Knoxville Raceway looks forward to growth in 2007
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Knoxville, Iowa – by Bruce Neimeth
The announcement of Knoxville Raceways schedule for 2007 reflects the efforts and results of improvements, upgrades and new elements introduced in 2005 and 2006. Add to this the recent news that there will once again be one dominant national sprint car series and Knoxville looks forward to growth in fan attendance and sponsorships.
Motor Sports in general has acknowledged that we are in competition for the entertainment dollar with everything from movies to concerts to local and national baseball and football. For the short-track market we also are facing an aging fan base. The solutions, while not black magic, have required a mix of “staying with what has always worked” and taking advantage of contemporary communications methods and styles.
Communications changes have been the most noticeable. The present www.knoxvilleraceway.com web site was designed to be a timely, interesting and factual medium to share information with existing and targeted fans, participants and sponsors. It operates like a combination of a daily newspaper and weekly magazine with the added element of the immediacy of broadcast media, both audio and visual. For the 2006 season the audited reach included 106 million hits; just under 1 million unique visits, 30+ million page views and average time online exceeding 12 minutes. For major events time online exceeded 23 minutes online.
Seat sales also enjoyed a new communications vehicle with the introduction of the web based Knoxville Raceway ticketing system. In 2006 all reserved seats for six key events were available online, with actual seat selection and pricing levels. The same system was used for the Point of Sale system. The most noticeable benefits included over 26% of reserved seat sales occurring online, with ticket takers reporting “younger fans in their 20s and 30s ready to have their tickets scanned”. The system has also provided immediate attendance reports for General Admission each night, with pricing and promotional responses.
More than 56% of renewal sales just completed for the 2007 Super Clean Knoxville Nationals were done online, 24-hours a day, with buyers around the world. What used to take weeks to process took days.
Branding of the facility and key events has taken on a new look for 2007 that encompasses literature, tickets, at-track signage and advertising. The first positive responses have been from existing and new sponsor programs that are managed by executives that reflect the same contemporary fan demographics.
Sponsorships for 2007 and beyond have seen immediate and positive growth. Super Clean, the 2006 Knoxville Nationals title sponsor, has extended the agreement through 2008 with added at-track and national marketing and advertising. The addition of NOS energy drinks will strengthen our ongoing relationships with major beverage brands. The sponsors that have ongoing agreements in 2007 and beyond are working with us to utilize the new Knoxville Raceway branding at point-of-sale to reach their target markets.
Core events for Knoxville Raceway have always involved Sprint Cars. We pride ourselves in being identified as the “Sprint Car Capital of the World”. The Knoxville Championship Cup Series runs two premier weekly classes of Sprint Cars – “360s” and “410s” – with the season purses remaining steady and strong at $750,000 in cash and prizes. The “360” program, originally targeted to be a feeder series for the “410” program has taken on a life of its own. Car counts exceed 30; the racing is competitive and entertaining. There are drivers and teams that travel over 1100 miles each week. And once again we see new drivers from 2005 and 2006 moving up to the 410s for 2007 season. With costs between the 360 and 410 programs getting closer we need to develop that 3rd tier that is affordable and competitive as a feeder, and as a stand alone program.
Growth of the Sprint Car program for 2007 will come in the 2nd phase of our 305 winged Sprint Car program. In 2006 the 305s ran two shows, with times coming from the high 19s down to the high 17s, 5 or 6 drivers competing for the feature with fans on their feet cheering. For 2007 the 305 Sprint Cars will run 6 dates from April through September. The final event will be the introduction of the 3-day Knoxville Mid-West 305 Sprints Championship as a companion to the 3-day Late Model Nationals. They’ll race for points and a purse each night with the Finals on Saturday for the best 24 drivers and cars. We expect 50 cars.
