1992Si

How many of you have contacted one or all of the import magazines and told them you'd like to see more drag racing coverage.

You can do it from your computer. That's something we all can do for free.

DaveF

ill say it again !

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DaveF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> more contestants = more spectators. </TD></TR></TABLE>

people attend certain other events because its a great show. in our case, we have no show, therefore we have no spectators. we (the racers) are the show, we can only blame ourselves for not making the show happen.

Garcia-Racing

I'm refering to IDRC as a sanctioning body, not Dsport, I know they are owned by the same person.

AnthonyNYC

Advertise....

1. Send out flyers! Etown always does this and so does Atco. At least start with the addresses from the Racing tickets, bracket classes etc, send out flyers. Send out shop flyers that are larger and can be posted in a shop. Each event I have to remind friends/local racers of the event dates. A flyer in a shop gets SOOOO many people talking. Have a link on your website so shops/customers can register to get this sent to their homes.

2. Send out emails! It will not cost you anything. On the entry forms you can ask for an email address. Everyone has an email address, just another way to advertise.

3. As much as I hate to say this, allow more bracket classes. Summer slam is a HUGE event and always has a GREAT turnout but it's a lot of bracket classes. Bracket classes do bring a lot of people to the stands. It's fun to watch the big dawgs but bracket classes have the local guys running in them, they bring friends/supporters to the track. Every guy racing wants his friends/family and even enemies to see him racing, get more bracket guys to the track and you will have more in the stands. Just run them earlier or later so they don't oil down the track!!!

4. Allow 1 qualifying pass for sportsman classes on a Sunday. A lot of shops would like to race but can't close on a Sat. Shops have a lot of customers that follow the shop cars to the track. 1 shop car can easily bring in 10 spectators. Multiply that by 10 shops and thats 100 more people at the track. That one qualifying pass on Sunday will get a lot of people to the track.

5. You have a lot of local resources, use them. For example, NYCE1s.com, everyone in NYC knows Julian and Craig, use them as resource. Send them a few free tickets to hand out as a promotion. Let's say you give them 10 free tickets and 10 large flyers with dates of the events. They go to 5 large shops that will bring spectators and give 2 tickets to each shop etc and they post the flyer up. Use your local resources, you have a lot in each state. Tempest Racing bring a lot of people to the track, you can use them too for the Maryland/southern state events etc...

Notice most of the above will not cost much if anything at all.

Anthony

PS You guys are right about Rado. In Moroso he was walking his puppy, I took a pic, he came over and talked for a few and then went about his way, nice guy.

matz03

Long term wise spending money on advertising is a waste when you're promoting a "bad show"

You can't build a brand on something only die hard import race fans are interested in, it will not get new people to attend or come back to the races.

We need to improve racer attendance and competetiveness of the classes to promote an overall better show. Once we have that then you can look at new and better ways to market the series.

f@sth@tch89

iTrader: (3)

what could help...?

1. more promotion by the series sponsors in the cities leading up to the race via fliers, newspapers/magazine ads, radio ads, bus billboards, and/or store displays

2. radio spots for drivers to promote on different stations to different demographics. have a racer get on the air to promote to their demographics(race, age, etc). i do not listen to rock or country so i would miss a radio promo on those station, but if it was on a hip hop station then i may catch it.

3. more racers, more racers, more racers

4. promote at the test-n-tunes in cities where the race is coming.(discount ticket w/ flier)

4. have literature on what it takes to race in a nation series( class break downs, tech, etc)-local guy may not know where to start or how to prepare his/her car for NOPI/BOTI

John221

bikini contest, women, women, women... signings, autographs...etc. fast cars, vendors. lots and lots of advertising as in previous posts. Big time cars on the flyers and big time attractive models on the flyers.

just my 02 cents...but when i was spectating before I could drive...these were some of the few things that motivated me to come out and watch an event.

sportfwddc2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by John221 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">bikini contest, women, women, women... signings, autographs...etc. fast cars, vendors. lots and lots of advertising as in previous posts. Big time cars on the flyers and big time attractive models on the flyers.

just my 02 cents...but when i was spectating before I could drive...these were some of the few things that motivated me to come out and watch an event. </TD></TR></TABLE>i've got to go with this idea as well recently i put up the information for the nopi event coming to bandimere on a local Colorado website the first 3 people to reply said is there going to be a bikini contest

matz03

If you want a professional series then bikini contests are <U>not </U>the way to go, how many serious motorsports series that are successful have bikini contests? You're only looking at one small demographic with this, you would not be creating a family atmosphere.

sportfwddc2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by matz03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you want a professional series then bikini contests are <U>not </U>the way to go, how many serious motorsports series that are successful have bikini contests? You're only looking at one small demographic with this, you would not be creating a family atmosphere.
</TD></TR></TABLE>i get what your saying maybe you attend different tracks then i do but alot of the time there are girls just walking around wearing less than a bikini

Arturbo

I think if you had a dollar hot dog night people would come...

