As usual Robin Miller has nailed it again. I’m happy for the IRL and I certainly hope that this sponsorship doesn’t fall flat like all of the others have.
To me it’s also encouraging that, when everyone says that nobody is spending money on auto racing because of ‘the economy, I see that some people don’t just walk away, throw their hands in the air and give up. Instead the buckle down and continue to pursue, pester, and otherwise bust their ass to bring in some sponsorship dollars. Kudos to Terry Angstadt!
Read Robin’s SpeedTV column here-MILLER: A Ray Of Hope.
I think there’s a lesson to be learned here somewhere about what we can do better at in supermodified racing. You can sit back and assume that the only reason it works for sanctions like the IRL is to say “oh but they have a paid employee doing just that and we can’t afford to do that,” or you can grab your bootstraps dig a little deeper and say “why can’t we do that with the people we have?”
I think a lot of it has to do with a constant commitment to cross the ‘T’ and dot the ‘I’ and a determination that no matter how tough it is finding sponsorship, or in my case, advertising for this website and radio show, the end result is well worth the lack of sleep, cauliflower ear from endless phone calls, and carpel tunnel syndrome after sending out multitudes of emails.
It isn’t easy. I never claimed it was. I am only suggesting that we have people involved with this DIVISION that are good at talking to potential sponsors. We have people who have personalities that can win over the toughest corporate boardroom and we certainly have a product that is of value. Maybe the biggest issue here is the fact that even those of us who are around it all the time don’t know how to sell it. We know it’s a great deal. We know that it’s exciting, flashy, wild, and unique, but what do we do with it? How do we promote it? Who do we promote it to? If we can’t always answer that for ourselves, how are we to do it for a potential sponsor?
This goes way beyond worrying about rules packages, schedules and everyone getting along, although all of those things are important. In my mind follow up, follow through, and good customer service to show value for the advertising dollar is the only way to procure, nurture and retain a good sponsor.
So what am I saying here? We don’t need a deal like IZod signed on for with the IRL. Yes it would be awesome to say the least, but if any of the sanctions involved with supermodified racing could sign a solid $50,000 annual sponsorship I think there would be a whole lot less bitching about rules, travel, schedules and purses. Right now I see a whole lot of teams, coast to coast, scraping for crumbs, and I think we all know what happens when two dogs go after the last piece of food, things tend to get ugly. Find a little more food to throw down and the strong will survive.
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