47th Annual Super Clean Knoxville Nationals should see renewed positive fan and media exposure as one dominant national Sprint Car series with the top names will again compete over 90 times. This will help promoters and fans interest again on the highly competitive and exciting world of national Sprint Car racing. With the Nationals recognized as the Indy 500 of Sprint Car racing, we look to fill more seats and add more viewers to the live 3-hour TV broadcast on Speed Channel in August.
The 360 Nationals finally experienced the breakthrough year in fan attendance and media interest in 2006. Moving it to the beginning of Southern Iowa Speed Weeks that ends with the Super Clean Knoxville Nationals found many top 410 teams entering both events. Fans also saw the opportunity to extend what has always been a 4-6 day experience in August in Iowa, to a 10-day experience. We look for more of the same in 2007.
Newer Knoxville key event development took a major positive step in 2006 – one from a renewed spirit of cooperation and purpose by numerous regional and national series – the other from a format change as a result of lingering perceived differences among regional series.
The Annual Pepsi/Mt. Dew Knoxville Midget Nationals in 2006 saw a move “back to the future” as Knoxville invited USAC to return as the primary sanction after a 36 year absence. The objective was to foster a spirit and functional program of cooperation among many of the primary local and regional Midget series to all come together for a “showcase” event. While the first attempt was about 75% effective, with a few series “not quite sure”, and a 24-hour delay in running the A Main due to some Iowa rain, the event was a success. The racing was great, attendance significantly up, and no “shoe pounding” on the table. Everyone there “played nice”.
For 2007 the 6th Annual Pepsi/Mt. Dew Midget Nationals brings together 7 of the key series representing midget racing from coast-to-coast for a 2-day event that will pay national points to 5 of the series competitors, with all 7 aggressively promoting the event to their competitors and fans alike. The move to June 22 & 23rd makes the event a stand-alone while the IRL and IPS runs just up the road about 28 miles.
Late Model racing, considered today to be the fastest growing type of short track racing, is not new to Knoxville Raceway. Since 1954 Knoxville has hosted 37 major regional and national Late Model events from 30-laps to 200-laps in length. Sanctions have included, IMCA, LODLMS, NDRA, NASCAR, UMP, USAC, Xtreme, WDRL and WoO. Competitors have included, Foyt, Stott, Hutcherson, Derr, White, Hartman, Moyer, Aukland, Miller, Eckert, Birkhofer, Mars, Bloomquist and Shirley. With that pedigree Knoxville Raceway introduced the Inaugural Knoxville Late Model Nationals in 2004. Between cold weather and escalating fuel prices we still gained a sold foothold going into the 2006 3rd Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals.
2006 Knoxville Late Model Nationals was a turning point in our commitment to our version of the Brickyard 400. From driver resistance to pre-entering, unloading in the infield, and the unique Knoxville Raceway points system that makes every lap on the racetrack count, we finished the 3-days with a “winner” according to competitors and fans alike with solid attendance. A break in the weather and a little help from our NASCAR friends “didn’t” hurt either.
The 2007 4th Annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals promises to be another positive step in building the event. All of the 66 competitors will run a complete program each night with a solid purse totaling $219,900 for the 3-days. All teams will park in the infield for 3-days while assuring fans of good visibility of the entire race track. Fans will have easy access to the drivers and teams daily. Reserved seats go online January 15th. Speed Channel will again broadcast the event on a one-week tape delay the following Saturday night.
Based on everything that has happened to date, from the renewed spirit of cooperation between series and venues, cooperation between series themselves, better understanding of the working relationships between drivers, teams and venues, and a promise of nothing but blue skies, Knoxville Raceway looks forward to growth in 2007.
Knoxville Raceway hosts weekly events from April through September, including 305, 360 and 410 sprint cars, late models and midgets. Other special events include the World of Outlaws, the 17th Annual 360 Nationals, 4th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals and the 6th Annual USAC Pepsi/Mt. Dew Midget Nationals.
For more information, contact Bruce Neimeth at: brucen@knoxvilleraceway.com or call (641) 842-5431 from 8am to 5pm M-F and 10am to 2pm on Saturdays.
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