Jerseyfan

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by matz03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Long term wise spending money on advertising is a waste when you're promoting a "bad show"

You can't build a brand on something only die hard import race fans are interested in, it will not get new people to attend or come back to the races.

We need to improve racer attendance and competetiveness of the classes to promote an overall better show. Once we have that then you can look at new and better ways to market the series.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree with you. Radio ads are not cheap. The company I work we have radio ads and its on am stations and we pay between 4 - 6 thousand a month depending on the time spot.
Why are you going to spend that type of money with only 15 - 20 pro cars showing up. You might hype out the radio listeners and come and show up but when they realized the type of competition in hand they wont come back. It all starts with the quality of racing

ExospeedAMcrx

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Arturbo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think if you had a dollar hot dog night people would come...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Best idea ever.

combine that with 50cent Kool Aid, you got a good formula right there.

jdmoutlaw

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BlownHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

agreed,at the e-town race he walked all the way up the return road cause he was so mad. by the time he got back up to, or near the starting line, my 5 year old siad "hey chris" and he stoped what he was doing to give him a high five and for thr rest of the day my boy bugged me to go to his trailor and when we did chris treated him like he was his own kid it was realy cool .we need more of those.now he has three favorites joe simpson,darren barone,and chris rado </TD></TR></TABLE>

Saul gave my son a ride on his dirt bike in 05-06 and he has been cheering for him ever since.

0Golden Eagle

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Fitti &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There used to be a lot more event coverage in the magazines. And the cars that were actually at the races seemed to always be on the cover or have a feature in the magazine.

That is why we still remember all the legends of the sport they had a lot of features in the magazine. You saw there cars in almost all the magazines and that made you want to go see them at the track.

Now the magazines don't have as many features of the actually racers you see at the event. There are a few known guys on here that probably should have had a lot more features in magazines and yet they have only had 1 and some zero.

Sportsman alley was/is a great idea as well. It allowed fans to be up close to the racers and their cars. It also helps to have personable people in the sport. Some people guard their "secrets" and can't distinguish between a fan asking for help and advice or a competitor trying to find out what they are doing.

Honda-Tech should not be the primary means of advertisement.

</TD></TR></TABLE>So basically what your saying is that magazines drove the sport to bigger and better levels. Magazines grew the sport of Sport Compact Drag Racing. Because it was constantly covered in all the magazines people wanted to see the excitement at a drag event in person.

"Magazines drive and help grow Sport Compact Drag Racing"

FrankieFive

The way I see it is to ask yourself how did you get involved in this scene?

What made you become interested back in the day when they called it Import Drag Racing?

I've been in the scene 1996 when I was in High School. The buzz got around of hooking up your Honda and hitting the streets late at night for a little street racing. Every weekend I was out hitting Avenue P, Nanuet, the Bronx, Queens, Elizabeth coming home when the sun was coming up. I know most if not all of you have done this in some way. Competition on the streets was the greatest thing on earth for me at least. It kept me away from drugs, and the other bad things.

Then when NIRA made its way to Etown it was all over. Everyone made their way to gathering up the crew to race and watch. There are a handful of people left that are still into this sport and the big dogs such as Tran, Rado, Bergenholtz, Norris are truly OG and dedicated racers.

So how do you get people back in the seat and more racers out the track? I think we need to educate the youth about this sport have BOTI and NOPI do promotion at local schools near the markets where they can strive. It’s sad to say but as we grow older so does the sport and if you don’t feed it to younger generations how will the sport survive?

I can go on and on so if you wanna discuss further PM me and I can give my insight on how to make this sport continue to grow.

Oh and it also takes more then H-T to get the word out!

