Proposed Alcohol Racing Organization

This is the email I sent out to the contacts I have from the meeting and those of you who have emailed me:

Ladies & Gentlemen

First off I would like to thank each one of you for either taking the time to attend our meeting we had at the International Motorsports Industry Show (IMIS) or email in your thoughts and correspondence.

I am very pleased to see that I am not alone in wanting to see the alcohol cars move forward despite less than ideal economic conditions all around us. As individuals, the changes made to the racing structure and schedule will affect some of us more than others. As a group, I think we can work together to improve conditions for everyone moving forward.

I am sure most of you read my summary of what was discussed at the meeting, so it does not need to be completely re-hashed in this email. In a nutshell, what I am proposing the racers, with manufacturer support, to hire either one person or a group to better promote our ‘brand’ of racing. We don’t need an organization to gather feedback on whether rules should be changed, Blown vs. A/Fuel, blower rules, etc. As we saw with the now defunct Top Alcohol Racers Association (TARA), all those types of issues did was divide us. So I don’t want the term ‘association’ or ‘organization’ to confuse some to thinking that will be the scope of what I’m proposing. Rather, I am proposing we hire a PR rep for the alcohol class.

I think the bulk of the effort should be focused on the regional series. Ideally we can generate the budget to have someone on the ground at each of our 23 regional races. This person or group would work with local media around the tracks we race at, along with try to get feature content in national racing websites, publications along with automotive related magazines and trade publications. If we have someone on the ground we can try to get more local media at the events and use our rep to give them access to the teams.

If we had someone on staff, they could work hand in hand with NHRA and the tracks in the promotion of the event. As I have said many times, we are not looking to work in spite of, instead of or against NHRA, Lucas or the tracks. We’re not looking to raise money to advertise races. I think giving tracks another resource to ASSIST them may lead them to do more promotions.

On the national event level, we’re not the big show and never will be. I don’t think it would be as critical, especially as we get this thing off the ground to have someone on site at national events. However, that doesn’t mean our rep wouldn’t submit content to the media highlighting what’s going on in the classes. Points battles, milestones, special interest stories, etc.

To clarify what I mean by ‘content’ would be feature stories, in the form of a press release, sent out before and after events to the media. I know many teams submit their own team releases, but this would focus on trying to find the most interesting story going into a certain race, region, etc., to give our type of racing the best chance at getting published.

In a perfect world, we shouldn’t have to take this task upon ourselves. NHRA and the tracks should handle it. We’re racers, we should be able to show up and race. However, we live in far from a perfect world, and I think we have been severely under promoted in many areas, for a number of years. That has a big role in what happened to us in losing so many races. We can raise hell, send emails, post on the internet until we’re blue in the face, but if we sit back and just say that NHRA and the tracks should do their job, more than likely little will happen. That is why I am proposing that we take matters into our own hands and ‘make it happen.’

As with any venture, you should have short term and long term goals. In the short term, I would like to see increased media exposure. Increasing awareness should show some immediate gains at the front gate for the tracks that do host us in 2012. In doing so, goal number one needs to be to MAINTAIN the races we have on the schedule and not lose any more. Right there with that goal would be to try to get some more races added to the schedule, especially in areas that got hit the hardest with the regional format. We can’t afford to lose entire sections of the country because we don’t race there.

On the long term, if we can grow our media footprint and fan awareness of our type of racing, I would like to say in 5-10 years, that the “Top Alcohol” brand creates a buzz that brings fans to race tracks. We have the talent. We have the personalities. We have the cars. We just need more people to know about us, and want to follow us. This won’t happen overnight. It’s going to take a concerted effort to get us there.

Outside of media promotions, we need to work with NHRA to better package the show at some events. This may mean shorter turn arounds at some events, it may mean racing at night during the summer months, but we have to make fans want to watch us. Some races are too drawn out. Who the hell wants to come watch us race when it’s so damn hot we don’t want to get out from under the awning ourselves? So why would the local drag racing nut come out and sweat his ass off to watch one session at 1 and one at 5? He can come back next week and watch a pro mod or nostalgia show at night and watch 2 qualifiers and 3 rounds all in one night. Much less a family. I’m not saying we should try to go make 5 runs in one night, but we need to be packaged better in some instances to put our best foot forward.

