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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Miller’s Mailbag, 3.14
It's time for SPEED.com's weekly IndyCar Q&A with Robin Miller's Mailbag.
IndyCar teams are prepared for next week's season opener in St. Petersburg after two days of Spring Training at Barber motorsports Park. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
Hello open-wheel types and thanks for all your questions. I intend to answer your questions every week during the season, so just email me at . Don’t feel left out if I didn’t directly respond. I appreciate your interest and passion.
~Robin Miller
Q: Is it just me, or have I yet to see ANY advertisements for this upcoming race or the upcoming season? Does IndyCar think people will accidentally stumble into the tracks, buy tickets and become new fans by chance? Where is the effort to get new fans? I know Randy Bernard has the Turbo movie coming out this summer, but see where that got him. Seems they could have saved that $1.2 million and put up a billboard somewhere at least.
Jerry, Madison, WI
RM: NBC Sports Network has run some promos and Honda used a 2-seater commercial with Mario during the Honda golf classic but that’s about all I’ve seen. NASCAR has a great 60-second promo on its drivers and that’s what I wish IndyCar would invest in and run it on other networks. When you’ve been gone for six months you need to let people know you’re starting the season again.
Q: Excited for the new racing season! Glad to see the Indy Lights champ get to graduate immediately, and the same Americans staying in the IndyCars (plus The Dinger coming back), but what's in store for Ryan Briscoe? Does he have any IndyCar plans for 2013, or is he relegated to prototypes this year? What other driver/team combos should we expect to see in St. Pete? Speaking of sports cars, I'm soooooooo glad I get to see the race on TV this year. Twelve hours smashed into a two-hour highlight package sucks immensely, so you can tell your bosses at SPEED that at least one racing fan is thankful they are carrying Sebring.
IndySteve in Springfield, Oregon
RM: It looks like sports cars unless Ryan gets something decent for Indianapolis. Foyt and Rahal (part-time) offered him rides but it didn’t work out so it’s a loss because Briscoe was good for IndyCar.
Q: Why all the negativity? What's so surprising about a corporation going to a consulting group? If anything it made IMS realize that there is a huge problem. Remember when you said after RB got canned that fans would be forgiving by St. Pete? I'm here to say that I'm still bitter, but will probably be slightly forgiving beginning in May, here's why: The Indy 500 is still Indiana's annual excuse to party whether they race frogs or Indy cars. And $85 for a decent grandstand ticket is in my budget - IMS has called me 3 times in the past two weeks to ask if I need help renewing tickets or have questions. I talked to the rep today and said that they need to keep the formula. Re-entry is not going away and they INCREASED the allowable cooler size for the stands. IndyCar suffers from a lack of identity with the casual fan; I stated that they MUST hand out the free spotter’s guides at ticket gates. I was disappointed when he mentioned that I could get that info from the $10 program. I've been bitching about spotter’s guides for years. Turbo will be released in July. However I worry that mainstream media will call them Formula 1 cars (They already have). The racing itself was still fun to watch last year. NBC Sports Network has top notch coverage that I'll find a pirate stream to watch. (Especially with Robin Miller as an analyst). Rather than watch the ABC races on TV I'll try to attend them in person. There's still a chance that positive stories will trump the annual negativity.
Brian Nault
RM: You hit on one of my many criticisms with the BCG and that was ticket prices. You haven’t sold Indy out since 1995 so don’t get stupid and jack up the prices of your best seats. Indy is still about the best bargain in sports but it sounds like tickets may not be going as well this year. I agree, a spotter’s guide should be handed out upon tearing your ticket.
Q: I haven't written to the mailbag since RB got canned. Frankly, my enthusiasm dropped down to casual interest. If it wasn't for my 9-year old son who doesn't understand the concept of politics and thinks IndyCar is the greatest thing since learning to walk, I'd be inclined to ignore it completely. This BCG report is rubbish. Any dyed-in-the-wool IndyCar fan can give better recommendations than this report! They can RB, probably the best promoter in sports and someone who understands that fans are the key to success, pay $1.2 million to a group that doesn't know a damn thing about racing, and I'm supposed to get excited? Why didn't they commission a marketing study to go talk to 1,000 random fans and ask them what they like, what they don't like, what should be improved and what should be eliminated? That would be more relevant than paying a bunch of fuddy-duddies to make suggestions on a sport they obviously know nothing about. Did they even survey the "markets" they identified to find out if there is a fan base there? Hell, it should be real simple to start: get mailing lists from SCCA and the various sports car clubs and open track events and count up where everyone lives. Get lists of attendees at sports car races such as American Le Mans/Grand Am and SCCA and so on. That's your core fan base. Put an open survey on SPEED and ask everyone who visits the IndyCar page to click on their closest major metropolitan city. Now you have your markets. You wanted $29.95? I just gave it to them for free.
