How To Make A Race Fan In Ten Minutes Or Less
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08/19/2015 Jeremiah Thalheimer |
Anyone who has been around racing will tell you that in order to
grow the sport, we have to get young people into racing. While much
effort has been made toward getting kids and their families to Cup,
Xfinity, and Truck races, I believe we need to start by introducing kids
to racing at the local level. One of my coworkers at Irwindale had a
saying: If you hook the kids, you hook the parents. During my season
there, I witnessed how a few short minutes with a driver can turn a
family of four into race fans.
During the summer of 2010, I managed to talk my friends Nick and Heather into bringing their two kids - Isaac and Kylie - to Irwindale one Saturday night. After the races, I invited them to bring the kids down to see the pits. When they arrived, they mentioned that Isaac had pulled for the car that ended up winning the race, so I decided to take them over to his pit to meet the driver, Mike Johnson. Mike came out of his hauler and gave Isaac a high five and then picked him up and put him on top of his car and took a picture with him. He then put him in the car for another picture and finished off by giving Isaac the hat he had received for winning the race. The whole exchange took less than ten minutes and gained Mike four new fans.
During the summer of 2010, I managed to talk my friends Nick and Heather into bringing their two kids - Isaac and Kylie - to Irwindale one Saturday night. After the races, I invited them to bring the kids down to see the pits. When they arrived, they mentioned that Isaac had pulled for the car that ended up winning the race, so I decided to take them over to his pit to meet the driver, Mike Johnson. Mike came out of his hauler and gave Isaac a high five and then picked him up and put him on top of his car and took a picture with him. He then put him in the car for another picture and finished off by giving Isaac the hat he had received for winning the race. The whole exchange took less than ten minutes and gained Mike four new fans.
As cool as this story is, it doesn’t end there. A few weeks later,
Nick and Heather brought the kids back for another night at the races.
They were all excited about cheering for Mike, but this time someone
else would be vying for Isaac’s fandom: Lightning McQueen. Since the
Lightning McQueen car had been so popular, Tim Huddleston decided to
bring it back for a second race. Young Isaac now had a dilemma: should
he root for Mike Johnson or Lightning McQueen?
When the green flag dropped for the late models, Isaac - like so many other young fans - cheered for Lightning. However, a few laps later he switched back to rooting for Mike (he reasoned Lightning probably wouldn’t give him a hat). After the race, the family came to the pits again and went straight for Mike Johnson’s pit. They did end up visiting Lightning as well, but only as an afterthought.
This demonstrates how just a few short minutes can get and entire family into racing. In addition to personal experiences such as this, local short tracks offer families trying to get their kids into racing other benefits as well. First of all, they are very affordable. Admission is usually around $15 and younger fans are often admitted at discounted rates or even free of charge. Second, the show isn’t near as long as a Cup race. This is important since younger fans may have a difficult time sitting through a four hour Cup race. Also, most local short tracks feature multiple classes of racing, and the breaks in between races give young fans time to visit the restrooms and concession stands. Lastly, young fans can “grow up” with their driver. Many drivers at the local level are teenagers or young adults, and fans can follow them as they progress through the ranks. Who knows, the driver that signs an autograph for a young fan at a local track may just one day hit it big and race on our TVs on Sundays. Fans can then beam with pride as they tell their friends “I saw him race back when.”
When the green flag dropped for the late models, Isaac - like so many other young fans - cheered for Lightning. However, a few laps later he switched back to rooting for Mike (he reasoned Lightning probably wouldn’t give him a hat). After the race, the family came to the pits again and went straight for Mike Johnson’s pit. They did end up visiting Lightning as well, but only as an afterthought.
This demonstrates how just a few short minutes can get and entire family into racing. In addition to personal experiences such as this, local short tracks offer families trying to get their kids into racing other benefits as well. First of all, they are very affordable. Admission is usually around $15 and younger fans are often admitted at discounted rates or even free of charge. Second, the show isn’t near as long as a Cup race. This is important since younger fans may have a difficult time sitting through a four hour Cup race. Also, most local short tracks feature multiple classes of racing, and the breaks in between races give young fans time to visit the restrooms and concession stands. Lastly, young fans can “grow up” with their driver. Many drivers at the local level are teenagers or young adults, and fans can follow them as they progress through the ranks. Who knows, the driver that signs an autograph for a young fan at a local track may just one day hit it big and race on our TVs on Sundays. Fans can then beam with pride as they tell their friends “I saw him race back when.”