Indiana University Pr student with questions for indycar fans

[daftmouse]

Hello

I am a student in a introduction to PR class where we are put into groups and have to formulate pr plans for a group or company of our choosing. Our group chose Indycar. For part of the reasearch of for our plan we have chosen to post on indycar forums and see what kind of things fans would be like to be done to improve indycar. It would be a great help to my group and if you took a few moments and answered these questions for us. Thank you in advance.

Do you have any frustartions with recent changes indycar has made? How do you feel about the new ceo?

What do think it would take for more fans to attend Oval races?

How do you feel about indycar in general today, what do think could be done to improve it?

Again this is purely just for a college pr class. Thank you again.

[Chris R]

What the heck:
1. My only frustrations are largely fueled by the past - I am very afraid that they are over-promising and will under-deliver. This has been a pattern in Indy style racing for some time now and while the current IndyCar series is doing a better job of things it is still a legitimate fear. I am still frustrated that the new car is not 100% what was "promised" - but in all honesty, at least they seem to be moving forward.

2. Randy Bernard seems to be doing fine - far better than Tony George. I would certainly NOT look to replace him anytime soon. The same cannot be said of others in leadership positions at IndyCar.

3. More people to attend oval races? A. A one day slate of events (a very packed day) perhaps preceded or followed by a meet and greet in the area if not at the track..... B. Better choice of markets. C. A more unique product. D. If not lower prices at least greater value, and not concerts etc. - car stuff.....

4. I HOPE Indycar is getting through the doldrums of the past 16 years. I think the product is a bit on the humdrum side - spec cars that do not really stir the heart. There are too many drivers who are too PC and, perhaps more importantly, not around for long enough to develop a fan base.... That being said, there are some awesome personalities that should be promoted more. The racing itself is often quite good. The TV exposure is not so great and I think they have not done the best job of mastering the "new media" of the 21st century (but then again, not many have.....). Somebody ought to gather all the old races and polish up the presentations and re-present them in a digital format - watching old races on youtube is awesome and really does alot to get me excited about thing today - because when you look at the "good old days" you can see that these days are not always as bad as they seem.....

[ShiftingGears]

1. Changes have been too slow to implement, and nothing has really improved. The major significant change - the car - is faced with difficulties for which I am not too hopeful about. It isn't something you can throw money at ala Las Vegas and stay hopeful for. Personally, I think Champ Car had a lot more potential than the IRL when it folded.

2. The CEO is better than Tony George, and could easily be a lot worse.

3. More manufacturer involvement, which would really require appropriate regulations to be drawn up rather than just shoving different engines in the back of the same chassis. NASCAR already satisfies that technical niche. Or to put it another way:

A potential drawcard for IndyCar is having innovation in design - as NASCAR does not really satisfy this void. A good engineer wanting to work in a top racing team in the United States, given the choice between tweaking suspension or manufacturing parts for NASCAR or IndyCar, will probably pick NASCAR, because NASCAR just offers much more money and long term job security.

IndyCar has to return to this formula, as it was pre-1996, sooner or later.

3. What would it take? Years of proper marketing and governance.

4. IndyCar is very weak at the moment, if I weren't a motorsport fan and Dan Wheldon did not die, I probably would not know about the IndyCar series.