95exdsmkilla

All I have to say is, In any type of business/Events/shows/meets, etc... Advertisement is the key. Just like how they did it back in 99-2002.. T.V commercials, spike TV Nopi shows, etc.....
Advertisement FTW!!!!

streetracer6rpt

it dosent cost so much 2 watch a drift event... theyre charging crazy entry prices.imo

2fast4u831

local car shows is a good way to spread the word and let people know we have not vanished A buddy's car at a show yesterday. His car had more people around it than any other car in the show.

sportfwddc2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FrankieFive &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The way I see it is to ask yourself how did you get involved in this scene?

What made you become interested back in the day when they called it Import Drag Racing?

I've been in the scene 1996 when I was in High School. The buzz got around of hooking up your Honda and hitting the streets late at night for a little street racing. Every weekend I was out hitting Avenue P, Nanuet, the Bronx, Queens, Elizabeth coming home when the sun was coming up. I know most if not all of you have done this in some way. Competition on the streets was the greatest thing on earth for me at least. It kept me away from drugs, and the other bad things.

Then when NIRA made its way to Etown it was all over. Everyone made their way to gathering up the crew to race and watch. There are a handful of people left that are still into this sport and the big dogs such as Tran, Rado, Bergenholtz, Norris are truly OG and dedicated racers.

So how do you get people back in the seat and more racers out the track? I think we need to educate the youth about this sport have BOTI and NOPI do promotion at local schools near the markets where they can strive. It’s sad to say but as we grow older so does the sport and if you don’t feed it to younger generations how will the sport survive?

I can go on and on so if you wanna discuss further PM me and I can give my insight on how to make this sport continue to grow.

Oh and it also takes more then H-T to get the word out!
</TD></TR></TABLE>this was what i was trying to say you need to get younger people involved in the sport because if they get into drag racing then they will get there friends, family, parents to come watch its a trickle down affect that can grow the sport but it wont happen over night

Arturbo

I got involved because someone told me they were going to eat really good hot dogs. So I tagged along and saw hondas racing and had a good hot dog with it. Hot dogs are the key. Sometimes you have to think out side of the bun..

sportfwddc2

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Arturbo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sometimes you have to think out side of the bun..</TD></TR></TABLE>i think you just copyright infrindged on taco bell

Arturbo

And then we could invite Takeru Kobayashi to the events, because he is really JDM you know, and he could show us how to eat hot dogs! The stands would really be packed then!

art

SIXTYdashONE

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Arturbo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">And then we could invite Takeru Kobayashi to the events, because he is really JDM you know, and he could show us how to eat hot dogs! The stands would really be packed then!

art</TD></TR></TABLE>

id challenge him to a hot-dog eating contest... hes washed up.. im in my prime. lol

AR Fab

My .02


Support your local economy by racing at your hometown 1/8mile or 1/4mile track...entry fees are low....the classes are there for SC if not most tracks allow the SC cars in classes that are already established. The payouts are better and you have a better chance of winning them. If you get bored of racing people too slow then step your game up...or drive to another local track...hell they have points series too...ones that actually pay you!...we have several customers racing these series making good money each month and coming back to us and spending it....it may not be heads-up racing but it will help you become more consistant with your car before you leave your engine parts on the track every weekend which in turn keeps you from being able to afford the entry fee of a major event...

Our team went to Hagerstown about 10times last season....6 of them we exploded the trans...If we went to 6 WHOEVER RACING SERIES races...we not only would have spent the money fixing the trans but we would have logged over 6000miles....6 hotel rooms for 6 weekends....6 getting off on Friday early days....6 Mondays of no business....6 weekends of food for the team.....

I was watching a Powerade event on TV last weekend and the announcer stated that the payout for all who qualified for some special race they had was as high as it was due to the amount of money it costs to go down the track with one of those cars. Our stuff may not cost nearly as much but anyone qualifying for a SFWD class spends more then $50 to get down the track without breaking anything, let alone no money for 4 or 5th place...

So if you want sportsman racing you need to stay at the grassroots level...support your local track...you will be able to succeed further with your racing career...These so called big events are just "smoke and mirrors" to take your money and leave you hanging...

Check this out!

Entry fee to Mason Dixon with the family, crew or friends $125
Track death dogs and a cooler full of drinks from Sheetz up the road. $50
Fuel to get from our shop to there. $50
Having a blast pissing the local rednecks off....Having Fun
Blowing **** up all over the track and packing it up for the day/night...no biggie
Going out to WV strip clubs and actually seeing the same girls in bikinis at MIR naked....$35

I would rather do this every single weekend then play the political game the major sanctioning bodies are playing. Some people make it their business to do so...its not mine yet...yet

Howard