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

The Nature Boy said:
I disagree

You can't call Pocono or Dover tracks for the New York market because of the (relative) uniqueness of the New York market. Many New Yorkers, especially young people, do not have cars and if they have cars, they're often garaged and a pain in the ass to actually use. If you want to get the New York market, you'd have to put it somewhere that New Yorkers can get to via public transit.
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JMO but if you live in a metro area of 18 million people I don't think it is a lot to ask 15K or so to make the trip. Either way it is a moot point as no dates are available, no one in their right might would build a new racing facility right now and the even if someone was crazy enough the real estate cost would be prohibitive.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
JMO but if you live in a metro area of 18 million people I don't think it is a lot to ask 15K or so to make the trip. Either way it is a moot point as no dates are available, no one in their right might would build a new racing facility right now and the even if someone was crazy enough the real estate cost would be prohibitive.
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I also admit that NY is unique. I know a lot of New Yorkers who rarely leave NY, do not have cars and probably would never want to or be able to make it to Pocono.
 
The Nature Boy said:
I also admit that NY is unique. I know a lot of New Yorkers who rarely leave NY, do not have cars and probably would never want to or be able to make it to Pocono.
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Going to Pocono for some New Yorkers would be like going on safari.....no bodegas and no deli's
 
The Nature Boy said:
I also admit that NY is unique. I know a lot of New Yorkers who rarely leave NY, do not have cars and probably would never want to or be able to make it to Pocono.
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I find that a bit depressing, but it's not just New Yorkers or big city residents. I've known plenty of small town occupants who aren't interested in leaving their general area, who regard a city the size of Columbia SC (population 300,000 or so when the university and legislature are in session) as an urban jungle.
 
sloggie said:
Then I would propose a couple of ideas that might be radical to some

1) Create a new series that just features women drivers.
2) Create a new racing series for disadvantaged city kids.
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I have mixed opinions on the first suggestion. It would definitely attract attention. To me, the downside is that it would imply women can't compete with men on the track. Unlike other sports, there are no physiological reasons why men and women can't operate a car with the same degree of skill. There also the question of whether women would want to compete in such a series, or whether they would consider it patronizing.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I have mixed opinions on the first suggestion. It would definitely attract attention. To me, the downside is that it would imply women can't compete with men on the track. Unlike other sports, there are no physiological reasons why men and women can't operate a car with the same degree of skill. There also the question of whether women would want to compete in such a series, or whether they would consider it patronizing.
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All true, but nothing else seems to be working...
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I have mixed opinions on the first suggestion. It would definitely attract attention. To me, the downside is that it would imply women can't compete with men on the track. Unlike other sports, there are no physiological reasons why men and women can't operate a car with the same degree of skill. There also the question of whether women would want to compete in such a series, or whether they would consider it patronizing.
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Haven't you heard what @hidesert cowboy said? Women can't compete with men. They have never won Late Model races and championships and have never won a big race like the Snowball Derby. It was posted on the internet so it's true.
 
Probably one of the best ways to lure a potential customer is by way of the good old free sample. I have lost track of all the different products and services that have been comped to me over the years but some of them have been good and made a customer out of me. Very few Nascar tracks are full so take 10,000 tickets or so and give them to people who have never seen a race. If desired certain demos can be targeted and a meet and greet/practical rules explanation can be had before the race is held. Something like this would be relatively inexpensive, could clear up a lot of preconceived notions and have the potential to make some new fans.

Nascar needs to do something other than screwing with the rules every other week and resting on a generous TV contract. If they want to see how things will be in another 10 years or so for them all they have to do is look at the shell of itself open wheel racing is today.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Haven't you heard what @hidesert cowboy said? Women can't compete with men. They have never won Late Model races and championships and have never won a big race like the Snowball Derby. It was posted on the internet so it's true.
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I don't think anyone would deny that when it comes to physical stature men and women are equal when it comes to Nascar. I doubt today's drivers would know what it means to muscle a car around.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
I don't think anyone would deny that when it comes to physical stature men and women are equal when it comes to Nascar. I doubt today's drivers would know what it means to muscle a car around.
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The car don't know what the gender of the person behind the wheel is. But don't tell that to people like cowboy.
 
Friends, we've drifted off the topic of what needs to be done to lure in new fans.
Save the gender discussion for The Podium, please --- since it tends to get bitter.

Some of you trashed the original post with your political talk, don't to the same to this one
with the gender divisiveness.
 
BOWTIE GUY said:
either you like racing or you don't. does the NFL,MLB or the NHL do anything to pander to the minorities. racing is not that main stream that minorities don't know what it is.
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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.
 
