Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

[Guest]

http://airrace.org/stihl-signs-on-as...hip-air-races/

[supercub]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

Sounds good to me.

[N22252]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

Excellent! I just had a weed whacker failure. Now I know where to shop.

[ignomini]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

Great news. That TV coverage really helps.

[Desertdawg]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

Right on.

Last year after seeing the Sports Class #30 Stihl plane I replaced 4 of my most used power gardening tools for Stihl.

After a life time of loyalty to Craftman, their made in China products slowly lost me.

Stihl's Made in the USA advertising and selling through local dealers was the ticket. Our dealer is RC Engines on 4th street.

Out went Craftsman leaf blower, chain saw, weed trimmer and hedger, in came replacements from Stihl.

They are on their second season and I couldn't be happier.

Thank you Stihl, you'll have my loyalty.

[Idaho_cowpony]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

Big fan of STIHL here as well. Many years logging have taught me that they reign superior in quality and performance.

- Joseph

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

Right on.

Last year after seeing the Sports Class #30 Stihl plane I replaced 4 of my most used power gardening tools for Stihl.

After a life time of loyalty to Craftman, their made in China products slowly lost me.

Stihl's Made in the USA advertising and selling through local dealers was the ticket. Our dealer is RC Engines on 4th street.

Out went Craftsman leaf blower, chain saw, weed trimmer and hedger, in came replacements from Stihl.

They are on their second season and I couldn't be happier.

Thank you Stihl, you'll have my loyalty.

NASCAR survives by fan/sponsor loyalty! I don't know exactly how to go about it but, we just have to get breakfast cereal makers to endorse air racing... get kids interested in airplanes, flying them, fixing them!!!!!!!

[Sky Critter]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

The big difference I see between Air Racing and NASCAR is that the NASCAR fans are first and foremost fans of the DRIVER, not the car. I think we need to start really promoting the pilots, their experiences and personalities to gain more fan support in air racing. I've been in the stands on many Sundays and hear the people around me having no idea who the pilots are. The hardcore air racing fans and insiders know the pilots and their stories but, we're not the ones that are going to make or break the future of the air races.

[Reever]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

The big difference I see is that NASCAR is on a major network every weekend. That's what sponsors like.

[AAFO_WSagar]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

The big difference I see is that NASCAR is on a major network every weekend. That's what sponsors like.

Exactly and this is the model that *anyone* wishing to cover/promote the sport needs to look at. The new draw from the "run what you brung" "race on Sunday/buy on Monday", that is Sport Class Air Racing might well, with proper support (fans, media, venue, all of the above and more) fill the bill????

Anyway, my point being, look at NASCAR if you need a model for success!

A HIT movie that points fans to the sport doesn't hurt.... (oh that Thunder over Reno could not have been to NCAR what Days of Thunder was to NASCAR!)

[Big_Jim]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

The big difference I see between Air Racing and NASCAR is that the NASCAR fans are first and foremost fans of the DRIVER, not the car. I think we need to start really promoting the pilots, their experiences and personalities to gain more fan support in air racing. I've been in the stands on many Sundays and hear the people around me having no idea who the pilots are.

I understand what you are saying, but I respectfully disagree. Unlimiteds are different and always have been.

In the last four years, Strega has had four different pilots....Stevo, Matt Jackson, Tiger, and Hoot....add Ron Hevle and Curt Brown to the overall list. How many pilots did Dago Red have over the years? (8...Hevle, Brickert, Preston, Cote, Price, Lockwood, Holm, and Martin). How many pilots has Miss America had over the years? (8...Keefe, Baker, Beck, Granley, Hall, Twombly, Preston, Hisey). Rare Bear? (6...Shelton, Pate, Penney, Jackson, Bucarelli, Dawson). Dreadnought? (5--Anderson, Brickert, Sanders x2, Jackson). Voodoo? (8--Williams, Hannah, Smoot, Jackson, Brown, Button, Whiteside, Hinton).

None of those planes have ever lost fan popularity because of someone different in the seat. For most race fans, the driver is secondary at best, doesn't matter at worst. It's the plane. It always has been. Miss America and Rare Bear are (for the most part) the same airframes that started racing at Reno in 1969.

In NASCAR (or most other forms of motorsports), Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a team with 10 cars, and the one he drives at Daytona isn't the one he drives at Martinsville...and certainly not the same care he drove 3 years ago, let alone the one that was destroyed in the 10 car wreck. Over the course of a season he may have 5 or 6 different title sponsors and assorted paint jobs. That pretty much drives the 'driver loyalty' aspect of car racing which isn't present in air racing.

Just my .02

[N22252]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

In air racing we have "propeller loyalty" Two Unlimiteds that aren't racing this year have legions of fans who have followed the history and politics of their respective custom 3-bladed and 6-bladed designs for decades.