Such a person and the organization could also work with members to possibly do displays at certain events. Not everyone has the time to do this, but it could do a lot to bring more fans to races, and probably gain some fans for life of the racers who do those displays. We need a lot more of those type of fans. Maybe we could negotiate deals with the tracks to get something in return for those displays.

Another big concern many of you have is the people who do not contribute ‘reaping’ the rewards of our efforts and not having enough racers to generate a sufficient budget. I think there are a number of manufacturers that will contribute. Having the manufacturers involved could create a number of opportunities for the group. There will be some who don’t get involved. That’s going to piss some of you off. However, I think we have enough support to move forward. I don’t think we should not do it just because of a few who don’t want to buy in to the concept. Maybe some sort of group discount could be made between our mfg supporters and dues paying members. Maybe that could be some leverage. Non-members may not get as much coverage in feature stories and press releases as members. Now we can’t completely stone wall some in that aspect, but if there are two major stories and one concerns a member and one concerns a non member, we’ll damn sure take care of our own. Also I think we can put some peer pressure on some of those guys as well to get on the band wagon.

Now with the economy the way it is, coughing up the dues is going to be tough for some. The statement was made at the meeting that we would be worse off if we do this underfunded than if we not do it at all. $500 was a number discussed at the meeting, but if possible, we probably need to be closer to $700-$750. There will be some admin costs up front to get the organization started, then obviously we have to collect and get an operating budget so we can accomplish the mission. Given the urgency of our situation in trying to prevent further race cut backs in the near future, I don’t think we can afford to hem haw around for half a season getting this going. I already have 70+ racers and manufacturers behind this, and we’re just scratching the surface.

We need the dues to be high enough to give us an operating budget, especially getting started. However I don’t want to alienate racers with too high of fee’s. This is something we need to work on. Maybe next year, ‘founding members’ who join by Feb. 1, can get a discount off their dues. Maybe some racers and mfg’s can help a few racers who can only swing $500 right now make it to $750. This won’t make anybody’s car faster, but it will work to ensure we all have places to try to go faster.

So moving forward, I would like to continue to hear feedback from all of you. Your ideas are greatly appreciated.

I am going to talk with a few prominent racers, and try to create a diverse ‘formation board’ to get this thing off the ground. I have some people in mind. I’m going to try to get some well funded racers with some ‘budget’ racers in the mix so we have a couple of points of view. Once that group is established, we will set up the organization, and start recruiting the racers and manufacturer support to get our membership up and running. Once we have an official organization formed, a bank account and all the legal stuff completed, we can vote on a board of directors, set a budget and start the search for our promotional staff.

Right now I think we need to look for someone with PR/Marketing experience and knows how to write good copy. Preferably someone a good list of contacts and experience working with editors. To assist I’m sure we can find some qualified college students to structure it as an ‘intern’ program. I know from when I was in college, most would jump at the opportunity to get a foot in the door and experience in the ‘sports marketing’ field.

We need some ideas for names as well. I am just on the fence whether we should have alcohol in the name. To someone who isn’t familiar with NHRA or our type of racing, that word will put some people on guard as soon as you mention it. That’s not always conducive to opening doors. Trust me I get this all the time because my business and email is “InsideTopAlcohol.com.” Maybe something along the lines of Pro Sportsman Racing Organization.

In closing, I think this is something we can all get behind. Whether you’re a glass half full or glass half empty type, there’s reason for you to get on board. If you think the sky is falling, we all need to work together to make it stop. If you think like I do, and the sky is the limit, we need to work together to get there.

Thanks again for your support, and I look forward to continued correspondence with all of you. I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, Happy Holidays or whatever makes ya happy!

Best regards,
Will Hanna
979.415.4959

If you have not emailed me and are interested in getting on board, please drop me a line at will.hanna@insidetopalcohol.com. Even if it's nothing more than leaving your contact to stay informed as we move forward. Also if you were at the meeting, or have emailed me and did not receive this email, send me a note so I can double check our data base to make sure we have the correct email on file for you.

 

promotion

Mike,

Thanks for the insight. However at this time the Pro Sportsman Association is seeking to promote our classes within NHRA Drag Racing and the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. We have no intent to start putting on our own races.