So, the big green hammer dropped!
 
I know what everyone is thinking: Danica Patrick did not perform up to expectations, she is not adapting to heavy stock cars—or my favorite, her Cup career is over.
 
Not so.
 
Was this a good move for the folks at GoDaddy? Certainly they think so, just by virtue of the announcement.
 
But here’s the thing in business today: Every marketing program has a defined shelf life.
 
It's clear the GoDaddy brand enjoyed success with Danica and NASCAR over the past three years. But whenever a company or brand is investing in a certain sport or community of people, the measurement of success will always point to how much more can be accomplished if we choose to invest further.
 
Seems rather clear that the GoDaddy barometer says there is no more, other than incremental gains, to be realized in their NASCAR investment. It's obvious that the company now has to invest in other markets—or even other parts of the world—where the brand is not so strong and not so recognizable.
 
Race fans, in particular, always seem to take a sponsor departure personally. But believe me, it's not. It's business. Time to go and plow another field where the crop needs some help.
 
So does this spell trouble for NASCAR on the sponsor front? Not from where I sit. Sponsors come and sponsors go. Danica and the team will sign another multi-year run because it's Danica, a marketing machine in her own right. And by the way…. a pretty fair race car driver, too!
 
There are two very important factors in all sports that are very easy to lose track of: This is entertainment, and probably more importantly, this is business.
 
Successful businesses since the beginning of time have not made a habit of investing in something that did not provide value back to the company. Just because a sponsor moves on, does not mean they are not happy with their investment. It means there is no more to be gained from the current activity, and it's time to find a market segment that is weaker than acceptable and needs more marketing power to grow it to a point where it is acceptable.
 
Nothing to read between the lines in this announcement other than it's been real, it's been good, it's been profitable, but we cannot gain any more return from this investment. Time to move on to the next one!
 
 
A former board chairman of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) and 2014 SEMA Hall of Fame inductee, Jim Cozzie has held senior-level positions with a number of leading and iconic aftermarket companies including Hurst Performance Inc., Super Press Inc., B&M Racing and Performance Products, and Zoom Performance Products. He currently is a Managing Partner at Brenton Productions, producer of the popular automotive how-to shows Two Guys Garage, Car Fix, Truck U and All Girls Garage. Cozzie can be reached at jcozzie@gmail.com.
 
 
 

Indianapolis 500 veteran and IndyCar team owner Sarah Fisher plans to open a karting track near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next year.

Fisher announced plans to open Speedway Indoor Karting in the town of Speedway, Indiana, just blocks from the current CFH Racing IndyCar shop co-owned by Fisher. It's set to open in April 2016.

The 60,000 square-foot, multi-level facility is a privately owned investment by Fisher and her husband, Andy O'Gara. It will include a 14-turn road course with multiple elevation changes and a banked oval that will be sunk into the floor.

Honda has debuted the “Super Speedway” aero kit of aerodynamic upgrades and components its teams will use at this year’s 99th running of the Indianapolis 500.

The Honda Super Speedway Aero Kit, produced by Honda Performance Development, Honda’s racing arm in North America, includes a variety of individual aerodynamic components fitted to the existing Honda-powered Dallara Indy car chassis. All are intended to give Honda’s six Indy car teams—encompassing a potential 17 Indianapolis 500 entrants—the ability to maximize performance at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval and other large ovals (more than one mile in length) on the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule.

“We’re excited to unveil our Super Speedway aero kit, the newest element in this era of enhanced manufacturer competition in the Verizon IndyCar Series,” said Art St. Cyr, president of HPD. “Coupled to our proven Honda Indy V6 engines, these aero kits are the products of thousands of hours of research, development and testing, as we seek to give our drivers and teams the tools they need to win the race that Honda holds as its most important goal each season: The Indianapolis 500.”

Honda’s Indy car aero kits were developed by utilizing the latest in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technology, then validated using Driver-In-Loop (DIL) Simulators. This process minimized waste at the prototype stage, and allowed aerodynamic direction to be determined prior to the creation of full-size components.

Full-scale wind tunnel testing was used to confirm actual aerodynamic performance characteristics and create aero maps to be used during on-track testing. Final proof-of-concept correlation then took place with on-track testing prior to the start of production earlier this year.

