From: jaslow@bissun.kodak.com (Russell Jaslow)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport
Subject: Re: Bubba (NASCAR)
Date: 3 Sep 92 20:25:25 GMT
Organization: Eastman Kodak

In article <1992Sep3.153007.17898@stsci.edu> lallo@stsci.edu writes:
>
>Isn't it wonderful the kind of respect racing in the U.S. gets? And this
>is how we are stereotyped to everyone overseas. But... we burn our own bridges
>because u.s. racing sponsors cater to this same "bubba" fan. If you folks don't
>like that idea then don't be proud of the stereotypes, fight them. Fight for
>a wider scope to the racing, fight to draw sponsors that aim for a broader 
>audience. All this will help.
>
Here I agree with you wholeheartedly.  But, later on you make some really
strange comments.  Don't want to flame you, but at least I warned you :-)

>     Sponsors need to see auto-racing as a major way to reach a large cross-section of all
>     the sporting types, as they do in Europe, not just of a narrow socio-cultural group.
>     This is why sponsorship in NASCAR is so insular and narrow and why sponsorship in
>     CART is so "lost". 

Interesting points, but its not all that bad.  For instance, the reason
Kodak sponsor money is in NASCAR is specifically because Kodak's studies have
shown that the average racing fan is indeed middle class, willing to spend
money, takes lots of pictures, and is well educated.  Same goes for a lot
of the P&G products involved.  Just what is your idea of a cross-sectional
sponsor?

>    sponsors will shy away. We need captivating series. The days of Bill France's idea of
>    the average American race fan wanting to see cars that looked like street cars from 
>    the side is gone! It's dead. We've outgrown Bill France's notion of what we want.
>
I am not a big NASCAR fan, but I think you are dead wrong in this respect.
How else can you explain NASCAR's amazing growth in the past decade?  I think
this is a very captivating series, and captivating the right people (See
comment about Kodak's sponsorship).  Meanwhile, IMSA with it's technological
superiority is dying away.
>
>Look through Road and Track from the 50's and 60's. The U.S. racing scene was much more Euro-
>oriented than it is now. 

There is more road racing in Indy cars and the coming of age of IMSA (not
including the last 2 years) tells me that the US racing scene is more Euro-
oriented then ever before.

>Does it bother anyone here that we U.S. racers and fans get grouped in with the
>Monster Truck crowd? 

Got to agree with you here.  This does happen sometimes.

>We need also folks and companies like Gurney and Hill and Ford to get 
>back in the scene and give the world something from the U.S. that they will all be envious of. 
>Something we can really be *proud* of.
>
I don't see how this will help with the stick and ball media's perception
of the stereotype.  Mario Andretti's world championship didn't make a 
difference.  Gurney and Hill didn't make a difference in the 60's, otherwise
we wouldn't be writing this.  It has to start at the grass roots level.
The fans like us have to, slowly but surely, change the stereotypes of others
by talking to them about how great our sport is in a non-arrogant way.
-- 
Russell Jaslow         |Spec Racer #33 Finger Lakes Reg|NY RANGERS|My employer
Eastman Kodak Company  |In memorium: Andrew Spiller,   |and the   |has nothing
Rochester, New York    |Cynthia Bishop Halstead.  Keep |Cup!  Why |to do with
jaslow@bissun.kodak.com|the damn drunks off our roads! |not dream?|my drivel.
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