Essay on Indy Car

Submitted By ace1216
Words: 1258
Pages: 6
Open Document
Indy Car Case Study

By
Jacen Hessey
March 25, 2015

MKTG 6800
Dr. Don Roy

Background

IndyCar was started in 1978 under the formulation of CART. CART is open wheel racing. CART was formulated when 18 of 21 teams left USAC. Tony George, the President of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, lead the way for the CART racing in the United States. In 1994 he created an open wheel league called the IRL. Starting in 1996 the IRL would compete against the CART league. Naturally a feud struck up between the two leagues. Stock car racing was the number one auto-racing venue in the United States. Open wheel racing was number three.
The IRL had continuous problems with sponsors, venues, financials, and fan basses. The league did not even have a dedicated marketing staff until 2001. The IRL tried to rebound by bringing in celebrities in to try to revitalize the IRL’s appeal.
Essentially, there are two major car-racing sports in the United States that are competing for market share. NASCAR is a stock car racing entity. They were founded in the 1950s. They currently have three racing circuits in the United States. They have 36 races annually. They primarily race on oval tracks. On the other side there is Formula 1 racing. This is an open-wheel series of racing. They have a global presence racing in countries like Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, United States, etc. Formula 1 has more international flair as opposed to NASCAR.
Tony George resigned as IndyCar CEO in July 2009. In 2010, Randy Bernard became the CEO of IndyCar. His previous tenure was with the Professional Bull Riders. Bernard brought some positivity and pumped new life into IndyCar. Viewership went up as well as race attendance. IndyCar also gained several more key corporate sponsorships.

Problem Definition

IndyCar has a desire to gain market share over NASCAR. One of the key problems I see with IndyCar is their competition. NASCAR has an edge over IndyCar. Within that problem lies another issue. IndyCar has too much emphasis on International markets and not so much in the United States. Ultimately, I see the problem being that IndyCar has more International focus than United States concentration in their marketing. This could in turn be an opportunity for IndyCar in the future.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

IndyCar is a unique type of auto racing
Open wheel racing is where cars have wheels located outside of the body of the racecar. Where as NASCAR (or stock cars) are underneath the car. Also, the engines are in the rear of the car as opposed to the front.
IRL had several celebrities endorsing IndyCar
Celebrities draw people in. People like David Letterman, Carmelo Anthony, Jim Harbaugh and Patrick Dempsey are famous faces that can help attract people to the sport.
Danica Patrick
Her presence helped gain event attendance, merchandise sales, website traffic, and television ratings during her rookie season alone. She is a standout athlete in IndyCar’s pocket.
International presence
IndyCar races in Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, and the United States. NASCAR races in the United States in the United States.

Weaknesses

New CEO, Randy Bernard
This could be a possible weakness. He has previous experience with The Bull Riders Association. This could put him in a whole new element and he may not be geared for this position. Additionally, CEOs are not known for their long term stays with a company.
The division between NASCAR and Formula 1
This could possibly hurt IndyCar. This could create confusion among potential fans.
Not enough races or not enough venues
The target markets could be off. Fan bases could not be conveniently located near a racetrack in order for them to attend.

Opportunities

Global expansion
Formula 1 has the opportunity to take NASCAR globally. Since Formula 1 has the international presence, they could carry
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Indy Car

Robert A. Butler Background

owner of several car dealerships across the Indiana area with his father, Robert G. Butler, the Butlers run Butler Auto Group. Just like his father, he believes in the power of family and giving back to the community. Upon graduating Ball State University in Muncie, Robert wasn’t sure he wanted to follow his father’s footsteps into the family business right away. So, with the guidance of his dad, he entered into multiple ventures with his childhood friend–establishing both a car rental and boating…

Words 202 - Pages 1

Memorial Day Research Paper

Each Memorial Day weekend, a well-known car race is held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. This year, I happened to be watching it on television towards the end of the race. I could tell by the cheers of the crowd, that there was something rather exciting going on. The announcer voices, "He's running out of gas!" He repeatedly stated that the car at the front of the race was indeed trying to finish the race, but was actually running out of gas, which questioned whether he would…