The complete Super Speedway Aero Kit provides Honda drivers and teams with a range of configurations to tune the cars to their desired characteristics for Indianapolis, a circuit where fine-tuning is essential to achieve optimum performance.

Honda’s Indy car aero kits will make their public on-track debut during an Open Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 3. Official practice for the Indianapolis 500 opens on Monday, May 11, with the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500 scheduled for Sunday, May 24.

Champion Oil, a major player in development and manufacturing of performance lubricants, announced that Lugran Ind COM IMP EXP De Products LTDA EPP (Lugran) is its exclusive Master Warehouse Distributor in Brazil.
 
Lugran is a distributor of commercial and industrial lubricants. They will offer Champion products in a number of categories, such as motor oils, transmission fluids, hydraulic fluids, coolant, diesel motor oil, differentials lubes, greases, power steering fluids, brake fluids, and automotive chemicals and additives.
 
“It is extremely important for Champion Oil to identify a partner that shares the same goals and has the ability to provide our Brazilian customers, retailers, dealers, and installers with first class service, support and distribution,” said Karl Dedolph, Director of International Sales for Champion. “Lugran clearly fits the stringent criteria we identified to disseminate our motor oil, chemical, additive and lubricant line in key demographics, applications, and strategic global markets.”
 
Lugran now promotes the “Purpose-Built” line of Champion Motor Oils, Chemicals and Lubricants. For more information about Lugran you can contact them at Rodovia Fernao Dias KM 55, Distrito De Terra Preta, MAIRIPORA-SP, CEP 129000-000, Brazil or at +55 (11) 11-42171326.

Design Engineering Inc., (DEI), manufacturer of performance tuning and acoustic products, announces sponsorship of Circle Track’s inaugural 2015 Great American Racing Series (G.A.R.S.). This series of six races is being billed as an affordable, high-purse oval track race series for cars that are essentially street stocks. Drivers will compete for a purse of $30,000 per race with the winner receiving $5000. The champion will win $10,000 and a one day test session of a full bodied NASCAR style stock car at Daytona International Speedway.  

Developed with a mix of paved and dirt oval tracks in Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, the G.A.R.S. series kicks off May 9 at the Salem Speedway in Salem, IN. Two dirt races and four paved races are planned with the final event scheduled October 4 at the Memphis International Raceway. The top 15 finishers of each qualifying race will compete in the feature race which is expected to be 75 laps for tracks greater than 1/2 mile and 100 laps for 1/2 mile and under tracks.

Design Engineering is one of a ten financial sponsors for G.A.R.S and a strong proponent of grassroots motorsports. Additionally, DEI provides a product sponsorship program for avid racers and project builders under the company’s Team DEI program.

DEI’s Tom Miller, said, “When we were approached by Circle Track Magazine the entire team at DEI was on board with the decision to be on the ground floor of this exciting new series. Stock car racing and the performance enthusiasts that follow this form of racing dovetails with our customer base. We look forward to the season and the response from the fans.”

Rob Fisher, Circle Track Magazine Editor-in-Chief, added, ”Most higher level division racers got their start in this division. This will be an exciting series with all the tracks in close proximity to each other. With a significant portion of our readership running in, or supporting this class of oval track racing, it was a natural for Circle Track to develop this series. We couldn’t launch this however without the support of DEI and other performance companies that believe in the need for this series.”

USAC HPD Midget competitors are the latest to receive additional incentive to compete in the July 25 Tony Stewart Classic at the Lincoln Tech Indianapolis Speedrome.

Participants in USAC’s Midwest, Eastern and Western HPD series will find cash bonuses awaiting them in the form of top-three finishing awards at the 100-lap Midget race at the southeastside Indianapolis, Indiana, oval.

The highest finishing HPD Midget that night will receive $250, with the second-highest HPD Midget $200 and the third-highest $150.

Race organizer Larry Curry is extremely encouraged by the response this event has generated.

“It will be interesting to see participants from various areas of the country compete in a variety of machinery and this new incentive for USAC’s HPD Midget competitors is a welcome addition. We plan for this event to grow in the years ahead and become a Hoosier tradition honoring one of our own,” said Curry.

