A Local Problem on a National Level
For the first time since 2016, an American driver has won the Indianapolis 500. This is not a post about Xenophobia. Instead it is an observation of some much needed work to be done.
In the past several years, we have seen how other countries have gone crazy over one of their drivers winning the Indianapolis 500. Last year, we say a mob of people outside in Sweden, as Marcus Ericsson took the stage with the Borg-Warner trophy. Japan flipped out in 2017, when Takuma Sato won the race – just a mere twenty-six years after Hiro Matsushita became the first Japanese driver to ever drive in the race. Three years later, Sato won the race for a second time.
It was the same for Will Power in Australia in 2018, and Simon Pagenaud in France in 2019. Brazil has had many racing champions, so they may not have gone as crazy when Helio Castroneves won his fourth in 2021 – but he is still considered a major celebrity in his home country.
It’s not the same for the American drivers. Nowadays, they tend to dwell in anonymity. In the summer of 2021, Susan and I attended the SRX race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway – a very public event filled with mostly racing fans. We ran into Josef Newgarden, who was there with what looked like a high school buddy of his. Granted, he was not wearing any Team Penske or IndyCar apparel. He was just dressed in jeans and a T-shirt – with no cap or sunglasses to hide his identity. He was sitting in the stands like the rest of us. He was very recognizable to us, but apparently no one else.
In a sense, Newgarden is fortunate that he can attend a racing venue in his hometown and have no one recognize him. He was already a two-time IndyCar champion then, but he was free to wander about as an everyday fan. What is probably a blessing for Newgarden, is a curse for IndyCar. How do they market their biggest stars to the average sports fan?
We arrived back home from the Indianapolis 500 last Monday evening around 6:00 pm. Monday was the holiday, so it was Tuesday when everyone returned to work. Monday holidays on local sports talk radio always bring national programming instead of the local shows. I made sure my regular sports talk radio was on before I got in the shower at 6:00 am on Tuesday. I wanted to hear what the local folks said about our hometown boy winning the biggest race in the world.
To my amazement, there was nothing. They led off the morning with catching up with what each other did over the holiday, then they went into their usual Titans talk. From the time I got in the shower, until I walked in the door at work at 8:00 am; I listened to this station. Not a single word was mentioned about our new local hero. During the update at the top of each hour, there was a mention that Ryan Blaney had won the postponed Coca-Cola 600 – but that was all the racing they talked about. When I wrote the station to complain the next day; they explained that Josef appeared by phone on another show later in the day.
I get it that Newgarden could not be on every show; but is it not news that a local guy that was born here and still lives here, had just won the world’s largest single day sporting event? I would have much rather the morning show lead off with a story about Newgarden, instead of a recap of the hosts grilling escapades the day before.
This shouldn’t surprise me. Dario Franchitti lived in the Nashville area for every one of his three Indianapolis 500 wins. His Indianapolis wins and his championships got nary a mention on the Nashville airwaves. Locally, Dario was known mostly as Ashley Judd’s husband. Fortunately for him, he was able to shake that title about the same time his driving career was brought to an abrupt halt in the fall of 2013. He now has a beautiful wife, who is sane and two children – something he was denied by Ms. Judd, but I digress…
Not all of our recent American champions have embraced the limelight. While he recognizes the importance of fans, I think Alexander Rossi would be happy if he never signed another autograph or posed for another selfie in his life. I think the same could be said for Ryan Hunter-Reay, Sam Hornish and Buddy Rice. Those drivers and Newgarden make up the US contingent of Indianapolis 500 winners this century.
While I think Newgarden is essentially a private person, he is very media savvy and he knows just how important it is to be an ambassador of our sport. Newgarden’s anonymity in his hometown is not his fault, nor is it the local media’s fault. Come to think of it, I’m not even sure if it is IndyCar’s fault. But it is IndyCar’s job to drive the machine that makes Josef Newgarden a household name, as much as possible.
It’s not the local media’s job to follow Newgarden. I’ll bet there are some prominent local media folks here that have their collective noses buried so deep in the Titans, Vols and Predators – they probably have no idea that a prominent IndyCar driver lives here. They’ve heard of the Indianapolis 500, but pay about as much attention to it as they do The Preakness. It’s nothing more than a distraction from the NBA Playoffs and the NHL Playoffs.