Curt Larson
RM: Not sure how many fans, if any, were questioned but I know they only spent 45 minutes with Randy Bernard so that makes me wonder about their logic. I think the CEO could give you some good information and saying IndyCar needs to be in big cities like Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, etc. just shows they did little or no homework of past history.
Q: I was at the IMS Museum recently looking at some of my favorite cars that I saw run in the 500. I've around for over 50 years so I remember Salih's Belond AP No. 9, Vuky's Fuel Injection No. 14, Donohue's Sunoco No. 66, Mario's STP Brawner Hawk No. 2 etc. But with the spec cars of today, where are the next significant cars coming from that will someday be in the museum? I still go to the track every year. The racing is good but there are no special cars. Does anybody care about this other than the old guys like me?
John, Indianapolis
RM: I think Mark Miles feels like you do so maybe something good will happen down the road.
Q: So with new of Hugo Chavez's passing, does that have any effect on EJ Viso's sponsorship? Could there be an end of funding for Viso that may have a negative effect on his new ride at Andretti Autosport?
John Baadilla
RM: Nope, he says everything is fine.
Q: What would be the reason IndyCar could not buy blocks of TV time on whatever network they want (current contracts aside). Buy three hours on network TV. Sell the commercials themselves. Have a pre AND a post-race show. It worked for NASCAR, would the investment really be too much?
Dustin, Nashville.
RM: Not sure NASCAR ever did that (ESPN made them popular). As for IndyCar, they get paid by NBC Sports and ABC so they’re not about to pay somebody to be on network (especially when they’re spending $30 million on Leader’s Circle and trying to cut back). And you are also assuming that CBS, NBC or FOX would find good time slots on Sundays or Saturday nights.
Q: I am a huge fan of IndyCar and attend the Honda Indy Toronto each year. I was wondering what your take is on a couple of issues related to IndyCar in Canada. Firstly, MGM is currently proposing to build a huge entertainment complex at Exhibition Place. They say if it goes ahead the Honda Indy Toronto will continue, but will be moved to a different part of the grounds. Would IndyCar be okay with moving the race away from its current, picturesque location? If not would they consider moving it to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (formerly Mosport) or would they scrap the Toronto race altogether? Also, Indy has mentioned they would like to add at least one more Canadian race to the schedule. Now that NASCAR is no longer there and noise bylaws would not be an issue, what are the chances they would add a race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal?
Ben, Toronto, ON
RM: That would be up to the promoters (Savoree/Green) and sponsors but I imagine a move would be OK. I know Mosport has been greatly improved by Ron Fellows but people still seem to think Indy cars are too fast for it. I think Quebec City might be in line ahead of Montreal. But both would be great additions because Canadians love open wheel and their fellow drivers.
~Robin Miller
Q: Is it just me, or have I yet to see ANY advertisements for this upcoming race or the upcoming season? Does IndyCar think people will accidentally stumble into the tracks, buy tickets and become new fans by chance? Where is the effort to get new fans? I know Randy Bernard has the Turbo movie coming out this summer, but see where that got him. Seems they could have saved that $1.2 million and put up a billboard somewhere at least.
Jerry, Madison, WI
RM: NBC Sports Network has run some promos and Honda used a 2-seater commercial with Mario during the Honda golf classic but that’s about all I’ve seen. NASCAR has a great 60-second promo on its drivers and that’s what I wish IndyCar would invest in and run it on other networks. When you’ve been gone for six months you need to let people know you’re starting the season again.
Q: Excited for the new racing season! Glad to see the Indy Lights champ get to graduate immediately, and the same Americans staying in the IndyCars (plus The Dinger coming back), but what's in store for Ryan Briscoe? Does he have any IndyCar plans for 2013, or is he relegated to prototypes this year? What other driver/team combos should we expect to see in St. Pete? Speaking of sports cars, I'm soooooooo glad I get to see the race on TV this year. Twelve hours smashed into a two-hour highlight package sucks immensely, so you can tell your bosses at SPEED that at least one racing fan is thankful they are carrying Sebring.
IndySteve in Springfield, Oregon
RM: It looks like sports cars unless Ryan gets something decent for Indianapolis. Foyt and Rahal (part-time) offered him rides but it didn’t work out so it’s a loss because Briscoe was good for IndyCar.
Q: Why all the negativity? What's so surprising about a corporation going to a consulting group? If anything it made IMS realize that there is a huge problem. Remember when you said after RB got canned that fans would be forgiving by St. Pete? I'm here to say that I'm still bitter, but will probably be slightly forgiving beginning in May, here's why: The Indy 500 is still Indiana's annual excuse to party whether they race frogs or Indy cars. And $85 for a decent grandstand ticket is in my budget - IMS has called me 3 times in the past two weeks to ask if I need help renewing tickets or have questions. I talked to the rep today and said that they need to keep the formula. Re-entry is not going away and they INCREASED the allowable cooler size for the stands. IndyCar suffers from a lack of identity with the casual fan; I stated that they MUST hand out the free spotter’s guides at ticket gates. I was disappointed when he mentioned that I could get that info from the $10 program. I've been bitching about spotter’s guides for years. Turbo will be released in July. However I worry that mainstream media will call them Formula 1 cars (They already have). The racing itself was still fun to watch last year. NBC Sports Network has top notch coverage that I'll find a pirate stream to watch. (Especially with Robin Miller as an analyst). Rather than watch the ABC races on TV I'll try to attend them in person. There's still a chance that positive stories will trump the annual negativity.