The track will not be new to HPD participants. A total of 47 races, including last year’s HPD Midget race won by Eastern Champion Scott Hunter, have been contested at the track which has hosted an all-time USAC record total of races—494 in various forms of racing.

The July 25 program also includes the 2015 Induction Ceremony for USAC’s Hall of Fame, which this year will induct 12 individuals: Clint Brawner, Jimmy Caruthers, Butch Hartman, Lindsey Hopkins, Jim Hurtubise, Don Kenyon, Sheldon Kinser, Fred Lorenzen, Roger Penske, Larry Rice, Shorty Templeman and Sleepy Tripp.

JTG Daugherty Racing announced Thursday that they are expanding their relationship with The Kroger Co.

After six years of sponsoring the No. 47 Chevrolet SS in the Daytona 500, Kroger will have primary real estate for at least 24 races for multiple years.

A.J. Allmendinger, who has one victory, two pole awards, seven top-five finishes, 37 top-10 finishes and competed in The Chase last season, eagerly welcomes the new Kroger relationship.

“I know that the folks at Kroger are so pumped up about being a part of this race team and they are just as excited as I am,” Allmendinger said. “Tad and Jodi (Geschickter) and Brad (Daugherty) have a longstanding relationship with Kroger through their Daytona 500 partnership and it is cool to see it grow into something so big.

“To get personal text messages from their executives, I know they are overjoyed about it,” Allmendinger continued. “It’s neat to see firsthand how involved all of our sponsors want to be. Tying everything together will really help us take our race team to the next level. Kroger is really passionate about this sport and about our team. We look forward to making them a bigger part of the JTG Daugherty Racing family.”

“Kroger has a fully integrated ‘Race to Savings’ activation plan that will be world class,” JTG Daugherty Racing team co-owner Tad Geschickter said. “Obviously, expanding our relationship with the largest grocery retailer in America is huge for our team and our sponsors; but, is equally significant for the NASCAR industry. We are humbled that they chose us to fly their colors over the coming race seasons.”

Mario Andretti will partner with 93.1 WIBC for An Evening with Mario, which will be held on May 15 at Fountain Square Theatre from 7–9 p.m.

The event will be hosted by WIBC’s Terri Stacy and voice of the Indy 500, Paul Page.

Andretti comes back to Indy to tell untold tales about his days on the track where his achievements became legendary. Mario’s passion and joy for racing drove him to take the checkered flag 111 times during his career—the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, the Formula One World Championship, Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the IndyCar Championship and Sebring to name a few.

WIBC’s An Evening with Mario will benefit Andretti’s local charity, Circle City Clubhouse of Indiana.

“Circle City Clubhouse of Indiana is a great charity that helps the mentally challenged and gives them the opportunity to recover in a meaningful way and be productive in the workplace and community,” said Andretti.

“We at Circle City Clubhouse are grateful to Mario Andretti and WIBC for their assistance us as we provide opportunities for persons living with mental illness to use their own skills and abilities to reintegrate into the community and workplace,” said Jay Brubaker, executive director.

WIBC’s “An Evening with Mario” is a bucket list opportunity for those who love the month of May in Indianapolis. There will also be 50-50 cash drawings and door prizes including, Indy 500 tickets, Rolling Stones at IMS tickets, Van Halen tickets, Luke Bryan tickets, Zac Brown Band tickets and much more.

Tickets are on sale now at WIBC.com.

Ticket details:

$59.95 for a single

$110 for 2 tickets

$400 for a table of 8

Indiana racing legend and five-time Brickyard champion Jeff Gordon will drive a Corvette Z06 pace car to kick off the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500, on May 24 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Gordon, who grew up in nearby Pittsboro, Indiana, is no stranger to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He won the first NASCAR race in the history of the famed 2.5-mile oval—the 1994 Brickyard 400—and has won four more times, including last year. His 2014 victory made him the first five-time Brickyard champion and the only five-time winner of a major race on the IMS oval.

“Indy is hallowed ground for racers like me and I couldn’t be more thrilled to drive the Corvette Z06 pace car around the track that helped drive my success over the years,” Gordon said. “The Indianapolis 500 is one of the most celebrated races of the year and an event I always dreamed of racing while growing up in California and in nearby Pittsboro. I’ve won five NASCAR races at IMS and the track will always be a special place for me, so to be able to participate in such a historic day will be something I remember for the rest of my life.”

