Q: I enjoyed your article on Zak Brown joining the IndyCar marketing taskforce. Any idea who else is on the team or is it still forming?
I may be reading too much into it, but with an extensive list of marketing failures I’d like to suggest they change the name to Fan Engagement. A lot of sports franchises have embraced not just the name, but the difference in focus from old-fashioned marketing. I’m just a fan, not pretending to be any kind of marketer, but there’s a lot of literature on the subject.
Growing the sport in a competitive environment is a lot more than just selling ads. I’m sure you aren’t aware that IndyCar just disenfranchised a bunch of fans when someone decided to disable their app on all Android tablets with the excuse that it wasn’t “optimized,” which also cuts us off from in-car video during races. Not exactly the best way to engage fans — don’t tell them what they want, ask them and then give it to them.
John, Madison, WI
MP: I read that Meyer Shank Racing co-owner and former SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer was on the list. We had another marketing failure last weekend.
A friend in the media who’s involved more on the promotions side sent me a text and asked for a contact at IndyCar who could help connect him with a friend he was bringing to Long Beach, and I happily obliged.
His friend, the host/star of “The Mannii Show,” is an influencer with 36 million combined followers across YouTube (10.8M), TikTok (24m), and Instagram (1.2m).
He would have been excited to collaborate with IndyCar and do his comedic skits in and around the series while at Long Beach. But that didn’t happen. Because IndyCar never responded.
Multiple outreaches were made to IndyCar over three days (which I’ve since seen) and no replies were received or found in his SPAM folder. Nothing was asked for — no money, etc.
An email was then sent to IMSA and a reply was received 41 minutes later and the collaboration was on.
So, he and Mannii then spent their time filming in the IMSA paddock, where they were welcomed with open arms. Mannii was given full access to the paddock, shot inside transporters, put on race suits, and so on. His social posts from the event will place a large and influencing spotlight on the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and its teams and cars, rather than on IndyCar.
According to my friend, Mannii was mobbed everywhere they went by kids who were blown away to see him at the race.
I’ve got to be honest here: I don’t follow any influencers or care about such things. It’s not my generation and I’d never heard of Mannii. But those things don’t matter. What does matter is someone like Mannii, who is young and has a massive base of followers who are of a similar age, is precisely the demographic IndyCar needs to recruit to survive.
It’s not like having Mannii on their side at Long Beach was going to double IndyCar’s social followers, but when you’ve got someone who can reach 36,000,000 people who might not know about the series, it wouldn’t have hurt to make a new ally. Imagine if IndyCar hired McLaren to help with marketing and promotions… I’d bet Mannii would have been front and center all weekend.
Good on IMSA for making the effort, making a new friend, and reaping the rewards.
Q: In response to Jerry from Houston:
Jake Murray
MP: Firehawk isn’t just for the kids.
Also, is this the place where I should acknowledge the presence of Firehawk’s evil twin, Murderhawk? And you can also follow Jerry from Houston who might not actually be Jerry from Houston.
Q: What is wrong with Jerry from Houston?
Steve
MP: Good old Jerry got hammered pretty hard in the responses I’ve seen in reaction to his call for Firehawk to be put down. The fine folks at Firestone, and Firehawk, hated to see the harsh reactions, so they sent me this to share.
In last week’s @RACERmag Mailbag, ‘Jerry from Houston’ said @FirestoneRacing IndyCar mascot Firehawk needed to be put down.
Firehawk has a message for Jerry: pic.twitter.com/hAZtktVLZr
— Marshall Pruett (@marshallpruett) April 23, 2024
And Jerry, if you want, they’ve offered to mail you the signed hero card, so just share your address and Firestone will get you sorted, introduce you to Firehawk at a race and show you inside their trackside racing tire operation.
Q: Listening to your latest podcast, you mentioned you expect the first couple of days of official practice for the 500 to be very busy due to the open test being cut so short. Any chance IndyCar increases the number of tire sets allowed for the 500 event to allow teams to run more to make up for the lost track time? I doubt it, but you never know.
Don Weidig, Canton, OH
MP: It’s a great idea, but that’s not a decision IndyCar can make in isolation. That would be for Firestone, all due to the fact that teams sign annual leases with the tire company that cost a fair bit and comes with a fixed amount of tire sets in the same way they sign engine leases that provide four motors for the year. With the heavy amount of running available in practice, I wouldn’t expect any extra tire allowances.
Q: In your April 10 Mailbag you mentioned that “Mario penned the forward to an upcoming A.J. book.” Do you have any more information on the book, author, publisher, date it is coming out?
Joe Mullins
MP: Of course. It’s said to be an exhaustive biography, and I’m told it should be confirmed and announced in the next month or so.
Q: I saw an interview with Jeff Gordon in which he said Hendrick Motorsports is looking to diversify its racing footprint (especially following the Garage 56 project). What are the chances that Hendrick takes over the Cadillac IMSA/WEC programs?
Jonathan and Cleide Morris, Ventura, CA
MP: It would be an amazing future development, but not one that’s happening now.
Q: Have you heard any plans for the Toronto Indy in 2025 and 2026? BMO Field will need extensive renovations to prepare and host the FIFA World Cup.
Andrew Hancock, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
MP: I shared your inquiry with the event’s promoter and they did not respond, Andrew.