I was thinking about the press releases that some tracks send out… If they are going to reporters and editors who make their living writing about community service projects, elementary school events and the latest damn art show, its safe to say that they will never be interested in our sport. So how can we get their attention? I have an unusual approach.
What if we pitch it to them in a different way? Call it recycling. After all, we are taking rusty junk from the side of the road, or from someone’s back yard, and transforming it into something flashy colored and interesting.
Reporters and the public love causes. If they thought our sport had any sort of positive impact on the environment, in this case its the push to “reduce, reuse and recycle”, maybe they would bite. We would be crazy to try to push our sport as environmentally friendly. After all, we are all about green house gasses, leaded fuel and mountains of used tires! Lets conveniently leave those out of the presentation, and focus instead on the recycling aspect.
For example, wouldn’t it be cool to record the construction progress that shows how a 30 year old rust bucket turns into a Saturday night racecar? I think it would make a compelling 3 minute feature for the news, especially if women, or “the under-priveledged” were involved in the construction. Either way, the local track could get some free publicity, and that is the whole idea.