Race fans can follow Jeff Gordon and his Corvette Z06 pace car experience on Twitter at #JGPace2Race.

Gordon’s drive will mark the 13th time a Corvette has been the official pace car, dating to 1978, and the 26th time a Chevrolet has led the pack for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Corvette has served as the pace car more than any other vehicle in the race’s history.

“Jeff is a great choice to lead this year’s starting 33 drivers in the Indianapolis 500 to the green flag,” said J. Douglas Boles, president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Jeff has such a strong connection to the state of Indiana and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and his appearance in the Corvette Z06 pace car reinforces Chevrolet’s important place in the past, present and future of the Indianapolis 500. We also look forward to seeing him back here on July 26, to see if he can make it six wins in the Crown Royal 400 at the Brickyard.”

With 650 supercharged horsepower, a seven-speed manual transmission and a track-capable chassis system, Gordon will have no trouble keeping in front of the race field in the production-spec Corvette Z06. Featuring an Arctic White exterior and Adrenaline Red interior, only its unique Indy graphics package and safety strobe lights distinguish it from other production models.

Like Gordon, Chevrolet has a long, shared heritage with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Chevrolet was founded in 1911, the year of the inaugural 500 Mile Race, and the Chevrolet brothers—company co-founder Louis, Arthur and Gaston—all competed in early Indy 500 races. Arthur Chevrolet competed in the 1911 race and Gaston Chevrolet won it in 1920.

“It’s great to have Jeff Gordon serve as this year’s pace car driver,” said Jim Campbell, Chevrolet US vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports. “He is a true champion who has earned the respect and admiration of competitors and race fans alike. It will be very special to have Jeff lead the Indy 500 field to the green flag, behind the wheel of the most powerful and capable production car ever from Chevrolet – on a day he’ll also be competing in the Coca Cola 600 NASCAR race at Charlotte.”

In addition to its frequent use as a pace car in the Indianapolis 500, official partner Chevrolet is the only car to ever pace the Brickyard 400.

The use of the word “culture” can seem a little airy when it comes to the straightforward challenge of cutting a profit in one’s business. It may become more clear as a value when one takes a look at successful race teams. They may not always have the same words to describe the culture of their organization, but it sure seems like sloppy, lazy, ill-prepared race teams never put a driver on the podium, while teams with hard-working, no-excuses, efficient, effective, prepared, innovative, dedicated personnel win championships. The culture of an organization...the spirit of an organization makes a difference, but it can be difficult to put the precepts into words.

Here’s a look at a small set of phrases that have guided PRI over the years. Developed by Steve Lewis in his years growing as a successful entrepreneur and race team owner, you’re welcome to borrow them. Just make sure you live them, as much as demand them from your team. They don’t seem like big ideas, but they do seem to provide very basic tenets to getting things done, getting them done as planned, and getting them done on time.

Arrive everywhere 15 minutes early. When travelling with the PRI sales team, it’s been years since I had to wait in the lobby in the morning to meet with a fellow team member. We agree to meet at 7:30 a.m., and it happens as planned. Meetings in the PRI office start right on time with everyone present. No one wants to be the person who walks in late. In racing, you’re ready to go when the green flag drops.

Always have a Plan B. If part of a presentation is on a CD or DVD, bring two copies in case one fails. If the laptop computer is key to a presentation, bring the presentation on paper in case the laptop seizes up.

Don’t get caught with your pants down. Before kicking off the PowerPoint presentation, arrive early, set it up, and test it in advance to make sure it works. Before a sales presentation, do the proper homework in advance. Know the new products being released. Know the marketing campaign. Know the customer.

The initiator of a project never loses responsibility for it. One of the most frustrating moments in any project occurs when someone says, “He was supposed to do that.” No. That’s not how it works. One person always remains in charge, and that’s the person who initiates the project. Wherever responsibilities lie for various steps in a project, it is up to the project initiator to verify that all team members are doing their part as planned.

Make the decision; you can tune it up later. It is better to make a decision and take action rather than postpone decisions. If complications arise, you can always take measures to tune things up. Take advantage of time. It always pays off. A company that does not make decisions in a timely manner gets run over again and again.