Indy is gearing up for the Brickyard 400: as Montoya's Revenge...while over 'beachside' it's Playmate time

  There's more to a NASCAR weekend than just the action on the track. Promoters should take that into consideration in their marketing and promotions...as this Indianapolis skyline shot suggests (Photo: IMS).
  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   JOLIET, Ill.
   It was all such great drama, last summer's soap opera at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
   But all was really at play still isn't that clear.
   For the past year, since long-time boss Tony George threw in his hand and let the rest of the family take over the show, Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- the next stop on the NASCAR tour, after a rare off-week, the last of the season -- has been going through waves of changes.
   Two weeks ago the new boss of the Indy Racing League, Randy Bernard, was at Loudon, N.H., to talk with promoter Bruton Smith and NASCAR president Mike Helton about ideas he had to pump more pizzazz into the open-wheel series.
   And this weekend Mark Dill, Indy's new marketing and PR boss, has been here at Chicagoland Speedway (three hours north of Indianapolis) pumping up things for the upcoming Brickyard 400.
   Last summer the family -- Mari Hulman-George, who chairs the board, and Tony George's sisters – ousted Tony George, in a surprising move, which left George, the man who brought NASCAR to Indy, more than a bit angry about it all.
   And word on the street at Indy last summer was the family wasn't very happy about the state of NASCAR affairs, which they seemed to blame for a drop in attendance at the Brickyard 400.
  
  

  Warming up, and ready to rumble (Photo: IMS)
  

   Where all that lays right now isn't certain.
   Or maybe it is: Remember that 400 – Juan Pablo Montoya, the hard-driving Formula One star, Indy 500 winner, and Indy-car champion turned NASCAR racer, was dominating the Brickyard in a masterful performance....only to be waylaid by a stunning pit road speeding penalty. A penalty that might have been by-the-book, but with no one else on pit road during that green flag stop late in the race, safety – he was about a tenth of a mph over the speed limit – wasn't a particular concern. So NASCAR's by-the-book call ruined a great storybook run, and Jimmie Johnson, yawn, wound up in victory lane, again.
   Fast-forward:
   Dill says Indy is billing this year's Brickyard as "Montoya's Revenge."
   A little in-your-face perhaps?
   Well, it would make for a great storyline....
   Once upon a time Indianapolis Motor Speedway featured the greatest racing show on the planet. But then came the owners' split, and Tony George's determination – with advice from the late Bill France Jr. – to wrestle control of his branch of the sport. The Indy Racing League was born, with some goodly help from both Chevrolet and Ford engine man Jack Roush.
   To help pay for the the new IRL, George invited NASCAR to race at Indy.
  
  

   Juan Pablo Montoya, Indy pit road, 2009. Speeding. Cost him the race. (Photo: IMS)
  

   The rest is history. Good history for NASCAR, with the Brickyard race turning into the bigger event of the two. Not so good history for the Indy-car world, which struggled for years as a house-divided...and by the time those two sides finally came together, it was all but too-late.
   Now Bernard, coming over from professional bull riding, is bringing in new ideas (though NASCAR CEO Brian France threw cold water on Bernhard's idea of some Cup-IRL double-headers).
   And Dill, well, let's see what he can bring to the table.
   "It will be interesting to see what happens this time with Montoya," Dill says. "There are a lot of Montoya fans...because he was a great Indy 500 champion.
   "So we're looking at 'Montoya's Revenge'...."
    Montoya's Indy run last summer was the trigger-point for a resurgence in his NASCAR career, and he's had hot iron ever since. But Montoya is still winless since that Sonoma breakthrough in 2007, and his hard-driving and bad luck has him sweating out even making this year's championship chase.
   Problems at Dover and Charlotte stopped a Montoya hot streak; and crashes at Loudon and Daytona put him even deeper in the hole.
   Can Montoya make the chase? He and teammate Jamie McMurray certainly have plenty of speed and handling....but Montoya has only Chicago, Indy, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond to make something happen. Or rather to make a lot of things happen.
  
    Looking big picture here, and NASCAR executives and promoters may need to pay attention, is the bigger picture of this sport: Take this place, for instance. Yes, Joliet isn't downtown Chicago, and the Miracle Mile and beautiful Lake Shore Drive (now wouldn't that be a nice 'frontstretch' for these drivers to race on) is nearly an hour away.
  
  

  Calling all males 18-34: Playboy Playmate A. J. Alexander will be hosting Indy's beach blanket bingo during the Brickyard 400 weekend. (Photo: A. J. Alexander)
  

   But NASCAR racing should be more than just at-track stuff; it should be about a total weekend-plus experience. Why try to jam everything here into two days, for the sake of a Saturday night TV show? It would make much more sense to try to include the city of Chicago itself, and all its variety, in this marketing game.
   This is one of the best examples of how NASCAR sometimes misses the forest for the trees. Perhaps France and Helton should ditch those G-5s and million-dollar motorcoaches and spend a full season doing just what typical fans have to do. That might give them a better perspective of what fans think about this sport, what they like, what they don't like, and what needs to be changed.
   Too many stars and executives in this sport jet around like rock stars. They need to get down in the trenches and roll in the mud.
   Back to Dill and Indianapolis Motor Speedway....the show coming up will be, as many NASCAR promoters like, will be an entertainment package beyond just what happens out on the asphalt.
   "We're looking beyond just the racing," Dill says, "and providing things for the entire family. Like Radio Disney, with Anna Margaret (Disney's 'new' clean-cut Miley Cyrus). So people can come in and sample the race and enjoy the overall experience.
   "And we're something for the collegiate set – a beach party. We'll have sand and water; there's a lake out there. And we'll have some fun with that.
  "We don't have Lady Gaga lined up, but we do have Luke Bryan, the emerging country-western star, in concert."
   Nope, no Miley Cyrus pole-dancing...and the legendary fourth turn snakepit is ancient history.
  
  

   And for the young-family set -- Radio Disney: If Uncle Walt's bunch can't help create a demographic wave for NASCAR, nobody can (Photo: RadioDisney)
  

   Demographics?
   Fox' David Hill worries about NASCAR's rapidly declining numbers in the TV-key 18-34 male demographic.
   "Radio Disney is helping us get young families in there," Dill says, pointing to an interesting marketing twist (which may be linked to the sudden wave of drivers-as-new-fathers). Their listenership ( http://radio.disney.go.com/ )has about 150,000 young adults, typically people with young children. So we're doing the family-fun day in conjunction with them.
   "And we're doing some serious outreach to the collegiate set."
   Indy Girls Gone Wild?
   Nope, not quite that far, but...
   "We are going to have A. J. Alexander (Playmate of the month, April 2008) hosting the beach party. That ought to interest some of the 18-to-34 males."
   And what about that plan once bandied about for bringing in a support series race at the brickyard, on the Cup weekend? Maybe Nationwide, maybe Grand-Am, heck, maybe even Trucks....
   "Stay tuned for some announcements," Dill teases. "I think we'll have some very interesting announcements around race time."

  Indianapolis Motor Speedway: Will the family be happier with NASCAR and its Brickyard 400 crowds this season? How will stock car drivers play this 'Boys, have at it'? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)