I think the IndyCar and IMS Communications Department do a phenomenal job with what they have. But they are way understaffed and under budgeted. They get more out of every dollar than Dale Coyne does with his race team. It was that way when the Hulman-George family owned the track and the series. I was hoping Penske Entertainment would really beef things up, but they haven’t – not staff wise, anyway. I have no idea what the budget looks like compared to 2019, but I’ll bet it hasn’t grown much. It is their job to get Newgarden and his name front-and-center. I’m not sure how much bang for the buck they get having the winning driver ring the bell of the New York Stock Exchange. What would be better? I haven’t a clue, but that’s where the PR professionals come in.
A PR professional needs to know something about racing, just like those pushing Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes usually know something about football. Our sport is not plug-and-play, where it is interchangeable with football or baseball. Racing is different and requires a little education before it is appreciated.
I really thought the late Robin Miller was under-utilized. He obviously knew racing, but he also knew the nuances of other sports. Miller understood how different sports compared, and didn’t compare, to racing. He had an uncanny knack for simplifying our sport and made it relatable to the common sports fan.
It’s a big problem and one that I have no answers for. I’m not sure anyone else does either. But if there is one driver’s personality that can become that national household name – it is Josef Newgarden’s. If only people in his hometown knew who he was.
George Phillips
Oilpressure 
June 7, 2023 at 6:32 am
It’s not just a Nashville problem, George. This past weekend I ran into a lady that knew I had been at the race. She asked who won, and I told her Josef Newgarden. She said she didn’t know who he was. I told her he had run in the Indy 500 for the last 11 years before finally winning it. Then she asked if Mario Andretti had done well in it. Sigh…
Somehow, back in the 60’s, names like Foyt and Andretti made it into the news, and everybody knew who they were.
June 7, 2023 at 7:57 am
Last year I asked our local radio station why the results of the (2022) Indianapolis 500 were not mentioned on any of their sports broadcasts.
The response was, “Who won it ?”
This year once again no Indianapolis 500 results coverage but plenty of NASCAR talk, etc……..
Guess that we will continue to be the best kept motorsports secret, which is not all that bad.
June 7, 2023 at 8:19 am
While I did not do the analysis of Sports Talk here in the Chicago area last week – what peaked my interest was that WGN-AM broadcast the ‘500’ and at least one prior race (Barber I think) – waiting to see if they are broadcasting more in the season. Some of this is due to how we ( or at least I ) spend most of my sports energy on auto racing, while most people I know find auto racing to be very niche. I was at Detroit and apparently annoying my brother with pointing out and talking to seemingly random people, who are part of the Indycar community, but not all mainstream. Even among racing fans at Detroit, I saw Tony Kanaan walking around by himself like any other average person – unrecognized or just not being bothered. To compare – as someone who does not care about horse racing at all, I watched the Kentucky Derby with my dad as he had it on; if you offered me a prize to tell you who won this year – I know it was an owner who had sold shares to lots of people, but I could not tell you the name of the horse or the jockey. I wouldn’t ask how Secretariat did.
June 7, 2023 at 8:59 am
Why I don’t know but I think that Santino would get more airwaves. Love him or hate him he is more interesting than media savvy Joseph Newgarden who is boring.
June 7, 2023 at 9:05 am
I agree that Ferrucci might have gotten more press than Newgarden had he won, but I expect that would have been primarily because Ferrucci drives for AJ Foyt.
June 7, 2023 at 9:26 am
Fair point however I still think Ferrucci is more interesting.
June 7, 2023 at 9:16 am
I believe it was announced that the Leader’s Circle payments had been cut slightly in order to put more money into the marketing budget, much to the consternation of the Racer.com comments section. I believe there has been a significant uptick in online advertising as a result, particularly through social media. Perhaps 100 Days To Indy consumes some of the marketing budget as well, at least the series efforts to promote the show.
