CLASS RACER FORUM - View Single Post

Dan DeBlasio · 03-16-2011, 10:14 PM

Having been involved in the sport since 63 and having worked for many of the major manufactures in the performance industry for 32 years in marketing and sales I'm going to present a few questions and will be interested to see the answers that are brought forth.

Please read these with the knowledge that I'm an avid class racing fan and past competitor however looking at it through a manufactures eyes and asking the question. How can I increase sales and profits and by how much by offering up sponsporship cash to class racers?

Looking at the facts. There are not that many class racers in the country anymore and what there was just 5 years ago has dwindled due to the economy.

Who watches class racing? I.E. what is my target market?
How much media coverage does class racing receive compared to other drag racing venues? I.E. UDRA, and various other forms of unlimited heads up style events.

What media covers class racing? Is it TV coverage or a magazine or 2 that only those that understand the segment read?

How many fans actually understand and pay attention to class racing out of the overall current fan base of drag racing?

By finding the true answers to these questions perhaps we can help save the classes.

It seems that like in the years of old the only way to stimulate any true interest in class racing is when the big (not so big anymore) 3 produce cars for and support class racing. These cars however have and will continue to change class racing forever virtually obsoleting the cars of the past.

I believe the writing is on the wall for class racing its just a question of how long it will take for support to wane to the point where the same thing that happened to sport compact racing becomes reality in the segment. When the money goes away --- well along with it goes the segment.

True class racers are drawn to the segment because they like to tune and refine their combinations. They like to pick sleeper combinations and see how far under they can get them to run.

It is percieved that class racing is performance driven, but really is it? Shoe polish is used, brake lights are lit, break outs determine many a race making it once again hard for those that are not hard core followers to understand what the objective is.

Would the sponsors rather think that the only potential customers they might glean from their support are this hard core bunch (we see them in the stands at national events at 8:00 AM on Saturday mornings) and not many of them and at divisional (barely any that are not with competitors) or would they rather support segments where a much broader base of fans (jamming the stands) are potential customers?

Again, I'm a life long supporter of class racing but looking at supporting it from a business stand point begs that these questions be answered and if those answers can't point to a solid return on investment then why would supporting the segment make any sense?

Let the answers begin and a safe and successful racing season to all.

03-16-2011, 10:14 PM	#99
Dan DeBlasio Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: The Villages, FL Posts: 7 Likes: 33 Liked 12 Times in 3 Posts	Re: How would you SAVE CLASS RACING ??? Having been involved in the sport since 63 and having worked for many of the major manufactures in the performance industry for 32 years in marketing and sales I'm going to present a few questions and will be interested to see the answers that are brought forth. Please read these with the knowledge that I'm an avid class racing fan and past competitor however looking at it through a manufactures eyes and asking the question. How can I increase sales and profits and by how much by offering up sponsporship cash to class racers? Looking at the facts. There are not that many class racers in the country anymore and what there was just 5 years ago has dwindled due to the economy. Who watches class racing? I.E. what is my target market? How much media coverage does class racing receive compared to other drag racing venues? I.E. UDRA, and various other forms of unlimited heads up style events. What media covers class racing? Is it TV coverage or a magazine or 2 that only those that understand the segment read? How many fans actually understand and pay attention to class racing out of the overall current fan base of drag racing? By finding the true answers to these questions perhaps we can help save the classes. It seems that like in the years of old the only way to stimulate any true interest in class racing is when the big (not so big anymore) 3 produce cars for and support class racing. These cars however have and will continue to change class racing forever virtually obsoleting the cars of the past. I believe the writing is on the wall for class racing its just a question of how long it will take for support to wane to the point where the same thing that happened to sport compact racing becomes reality in the segment. When the money goes away --- well along with it goes the segment. True class racers are drawn to the segment because they like to tune and refine their combinations. They like to pick sleeper combinations and see how far under they can get them to run. It is percieved that class racing is performance driven, but really is it? Shoe polish is used, brake lights are lit, break outs determine many a race making it once again hard for those that are not hard core followers to understand what the objective is. Would the sponsors rather think that the only potential customers they might glean from their support are this hard core bunch (we see them in the stands at national events at 8:00 AM on Saturday mornings) and not many of them and at divisional (barely any that are not with competitors) or would they rather support segments where a much broader base of fans (jamming the stands) are potential customers? Again, I'm a life long supporter of class racing but looking at supporting it from a business stand point begs that these questions be answered and if those answers can't point to a solid return on investment then why would supporting the segment make any sense? Let the answers begin and a safe and successful racing season to all.