Indy Racing League: Its Own Brand or Just a NASCAR Farm System?

Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish, Jr., Juan Montoya. All previous Indianapolis 500 winners, and current NASCAR drivers.

Can we please stop the bleeding? How is it that the IRL can begin to build its fan base back up with the lack of star power being stripped by NASCAR?

Over the past 12 years, Open Wheel racing has seen a steady decline in drivers and corporate dollars.  

How does one series prevent the other from taking its superstars?

Start by locking up drivers and sponsors for three to four years at a time.  Create some competition among manufacturers.  Maintain a good product, and fans will start to buy into it.

Sure the IRL-Cart split took its toll on the sport.  But now that the series is one again, it's time to look towards the future, and put the past behind us.  NASCAR didn't build its success overnight.  It took years, consistency, and loyalty to get it where it is right now.

We like consistency.  It's easy to follow.

You don't really see the drivers in NASCAR changing sponsors year in and year out.  Jeff Gordon hasn't changed much since his first race in 1992. Only the date on the calendar and the paint scheme.  The sponsor is still there.

The IRL can really take advantage here.  By locking up its drivers for the long haul, it prevents NASCAR from taking some of its biggest names.  

Danica Patrick is by far and away its largest draw.  Imagine Danica pitching a NASCAR event?

I have an eight-year-old daughter, and when we talk racing, it's about Danica.  Losing her to NASCAR in the coming years would definitely take the sport down a few notches.

The IRL needs consistency.

Ask any average fan who drives the No. 3 Marlboro/Team Penske, and most will look at you as if you just kicked their dog. Ask that same group of fans who drives the No. 55 Napa Toyota, and they will know that it's Michael Waltrip.

Not that he is the most popular driver on the circuit, but he has had the same sponsor since 2001, and the marketing NAPA does for him has produced some of the better commercials out there. 

We all know commercials are one of NASCAR's specialties.

I think the IRL is heading in the right direction.  Name recognition is also important in the sport.

I grew up on the names Andretti, Unser, Mears, and Rahal among others. Although I knew of Earnhardt, Petty, Allison, and Waltrip (Darrell), Indycar guys were the racing rock stars, while the NASCAR guys were the mechanics at your local garage.

Indy appealed to all of us that followed the racing circuits.

Doing 220 mph going into turn one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was something we imagined on our bikes in the local neighborhood.

The IRL went to a single engine manufacturer, Honda, at the beginning of the 2006 season.  Although it creates somewhat of an even playing field for some of its drivers, it hurts the growth of the sport.  Manufacturers fork out millions a year promoting their drivers. 

A car sounding like an IRL car in a drive-thru is not the greatest of ideas when it comes to marketing. Toyota's Commercial featuring Tony Stewart and others, driving "remote controlled" cars is priceless.

It used to be that drivers did all the promoting with corporate appearances and interviews on TV.  Not in today's world.  With that all important corporate dollar taking over everything in America, more needs to be done in promoting a sport.

By the way, why isn't Kevin Harvick winning more?  His sponsor (Shell) is one of the bigger "an $18 billion profit isn't enough in a quarter of a year" oil companies in the world.

That's where driver recognition comes into play.  By keeping some of your biggest stars from bolting to NASCAR, you create that commonality that fans buy into.

Much like my daughter's understanding of the sport, a name says a lot.  Marketing can do wonders, but what is it going to do for you when you don't know who is coming and going?

Now some of the names synonymous with open wheel are coming back with Marco Andretti, Graham Rahal, and Al Unser III. That's great. Now let's build on that and keep it that way.