Has it worked? Television ratings have been notably stagnant, but Peacock viewership has doubled (average in reported non-500 races last year was about 20,000/2% of viewership, over 40,000/4% of viewership this year). I expect the series has a good idea whether or not more people are engaging with the series and the races online as well.
Newgarden should prove to be a fairly popular winner, but becoming a local or national star isn’t easy, and cannot really be produced by formula or blank check.
June 7, 2023 at 9:16 am
I too am amazed at the lack of Indycar news in general. My girlfriend who was supposed to attend her first this year, but couldn’t for logistical reasons, had no idea about any of this. She doesn’t know anything about the Indianapolis 500, or even who AJ Foyt or Mario Andretti are, nothing about NASCAR at all, and is only distantly familiar with F1 but couldn’t name anyone or any tracks if her life depended on it. It really doesn’t surprise me though about Indycar when even on the national news, there was less than a 15 second spot about the race and who won. Outside of the 500, nothing. Local news said nothing. If they mention racing at all it’s usually NASCAR.
I ran into a young guy (20s) at the airport on the way home form the 500. Our flight was delayed so we started talking and I found out that he was very proud of just having purchased tickets to an F1 race for some ridiculous amount, but didn’t know much about the 500. He didn’t realize he could have had the best seats in the house at IMS, and still attended three other Indycar races for what he paid. Hopefully, he will go review the YouTube videos of Indycar and the 500, and maybe we’ll have another member of the Indycar Family, the best overall racing in the world!
June 7, 2023 at 10:55 am
“What is a blessing for Newgarden, is a curse for IndyCar.” Probably your best line ever — to the point and too true.
June 7, 2023 at 1:16 pm
It’s entirely IndyCar’s fault. Sorry, it is. All I can compare them to are other top tier racing series’. Look at the promotion and advertising of Nascar and F1 compared to IndyCar. No video game in the past 20 years. A snoozer of a 5-part show on a syndicated network no one watches. Commercials? Other than JJ’s Carvana ads last year, a few runs of that Butterball ad w/ RHR & Michael, and the ill-fated IZOD ads, we haven’t seen decent driver facetime in ads since the Vasser/Zinardi Target ads in the freakin’ late 1990s!
George mentioned the lack of PR staffing and budget in his post. That tells the story. They can’t fix what they don’t care to improve.
June 7, 2023 at 1:21 pm
I realize some of what I’m talking about there is sponsor related, not necessarily league PR, but if they promoted their talent more, perhaps sponsors would be more apt to include drivers in televised ads.
June 7, 2023 at 3:45 pm
The PR/marketing staffing (I believe there is STILL a significant open position in the department) and budget are huge issues for Indycar’s marketing, or lack thereof. However, I don’t think the challenge of marketing a sport that doesn’t presently occupy a high place in the American cultural order should be understated. It can be done successfully, but it quite often isn’t, and it is easy to throw good money after bad going down a marketing dead end in a modern fragmented media environment. 20 years ago CART depleted a “war chest” of $130 million in a season and a half in part by spending tens of millions of dollars of their own money in failed attempts to promote the series.
And 100 Days To Indy is a snoozer of a 6-part show on an over-the-air network that no one watches… Actually, it’s viewership compares well with early seasons of Drive To Survive… though I’m not terribly confident it will build an audience for itself or the sport as well as DTS did.
June 11, 2023 at 1:27 pm
It’s too bad the series is not on Amazon Prime. It was at times pedestrian, but I enjoyed Liz Power. I appreciated becoming more acquainted with some of the newer drivers.
June 7, 2023 at 8:34 pm
George all I can say is I think point is well said. I agree 100%. What amazed me is the lack of proper promotion
June 8, 2023 at 7:19 am
In my city we have 4 daily newspapers and every year one of them is chosen (ahem) to be “The Official Newspaper of The Toronto Indy”. Guess how the other newspapers treat the race? Yes, invisible. Won’t touch it.
Same with radio and TV.
I guess the promoter made money selling the rights, but at what cost to the series?
June 8, 2023 at 8:47 pm
Nice article George, keep up the good work. Don’t have the answer as to why Indy car doesn’t have the appeal you and I think it should have.