are you racing NCATS next year BAR?

I agree somewhat with what Ross and BAR are trying to say here but lets face it, NASCAR is NASCAR because of promotion and hype. You can't even see a "CASCAR" race live on TV for s**ts sake! TSN shows bowling or darts or some other crap stuff. When they do show the races it is cut up so badly that its hard to watch. Blackouts don't work, interest has to be cultivated. Look at the Super Bowl and the Grey Cup. The Super Bowl is CRAP year after year and the Grey Cup is way better football but what happens in Canada? Super Bowl partys etc because it is percieved to be "better" or despite Canadian's superiority complex we still flock to American stuff. Its the same with singers actors etc. They aren't seen to have "made it" until they have made it in the States and then after the novelty wears off we crap on them. The product sadly doesn't matter to all but the faithful. All the tracks in Ontario, and maybe Canada as a whole, need to form some sort of association and cross promote. Core fans are great but you need to fill those seats every week that are warmed by people who only go to one or two races a year. When was the last time you saw or heard of Peter Gibbons at a Crappy Tire or Donny Thompson at a Home Hardware? Tony Stewart did Home Depots in Canada. I have seen Gibbons show car at a Crappy Tire before but no driver so so what. Going to things like home shows etc is great PR, doesn't break the bank and adds value for sponsers. I realize that these guys have other responsibilities outside racing but you can't have your cake and eat it too. I may be blowing smoke out my butt here but as a fan these are things that I observe. I'd like to hear from those of you in the business am I out to lunch or do I have some merit?

Ernie, the cost of doing a live show is huge, especially when the races wld be competing with CFL/MLB and even a few NASCAR shows. They could never make any money...it is purely financial. Darts and Pool cost little to put on the air as those shows are packaged by another station/company and are then sold for pittles to ESPN/TSN/Sportsnet

When was the last time you saw or heard of Peter Gibbons at a Crappy Tire or Donny Thompson at a Home Hardware?

Hey Ernie, Jacombs Racing, Walmart, Pro Sports Management and many others behind the scene did our best to get the #7 & #27 cars out to different Walmarts' across the country. Vernon & Riverside come to mind. The drivers were there too signing autographs. We had Andrew's oval car sitting right in the front lobby of our hotel in Montreal. The drivers did a special diner appearance thing in the hotel reastaurant as well. Our drivers were always being whisked away to promotional things, at and off the track. The day we did the M&M's thing, Andrew flew in from Quebec, Alex from Vegas and me and 2 other crew members drove up in the hauler to do the show (it takes a few guys to unload & prep the cars).

And I saw other teams doing the same last year, Erb was off doing their thing in Edmonton at the IH dealership, Fitzpatrick's team I saw at Home Hardware in Vernon, I had better not forget Jason with the A&W guys in BC., etc., etc.. I'm sure I saw Gibbons at Canadian Tire and I'm sure I heard Beauchamp was @ Dodge. I know our sponsor and management team even have their own show car and hauler doing shows as well, I've seen them in St. Eustache and Edmonton.

It's a hard thing to accomplish though logistically and financially. Most of us are volunteers, so yes, when we're in town for a race, we'll do some shows. We even went up to M&M's and did a little show for the employee's up there. I can remember when Whitlock used to have Ford for a sponsor, they used to come down to the plant in Oakville, we even had Bill Elliott's car on display down there.

Anyway I think these deals are all lined up prior to the contracts, sponsorships, etc., being signed and it's basically up to the sponsor & promotors to set this sort of thing up, and it is to their advantage, for sure, but like I say, sometimes it's hard to get all the stars aligned. I'm almost positive this was all agreed upon for this season before this thread was even started.

It all comes down to dollars and cents in the long run too! I think one of the reasons the teams have gone to the big haulers is because it's a promotional thing as well. But anyway Ernie, I'll ask Ford if they'll reconsider offering me the package again, and I'll gladly go on the road full time promoting Walmart, if Walmart wants to hire me full time? lol.  Now if we can get Ford to help sponsor us, I wouldn't even have to quit, the promotors could work something out amongst themselves and I'll stay on Ford's payroll??? 😉

I think you'll find in the states, it's the promotional companies working for and in conjunction with the sponsors & the teams that do the shows at various places and or the teams factor the promotional stuff in prior to contract time and have a separate team & equipment just to do this sort of stuff. That's like the Subway car of Carpentier's  or the 26 Crown Royal car that I have seen at different places in Canada. Just like there are separate vendor companies that haul & sell the team wares down south. Both Andrew & Alex had tents up at different vendor areas at some of our races last year selling t-shirts, hats, etc... for their fans.

Don't get me wrong Ernie, I'd like to see more promotional stuff too, I remember when Tony had the vendor trailers, I for one, pressured him on this prior, but when I reflect back, I think it was more of a pain in the butt than anything for him and I doubt if he made any profit? What Zellar's did this year, I thought was good, having Carpentier's 22 diecast for sale. Too bad Walmart didn't have a 7 & 27 car, even a plastic hauler, I would have bought a ton of them? 😉
Ya and there's no reason why Home Hardware & Cdn. Tire don't have diecasts & plastic cars for sale again as well. I even aquired a Giant Tiger car years ago!

I think Beyond Digital Imaging was doing an awesome job getting souvenirs out to the fans. I know I kept pestering them for some of our team stuff, which they did get for us by years end, but what they explained to me too was, they had to get everyone concerned to sign off or whatever on copy rights, etc., etc, before they could go out and make up stuff with our sponsors names on. I"ll bet Evan, it you were to talk with them, you could probably set something up, to sell their stuff on here and make a comission???

Anyway Ernie, it's a complicated affair, but it is doable to a certain extend and is being done somewhat. 😉

This is why I like this site. Different perspectives, experience related info. Thayne and Auto, great info and obsevations. Thanx for the responses and I will take them to heart.