Brian Nault
RM: You hit on one of my many criticisms with the BCG and that was ticket prices. You haven’t sold Indy out since 1995 so don’t get stupid and jack up the prices of your best seats. Indy is still about the best bargain in sports but it sounds like tickets may not be going as well this year. I agree, a spotter’s guide should be handed out upon tearing your ticket.
Q: I haven't written to the mailbag since RB got canned. Frankly, my enthusiasm dropped down to casual interest. If it wasn't for my 9-year old son who doesn't understand the concept of politics and thinks IndyCar is the greatest thing since learning to walk, I'd be inclined to ignore it completely. This BCG report is rubbish. Any dyed-in-the-wool IndyCar fan can give better recommendations than this report! They can RB, probably the best promoter in sports and someone who understands that fans are the key to success, pay $1.2 million to a group that doesn't know a damn thing about racing, and I'm supposed to get excited? Why didn't they commission a marketing study to go talk to 1,000 random fans and ask them what they like, what they don't like, what should be improved and what should be eliminated? That would be more relevant than paying a bunch of fuddy-duddies to make suggestions on a sport they obviously know nothing about. Did they even survey the "markets" they identified to find out if there is a fan base there? Hell, it should be real simple to start: get mailing lists from SCCA and the various sports car clubs and open track events and count up where everyone lives. Get lists of attendees at sports car races such as American Le Mans/Grand Am and SCCA and so on. That's your core fan base. Put an open survey on SPEED and ask everyone who visits the IndyCar page to click on their closest major metropolitan city. Now you have your markets. You wanted $29.95? I just gave it to them for free.
Curt Larson
RM: Not sure how many fans, if any, were questioned but I know they only spent 45 minutes with Randy Bernard so that makes me wonder about their logic. I think the CEO could give you some good information and saying IndyCar needs to be in big cities like Seattle, Boston, Atlanta, etc. just shows they did little or no homework of past history.
Q: I was at the IMS Museum recently looking at some of my favorite cars that I saw run in the 500. I've around for over 50 years so I remember Salih's Belond AP No. 9, Vuky's Fuel Injection No. 14, Donohue's Sunoco No. 66, Mario's STP Brawner Hawk No. 2 etc. But with the spec cars of today, where are the next significant cars coming from that will someday be in the museum? I still go to the track every year. The racing is good but there are no special cars. Does anybody care about this other than the old guys like me?
John, Indianapolis
RM: I think Mark Miles feels like you do so maybe something good will happen down the road.
Q: So with new of Hugo Chavez's passing, does that have any effect on EJ Viso's sponsorship? Could there be an end of funding for Viso that may have a negative effect on his new ride at Andretti Autosport?
John Baadilla
RM: Nope, he says everything is fine.
Q: What would be the reason IndyCar could not buy blocks of TV time on whatever network they want (current contracts aside). Buy three hours on network TV. Sell the commercials themselves. Have a pre AND a post-race show. It worked for NASCAR, would the investment really be too much?
Dustin, Nashville.
RM: Not sure NASCAR ever did that (ESPN made them popular). As for IndyCar, they get paid by NBC Sports and ABC so they’re not about to pay somebody to be on network (especially when they’re spending $30 million on Leader’s Circle and trying to cut back). And you are also assuming that CBS, NBC or FOX would find good time slots on Sundays or Saturday nights.
Q: I am a huge fan of IndyCar and attend the Honda Indy Toronto each year. I was wondering what your take is on a couple of issues related to IndyCar in Canada. Firstly, MGM is currently proposing to build a huge entertainment complex at Exhibition Place. They say if it goes ahead the Honda Indy Toronto will continue, but will be moved to a different part of the grounds. Would IndyCar be okay with moving the race away from its current, picturesque location? If not would they consider moving it to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (formerly Mosport) or would they scrap the Toronto race altogether? Also, Indy has mentioned they would like to add at least one more Canadian race to the schedule. Now that NASCAR is no longer there and noise bylaws would not be an issue, what are the chances they would add a race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal?
Ben, Toronto, ON
RM: That would be up to the promoters (Savoree/Green) and sponsors but I imagine a move would be OK. I know Mosport has been greatly improved by Ron Fellows but people still seem to think Indy cars are too fast for it. I think Quebec City might be in line ahead of Montreal. But both would be great additions because Canadians love open wheel and their fellow drivers.
2013 INDY 500 Practice
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