[Guest]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

I struggle with the comparisons o fNCAR to NASCAR on several levels. First and foremost, NASCAR holds 36 Sprint Cup races per season...not to mention the various other levels of NASCAR racing (Infinity, Camping World Truck, etc.). NCAR holds one race per "season." One. Very difficult to establish, maintain and cultivate loyalty between fans and "teams" when you only see them 5 days a year...all in a single week.
Second, NASCAR races cars and trucks. Fans identify with "operating" a car or truck because they drive one every day. They understand, or at least can appreciate on an informed level, what it takes to race a vehicle. The overwhelming majority of NCAR fans aren't even pilots, let alone pilots capable of even entertaining the thought of rounding the pylons at these speeds. It's no wonder NCAR fans identify with the aircraft more so than the guys and gals pulling the levers.
NCAR has never and likely will never rise to the level of interest that NASCAR, IndyCar, F1, NHRA, or any other form of “automobile” racing has achieved.
H-1 Unlimited Hydroplane racing suffers from the same syndrome and has for as long as NCAR has. It's not an accident that these two racing entities (H-1 and NCAR) are so closely related on this matter and others, and have been for over 50 years. While more fans may own a boat, there's precious little understanding of what it takes to push an H-1 hydro around a 2 or 2.5 mile race course.
I much prefer to push NCAR to build its own fan base through some of the various methods it's used in the past and continues to explore. Fan/family-friendly environment, Drone Zones, carnival areas, interactive media, NBC Sports and a variety of other options designed to hook the next generation. While we must continue to "preach to the choir" of those who attend regardless of the number and types of entries (e.g. virtually everyone reading this blog), if this sport is to survive for another half-century, we'll need to ensure the next generation is burning with the fire of the newly baptized.
My $0.02…
FLY LOW, FLY FAST, TURN LEFT!

[Sky Critter]

Re: Some Good New RE: Sponsorship for 2016 & 2017

I understand what you are saying, but I respectfully disagree. Unlimiteds are different and always have been.

In the last four years, Strega has had four different pilots....Stevo, Matt Jackson, Tiger, and Hoot....add Ron Hevle and Curt Brown to the overall list. How many pilots did Dago Red have over the years? (8...Hevle, Brickert, Preston, Cote, Price, Lockwood, Holm, and Martin). How many pilots has Miss America had over the years? (8...Keefe, Baker, Beck, Granley, Hall, Twombly, Preston, Hisey). Rare Bear? (6...Shelton, Pate, Penney, Jackson, Bucarelli, Dawson). Dreadnought? (5--Anderson, Brickert, Sanders x2, Jackson). Voodoo? (8--Williams, Hannah, Smoot, Jackson, Brown, Button, Whiteside, Hinton).

None of those planes have ever lost fan popularity because of someone different in the seat. For most race fans, the driver is secondary at best, doesn't matter at worst. It's the plane. It always has been. Miss America and Rare Bear are (for the most part) the same airframes that started racing at Reno in 1969.

In NASCAR (or most other forms of motorsports), Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a team with 10 cars, and the one he drives at Daytona isn't the one he drives at Martinsville...and certainly not the same care he drove 3 years ago, let alone the one that was destroyed in the 10 car wreck. Over the course of a season he may have 5 or 6 different title sponsors and assorted paint jobs. That pretty much drives the 'driver loyalty' aspect of car racing which isn't present in air racing.

Just my .02

I totally get and agree with what you're saying. My post was in response to Wayne's regarding getting new fan loyalty. The younger generation does not have the same attachment to the warbirds as we do. I'm a huge Rare Bear and PM fan and have been attending the races most every year since '86. I try to bring newbees with me as often as I can but, my newbee friends are just as interested in the Sport and Jet class as they are in the Unlimiteds. With the exception of a few aircraft, the Sport fans just aren't attached to the plane.

I can't count how many posts and comments I've seen over the years saying "If I had the money, I'd buy/build such-and-such an airplane and get Kerch as crew chief and Holm to fly it. I agree that the Unlimiteds are a bit different in this regard but, I stand by my comment that the new fans need someone rather than something to get attached to. Race pilots are rock stars in my book and I think that's one of the keys to the future of air racing as the warbirds become more rare and costly to campaign.

Sponsorship is a tough one. Air racing, in it's current form, will never be a quarterly TV event much less weekly. And that's what sponsors need to get involved at the level we see in NASCAR. Our company was approached back in 2012 about sponsoring a NASCAR Camping World Truck team. Primary sponsorship would have been in ten's of millions per year. Breitling, by the way, is one of the prime sponsors for Red Bull Air Races now.

I am by no means an expert on any of this. I'm just a guy that has been wondering the pits during the week and sitting in the stands on Sunday afternoon. I just feel we need to do something different to keep our favorite sport alive and growing...