New name for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?

When I was a kid, my great-grandmother used to make pottery. In her backyard, she had a shop and a tiny museum, which she would show to relatives and friends… What’s the link between my great-grandmother and the IMS, you will ask me?
Should we rename the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the Indianapolis Motor Slowway? Growing up in France, like any European child, all I knew about car racing was Formula 1, with in the 80s and 90s the likes of Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Michael Andretti… However, I knew of the Indianapolis 500 as being the most prestigious race in the world. I had no idea what Champ Cars was, I could not place Indianapolis on a map, but I knew of the Indianapolis 500. For years, the Indianapolis 500 has been of one the most prestigious sports events in the world, not just in racing, but across all sports. Studies show that the wheel and wing logo of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the top 10 most recognizable brands in the world.

As a (proud) Hoosier by adoption, I got to become emotionally attached to the IMS, to the Indianapolis 500, to the city. I still don’t know sh#t about Indy Car, or NASCAR. I only know a few drivers by name, but it stops here. I have been at all races at the Speedway, which is an iconic venue for any sports fan. US car racing was born in Indianapolis, damn it! But I am frustrated with the idea that there are so many lost opportunities because of the status quo, the conservatism, the lack a guts to restore the IMS to its past glory. Various IMS leaders have moved (if at all) way to slow (Slowway?) to keep the IMS brand upbeat and relevant to the present, and the future.

When I was a kid, my great-grandmother used to make pottery. In her backyard, she had a shop and a tiny museum, which she would show to relatives and friends… What’s the link between my great-grandmother and the IMS, you will ask me? One, they were born slightly at the same time. Second, my GG’s museum looked like what the IMS museum looks today: an old place, which has not changed in decades. When I look at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, with its interactive, hands-on exhibits and activities, or the Dallara factory on Main Street with its simulators, real-time workshops, state-to-the-art building, I don’t understand how the IMS cannot keep up? I once took my son (only once - he was 5 at that time) to the IMS museum, and after spending only 15 minutes in the building, he told me he wanted to leave because he was bored! Isn’t that sad? I typically have to drag my kids out of the Children’s Museum after an entire afternoon spent there because they want to stay (we go there often, but they never get bored). If you ask anyone (and mostly adults) what their experience has been at the Dallara factory, their eyes will lit up, their face expands with a huge smile, and they will say “awesome”. WTF is going on with the IMS? They should have been doing this for years!

With such an iconic venue as the IMS, with one of the most prestigious sports events in the world with the Indianapolis 500, the IMS board should bring the track to the people, not try to bring people to the track (so far, the latter has been a failure – look at the plummeting number of spectators the last few years). As an example, the Gilles Villeneuve track in Montreal is open all year long to the public. When I lived in Montreal, I used to roller blade or ride my bike every weekend or evening in the spring & summer, for free. I don’t mean the IMS board should do the same, but they should make the IMS and Indy Car a sexy product. The only time Indy Car looked sexy in the past several years was when Danica Patrick ran in the series. Indy Car was sexy because of Danica Patrick, not because it was Indy Car itself. Maybe she was a distraction (at times) to the discipline itself, but at least she brought the spot lights, audience and sponsors to the league. Now that she is gone (she still is very sexy BTW), what’s left for Indy Car? Not much… Fans, sponsors, drivers are going away year after year. 

Indy Car, along with the IMS, must become sexy again, as stand-alone symbols, not through a Go Daddy sex symbol! Come on, IMS people, show that you have power in your engine, that you have the guts to run 240 mph (the unofficial track record is 239 and the track record for qualifying is 237 – so move faster) to move the IMS and the Indy Car into the future and make them relevant again. I still don’t know sh#t about Indy Car, but I know sh#t about developing unique brand experiences. What about you? Let the drivers be drivers and the engineers be engineers.