Words 307 - Pages 2

Indianapolis: A Place To Live In Sports

part of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and play in the Eastern Conference. The Fever are the current WNBA World Champions. In the team’s history, they have made playoff appearances seven times and hold two conference titles. The Indy Eleven is a soccer team formed in 2013. They will compete in the North American Soccer League and play their home games at IU Michael A. Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium. They are set to start play in the 2014 season. The Indiana Ice, a Tier 1 hockey…

Words 1969 - Pages 8

Automobiles: The Journey from Invention Till Date Essay

Nov. 2013. . Bottorff, William. "What Was The First Car? A Quick History of the Automobile for Young People." The First Car. n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. . "The Impact of the Automobile on the 20th Century." The History of the Automobile. n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. . "The Invention of the Modern Automobile." The Invention of the Modern Automobile. n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013. . Trivett, Vincent. "What you don't know about Google's self-driving cars." MarketWatch. 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013. .…

Words 498 - Pages 2

Essay on Quad 4 Engine

publicized events featuring such cars as the Oldsmobile Aerotech. Another such event was the 1988 Indianapolis 500, when Oldsmobile was chosen to pace the Indy 500 with a convertible version of their Cutlass Supreme, and a pre-production turbocharged Quad 4 was the engine of choice for their pace car. Although it was publicized in 1988 that the Quad 4 was forthcoming in a 180 bhp "HO", as well as a 250 bhp turbocharged version (the same engine that was in the pace car that year), GM never released the…

Words 493 - Pages 2

Artist Sculpts Underwater Sanctuaries For Marine Life

Artist Sculpts Underwater Sanctuaries For Marine LifeBy Meera Dolasia on October 10, 2012At first glance, Jason deCaires Taylor's sculptures seem quite ordinary - After all any artist worth his/her salt can carve out figures, cars and even design suburban looking homes. However, look closer and you will realize that all these have been carefully crafted not just for humans to admire, but also, for marine life to thrive in. The British artist first began sculpting artificial marine reefs in 2006,…

Words 648 - Pages 3

History Of American History

of drought vi. Three-sister-farming beans, corn, and squash rotating to save moisture in the land. Made higher populated groups like the Cherokee vii. Before Europe, the native people we living in small, scattered out groups were the women took car of the crops and the men hunted viii. Unlike the Europeans, Native Americans wanted to preserve the land ix. The land did not feel the hand of the Native Americans d. Indirect Discoveries of the New World i. The Europeans had no clue the Americas…

Words 1935 - Pages 8

Buick Essay

Detroit to Flint, Michigan. Soon after the establishment of the company, it experienced a bankruptcy scare in 1904, which soon became the motivation to improve their business efforts. In that same year Buick produced about thirty-seven Model B Touring cars, which ranged from 15 to 21 horsepower. Most of the automobiles during this time only had a horsepower of around 8-10, making Buick that much more desirable. 1908 brought big change when a man by the name of William Durant purchased the Buick Company…

Words 1819 - Pages 8

What Happened On September 1, 1939

French responses?) German forces headed south toward Paris. Italy declared war on France and attacked from the south. Overrun and demoralized, France surrendered. On June 22, 1940, Hitler forced the French to sign the surrender documents in the same railroad car in which Germany had signed the armistice ending World War I. Following the surrender, Germany occupied northern France. In the south, the Germans set up a “puppet state,” with its capital at Vichy. What was Operation Sea Lion , and why Germans want to carry out this operation…

Words 1421 - Pages 6

Essay about Ich habe keinen

Gender Roles: Fact or Fiction? Name: _________ ELI 109-001 July 1, 2011 Do you know the answer to this riddle? A man and his son are in a terrible car accident. The father is killed and the boy is seriously injured. He is taken to a hospital by ambulance. When he is wheeled on a cart into the emergency room, one of the doctors sees him and declares, “Stop, that’s my son!!” How is that possible? If you figured out that the doctor is female and therefore the…

Words 1473 - Pages 6