly ****mouth Danica and her fans, so they stand in the way of progress.
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It's hard enough to get sponsors to part with their money without the negative crap that a woman driver generates . I feel sorry any driver today that doesn't have a Bill Elliott or a Richard Childress in their corner . It's darn near impossible . Even with a name like Truex it's tough . Far from supporting a sponsor's product like they used to , todays Nascar fans are just as likely to boycott it if they don't like the driver .
 
LouieLouie said:
It would be really interesting to see a women's league/division created and run during the middle of the week. Then they could also try to qualify into the men's races, kind of how some women golfers tried to compete on the men's tour. I would love to see how Danica does against other female drivers. Would she dominate? She does pretty well against the men.
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I know local tracks run Powder Puff derby's occasionally. Wives. girlfriends, daughter, get into a guys car and race. Normally it's a crash fest. But a young woman will face the same challenges as a young man trying to break into racing, probably more because of the Neanderthal mindset of most men. You know barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.
 
Bobw said:
I know local tracks run Powder Puff derby's occasionally. Wives. girlfriends, daughter, get into a guys car and race. Normally it's a crash fest. But a young woman will face the same challenges as a young man trying to break into racing, probably more because of the Neanderthal mindset of most men. You know barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen.
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It's ridiculous. One of the most egregious things I ever saw in my life was when one of the boys at Southern National tried to put Haley Moody head on into a wall in a Charger race a few years ago. Total crap.

As for Powder Puff races being crashfests, I've noticed girls can't stand to be beat by another girl. Last year in the Southeast Limited race at Myrtle Beach Speedweeks, Amber Lynn turned Kate Dallenbach for the lead in a last chance race. :confused: I ran down with my phone ready to record video (SPOILER ALERT: Kate wasn't happy).

That was just the start of the day. The Southeast Pro 100 lapper had 23 cautions. 23!!!! And they counted caution laps at several points. 23!!! I literally have nightmares about that race at least once every couple weeks. :XXROFL:
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
There are plenty of minorities that are not gang bangers, not on the dole and not a menace to society.
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I don't work with gang bangersl. I'm talking about the guys on the job site. right now I'm working on school in Baltimore. there are white guys, black guys, Spanish guys, guys from india and Russia.

Most of the white guys don't care about nascar. when the few of us white guys that do talk about nascar they don't care, just like we don't care when the black guys talk about king james and the nba, and the Spanish guys and the guys from india get into the soccer debate. the guys from Russia don't care about sports at all, they just want the American dollar.
 
One of the bigger ways NASCAR is gonna attract a younger audience to the track is through technology, as some have mentioned. After going to my first live race and dicking around with the $50 fanvision thingy for 4 hours I realized what a gold mine NASCAR was sitting on. Virtual and augmented reality. Think of it like the scanner 2.0. Example; you buy tickets to your favorite XXXXX cup race, take your seats and log in to the new XXXXX speedway app with your smartphone and plug in your headphones. Thanks to new telemetry units in the cars, whenever you hold your phone camera up to the field you can get an instant readout of the driver's speed, lap time, or whatever stat you want displayed above their car in real time. It's like watching the TV broadcast from your couch with the sights and smells of being there. Plus, you get all the functionalities of a scanner and fanvision streamed to your device via the track wifi without needing a whole new thing around your neck. Technology is advancing enough to make this a possibility within the next five years given the right partnerships and investments. If we can do this for a F*&King pokemon game we can do this for NASCAR.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Did you go to the Grand Prix of Baltimore? Over 100,000 people, very diverse crowd there.
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Maybe Dover (or somebody) should run one of their race dates through the streets of Baltimore. I hate F1 and Indycar on street courses, but Nascar on a street circuit could be really good.
 
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