The only thing I can think of to target young minorities (especially mexicans), customization. More than any other group I see them hanging out in the high school parking lot by their cars talking about what they've done to them lately. Now, their taste in style may be a little offensive to the NASCAR old guard, but I'll be damned if that kind of stuff isn't the same as what the baby boomers did back in the 60s. Can NASCAR and it's drivers find a way to tap into that and relate to them without ruining the competitive playing field? maybe. Obviously we aren't going back to stock cars, but it would help if somehow during the grid walk drivers/crew chiefs could talk about the various mods, parts, and tech updates to the car week after week. Probably won't happen though, teams are just too invested in $5000 shocks and armies of 70K/year shock guys to open up like that. At least we get cool paint schemes once in a while.
 
I think NASCAR is verging on having less fans than the Busch series did in the early 2000s...maybe minorities shouldn't be your focus.
 
ReturnTrip said:
I think NASCAR is verging on having less fans than the Busch series did in the early 2000s...maybe minorities shouldn't be your focus.
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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.
 
Acs said:
The only thing I can think of to target young minorities (especially mexicans), customization. More than any other group I see them hanging out in the high school parking lot by their cars talking about what they've done to them lately. Now, their taste in style may be a little offensive to the NASCAR old guard, but I'll be damned if that kind of stuff isn't the same as what the baby boomers did back in the 60s. Can NASCAR and it's drivers find a way to tap into that and relate to them without ruining the competitive playing field? maybe. Obviously we aren't going back to stock cars, but it would help if somehow during the grid walk drivers/crew chiefs could talk about the various mods, parts, and tech updates to the car week after week. Probably won't happen though, teams are just too invested in $5000 shocks and armies of 70K/year shock guys to open up like that. At least we get cool paint schemes once in a while.
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With a mod like this drivers wouldn't have to worry about being on the splitter.

64Impala.jpg
 
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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I think the prospect of Nascar marketing/catering to specific minority groups throws many of us long time fans for a loop as Nascar had more fans than it knew what to do with and essentially kicked them out by compounding poor decision upon poor decision. With race attendance and TV viewership continuing to erode it does seem perplexing to try and attract new fans when you can't even retain the one's you have.

When I was in business some of my cronies were always trying to get new customers which is a great idea but not when you are not properly taking care of the one's you have. It was a lot less expensive for me to cultivate and retain a happy customer then it was to throw money around trying to obtain new customers.
 
In my experience, young people today have very little attachment to automobiles except as a source to get from point A to B. They do not appreciate how an automobile works nor how to maintain it. Cellphones have replaced the automobile as a "status symbol" and as a focus of their attention. I graduated high school in 1992 but damn, I feel old. :) NASCAR will exist in a decade or two but in my opinion, will be smaller and less important, ala INDYCAR. Sad, but true.

Pushing the STEM aspect might draw some fans who are inquisitive but it is too difficult to compete in the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram generation where instant gratification is key and where a 400-600 mile race (where incremental improvements over the course of a race might bear fruit) is "just a bunch of left turns" to the new generation.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
I think the prospect of Nascar marketing/catering to specific minority groups throws many of us long time fans for a loop as Nascar had more fans than it knew what to do with and essentially kicked them out by compounding poor decision upon poor decision. With race attendance and TV viewership continuing to erode it does seem perplexing to try and attract new fans when you can't even retain the one's you have.

When I was in business some of my cronies were always trying to get new customers which is a great idea but not when you are not properly taking care of the one's you have. It was a lot less expensive for me to cultivate and retain a happy customer then it was to throw money around trying to obtain new customers.
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Exactly . Sometimes you amaze me Skoal , other times...not so much :)
 
When you hear a high horsepower vehicle start up does it send a chill through your body, does the hair stand up on you neck, do you get covered in goosebumps? If you do you're a race fan. If not you will never get racing. What we need to do is find that person who has the potential to be a fan then we need to cultivate it. Start them up at the local short track and go from there. I took my daughters boyfriend to see the World Of Outlaws sprint cars. I had a smile the whole night, the smell of burning methanol and the dirt in my face. He couldn't have cared less. No interest whatsoever. He didn't "get it."
 
In my experience, young people today have very little attachment to automobiles except as a source to get from point A to B. They do not appreciate how an automobile works nor how to maintain it. Cellphones have replaced the automobile as a "status symbol" and as a focus of their attention. I graduated high school in 1992 but damn, I feel old. :) NASCAR will exist in a decade or two but in my opinion, will be smaller and less important, ala INDYCAR. Sad, but true.

