The winter of 2023 has been an offseason of discontent within the NTT IndyCar Series. In particular, the past 10 days have revealed some unsettling realities that require immediate and thoughtful attention following confirmation of another delay of the mild hybrid powertrain formula that was originally set to debut at the start of the 2023 season, then delayed until 2024 and is now delayed yet again.
RACER’s North American correspondent, Marshall Pruett filed an exclusive story on Friday December 8, that contained American Honda motorsport manager Chuck Schifsky‘s clear message to the leadership at Penske Entertainment that the cost versus value equation no longer made sense to the management team at American Honda Motor, Inc. headquarters in Torrance, CA.
I will add that I cannot imagine that Chuck Schifsky was acting perniciously and without the support of his teammates at American Honda. During my 50 years working inside the sport, I’ve witnessed six departures by manufacturers from IndyCar racing. Chuck did everyone with a stake in the outcome a huge favor by delivering a reality check with ample time to rectify the issues he raised on behalf of Honda.
It has been said that one of the hardest things to do in marketing is to get someone to notice you or your product, but it is even harder to persuade them to care about you and your product.
In that context it is important to mention that there were more than 11,000 shares from RACER.com’s story featuring Chuck Schifsky’s powerful remarks and an astonishing 1122 comments on the story page from our RACER audience of devoted NTT IndyCar series fans. RACER’s follow-up story outlining Honda’s proposal to control costs generated a further 8,000+ shares from our site and an additional 359 comments.
It is now obvious that someone noticed, and that someone cares. In particular, the most competitive and competent someone on planet Earth noticed and cares – and he is personally on the case.
His name is Roger S. Penske and I never bet against him and his unique abilities to deliver success from the turbulence and chaos of racing, business and life. I can only imagine what actions he and the Penske Entertainment team have taken in the days following the posting of the story on our site.
I’ll admit that Roger Penske is my hero and I’ve known and respected Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles and IndyCar president Jay Frye for many years. So, I strongly suspect that they were far from thrilled that RACER published a story that generated such energy. But I am certain that they understand one very important thing about our RACER team…
We work for you, our audience.
You are our reason for being. We win when you care about the sport that we all love and have devoted our lives to.
I write this on the 44th anniversary of the founding of our company – that began on December 18, 1979 at the end of the first year of the CART vs USAC war for control of IndyCar racing. I personally created the video (posted below – chapter 9) to commemorate the origin story of RACER, and to celebrate the courage and commitment of racers everywhere to get to the future, faster.
The Indy 500 and the IndyCar series has been my North Star since I was nine years old. The sport captured my attention and made me care like nothing else has or ever will.
The Indianapolis 500 taught me the power of now.
This is because the sport creates meaning, defined by risk and extreme consequences. It is also a perfect metaphor for our collective mortal race against time – and the fear that might keep us from living our dreams before we die.
For IndyCar, this is the moment to win the race to what is next, and prove it is worthy of the greatness that the Indy 500’s legacy has bestowed upon it.
This moment is not really about controlling costs, or mere entertainment. Instead, the sport has always been about inspiration, in all its vibrant dimensions. Ultimately this moment is about the having vision to create lasting value. This will only happen if the power of dreams is embraced.
No one knows this better than The Captain, who has guided his legendary team to victory 19 times at the world’s greatest racecourse.
Now the bigger race is on to preserve Roger Penske’s, the Indy 500’s and the NTT IndyCar series’ unrivaled combined legacy. The only way to win this ultimate race to immortality is to look beyond this moment to create something truly worthy of devotion for generations yet to come.