Yeah, honestly this is by far the biggest problem facing NASCAR and the auto industry in general. Car culture is dead among millenials. Unless you've been living under a rock for the last 8 years, the millennial generation is flocking to live in dense inner cities over suburbs and rural areas and they are willing to pay a premium to live within walking distance of amenities. I know this may be hard to believe for some on here, but by living in a city, the fact that you don't have to hop in car and drive a minimum of 10 minutes to do anything is deeply appealing to this generation. Cars are now just a tool to provide mobility, that's it, and young people are increasingly voting with their feet to live where they have other tools, like walking, biking, public transit and a friendly Uber driver at the touch of a smartphone. The "American Dream" of a McMansion in a 4th ring suburb with a 3 car garage is dead to this generation, the housing bust and recession they grew up in made damn sure of that. Plus there's the whole fact that burning gas causes global warming, so that's not appealing to an increasingly educated generation.

I read an interview in Delta's skymag a year ago with Ford's CEO talking about marketing cars to the new generation. When asked if Ford needed to adapt to the trends above, his response was pretty much "F@&k if I know, all I know is that when my two sons graduate from the U of M they can't wait to move to New York and sell their car". That's what this sport is up against.
 
"I read an interview in Delta's skymag a year ago with Ford's CEO talking about marketing cars to the new generation. When asked if Ford needed to adapt to the trends above, his response was pretty much "F@&k if I know, all I know is that when my two sons graduate from the U of M they can't wait to move to New York and sell their car". That's what this sport is up against."


Wow. Just...WOW. This sport is destined to go the way of horse racing. I try to explain to my best friend's pre-teens how a four cycle-engine works and I may as well be speaking Chinese. The sad part is, it's their dad who turns the wrenches on my car!
 
be9ak7ts16 said:
When you hear a high horsepower vehicle start up does it send a chill through your body, does the hair stand up on you neck, do you get covered in goosebumps? If you do you're a race fan. If not you will never get racing. What we need to do is find that person who has the potential to be a fan then we need to cultivate it. Start them up at the local short track and go from there. I took my daughters boyfriend to see the World Of Outlaws sprint cars. I had a smile the whole night, the smell of burning methanol and the dirt in my face. He couldn't have cared less. No interest whatsoever. He didn't "get it."
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I would wear hi octane leaded fuel as a cologne if it were possible. In fact if I were introducing that smell to others I may say something like: You smell that? Do you smell that? High octane leaded fuel, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. I love the smell of high octane leaded fuel, in the morning.
 
Acs said:
In my experience, young people today have very little attachment to automobiles except as a source to get from point A to B. They do not appreciate how an automobile works nor how to maintain it. Cellphones have replaced the automobile as a "status symbol" and as a focus of their attention. I graduated high school in 1992 but damn, I feel old. :) NASCAR will exist in a decade or two but in my opinion, will be smaller and less important, ala INDYCAR. Sad, but true.

Yeah, honestly this is by far the biggest problem facing NASCAR and the auto industry in general. Car culture is dead among millenials. Unless you've been living under a rock for the last 8 years, the millennial generation is flocking to live in dense inner cities over suburbs and rural areas and they are willing to pay a premium to live within walking distance of amenities. I know this may be hard to believe for some on here, but by living in a city, the fact that you don't have to hop in car and drive a minimum of 10 minutes to do anything is deeply appealing to this generation. Cars are now just a tool to provide mobility, that's it, and young people are increasingly voting with their feet to live where they have other tools, like walking, biking, public transit and a friendly Uber driver at the touch of a smartphone. The "American Dream" of a McMansion in a 4th ring suburb with a 3 car garage is dead to this generation, the housing bust and recession they grew up in made damn sure of that. Plus there's the whole fact that burning gas causes global warming, so that's not appealing to an increasingly educated generation.

I read an interview in Delta's skymag a year ago with Ford's CEO talking about marketing cars to the new generation. When asked if Ford needed to adapt to the trends above, his response was pretty much "F@&k if I know, all I know is that when my two sons graduate from the U of M they can't wait to move to New York and sell their car". That's what this sport is up against.
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I have friends with kids in DC, NYC and Chicago and owning a car would be a major pain for them and they have no interest in living in a place where they would need a license or a car.
 
I tell folks to time their walk to the hot dog stand. You got to finish going down the stairs as the cars roll out of turn four and stroll past the flag stand as they take the green. Hold your camera up and grab a few selfies. Nothin like it in any other sport.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Game #5 is something to be excited for..... fingers crossed!

There is nothing like playoff hockey!

dumoulin12.15.14.gif


GO PENS!

oh, & Dale Jr.
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I am soooo happy for the Pens as GM Jim Rutherford was raked over the coals, the coach was fired and Phil Kessel was being mocked. That was then and hello Stanley cup in a couple more days!!!!

And to stay on course I am looking forward to hearing more ideas about attracting new fans to Nascar.
 
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