NASCAR aims to attract Hispanics

For a sport with roots steeped in the South, it appears NASCAR could find itself again heading southward in a quest for new fans and new horizons.

With last month's announcement that Brazilian open-wheel driver Christian Fittipaldi will leave CART and become a full-time driver on the Busch circuit in 2003, it's likely more Latinos will soon follow Fittipaldi, either as fans or as drivers, team members or team owners.

And it's that same community -- with its sheer numbers, markets and rabid fan base -- that NASCAR covets so highly. It's no wonder the sanctioning body is making a major push to attract more Hispanics to stock car racing.

"With Christian (Fittipaldi) signing with Petty Enterprises, I don't think people realize quite what just happened," said Eddie Gossage, general manager of Texas Motor Speedway. "I think it's a pretty big step for NASCAR Winston Cup racing."

After ignoring the Hispanic and Latino market for so long, NASCAR officials were stunned by the results from the 2000 U.S. Census. Those numbers showed that the number of Hispanics in the U.S. is now at a hefty 35 million -- roughly 12 percent of the population -- yet NASCAR had never marketed to that segment of society.

"Today, you can call NASCAR's marketing office and get all kinds of information on age, gender, employment, education, things like that," said Mike Vazquez, co-owner of the Hispanic Racing Team on the Busch Series. "But in 1999, when we started our team, we asked NASCAR one simple question: 'What is the ethnicity breakdown?' They looked at each other and said, 'Huh? What do you mean?' They had never asked in all their surveys, not even once, about ethnic breakdown."

You'd better believe that's not the case now, as NASCAR officials can produce reams of data aimed at minorities of all types and efforts to attract them, particularly the exploding Hispanic population.

In an ESPN poll conducted last year, the percentage of Hispanics who also considered themselves NASCAR fans exploded over a seven-year period. In 1995, only 1.4 percent of NASCAR fans were categorized as Hispanic. By 2001, that number had increased to 10.2 percent, a phenomenal jump of 631 percent.

Increases in the Asian (up 112 percent), African-American (up 18 percent) and female (up 13 percent) populations paled by comparison.

Census figures project that Hispanics will make up 20 percent of the U.S. population, roughly 70 million, by 2020, and perhaps 25 percent, or about 95 million U.S. residents, by 2050.

That's why NASCAR is so adamant about speaking to, as well as attracting, that community.

NASCAR first formed its groundbreaking Diversity Council two years ago. Of the 28 members currently on the council, several are nothing short of heavyweights in the sport, including defending Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon, NASCAR Executive Vice President Brian France, Team owner and former NFL coach Joe Gibbs and former Winston Cup champ turned broadcaster Ned Jarrett.

With that kind of muscle, the council has made quick strides in formulating strategies to get more minorities involved in the sport, be they Hispanic, African-American, Asian or female.

"I think we want to attract all fans possible, certainly the growing diverse population within the United States, particularly Hispanics and African-Americans," said Dora Taylor, NASCAR's senior manager of diversity affairs. "As a world-class sport, we want to attract world-class talent.

"If the trends continue, I definitely see more Hispanics and African-Americans coming into the sport. It's exciting to see the growing diversity."

Taylor, who joined NASCAR in January, knows what she speaks of. Not only is she Cuban-American, she played a significant role in the radical transformation of the Denny's restaurant chain from having one of the worst records when it came to racial discrimination in 1995, to being ranked No. 1 five years later on Fortune magazine's list of the nation's top companies for minorities.

"The timing couldn't be better for NASCAR to have a full-time person focusing on this issue," Taylor said. "This is an exciting time in NASCAR."

Taylor's appointment will go a long way toward improving NASCAR's overall diversity program, according to Vazquez.

"You don't see a diversity council in baseball or other sports, so why do we need one in NASCAR? Well, it's obvious, because there is no diversity," Vazquez said. "But we're hoping that within the next couple of years, and certainly five years from now, that worrying about diversity becomes a thing of the past in NASCAR and it becomes an open playing field for everyone regardless of color or ethnicity."

With what to identify Prior to Fittipaldi's announced intention to defect to the Busch world, Hispanics and Latinos had virtually no figure in NASCAR to identify with, particularly someone behind the wheel. As a result, there was little or no interest in NASCAR among the group -- something sure to change when Fittipaldi arrives.

Cuban-born Felix Sabates, the first Hispanic owner on both the Busch and Winston Cup circuits, is both excited yet cautious about the potential to attract Hispanics to NASCAR.

"The only drawback I see is Latinos like Latinos," Sabates said. "The potential is there, but you have to have the drivers. You have to have the Martinezes and Gomezes and Gonzaleses. I owned a NASCAR team for 17 years, and it didn't help me that I was Spanish.

"But, if you could change Jeff Gordon's name to, say, Jaime Gordino, that would be good. That would bring a lot of attention."

Vazquez, who will have veteran open-wheel driver Roberto Guerrero drive for his HRT team beginning next month at the Busch race in Atlanta, agrees it will take Latino drivers like Fittipaldi, Guerrero and Truck Series competitor and Mexican native Carlos Contreras to attract Hispanic and Latino fans.

"Up until now, NASCAR has been ignored by the majority of the Hispanic community," Vazquez said. "Even when I was a kid, I'd tune out after the first 10 or 15 minutes because I couldn't see a (Emerson) Fittipaldi or (Ayrton) Senna or even Roberto Guerrero. I had no Hispanics to identify with. I've since come to respect names like Petty and Yarborough, but back then it didn't mean squat.

"But now we're seeing the Hispanic push, with guys like Christian and Roberto and Carlos Contreras.

"It's kind of like Paul Revere: Instead of saying 'the British are coming,' today it's 'the Hispanics are coming -- and you better get ready.' Sure enough, they've taken notice."

Television will by key Piggybacking on NASCAR's record-breaking six-year, $2.6 billion television contract with NBC, Turner and Fox that went into effect last year, TV coverage specifically geared toward the Hispanic community and Spanish-language stations and networks in the U.S., as well as Central and South America, will be one of the biggest lures in increasing the number of Hispanic and Latino fans.

"When you look at the sports world in general and the U.S. market in particular, you would be naïve not to realize the impact the Hispanic community plays today and in the future as it relates to any business in the United States," said Robbie Weiss, NASCAR's director of syndication and program development. "It's by far the fastest growing segment of the population.

"When you look at the sports world and the passion of Hispanics to be involved and support sports, and if you look at motorsports and NASCAR, where we hit markets from coast to coast, it definitely is an opportunity for our industry as a whole to reach out to the Hispanic community.

"When it comes to guys like Christian Fittipaldi, Roberto Guerrero, Carlos Contreras or and any other Hispanic drivers that come along in NASCAR, it will create relevance in the market. It's amazing how quickly that may happen, but people want to root for their countrymen."

In the U.S., NASCAR and the 16-month-old Fox Sports Español network currently syndicate a highlight show of Busch events to a primarily Hispanic audience of 11 million homes. Winston Cup events are also featured in highlight shows on such U.S.-based Hispanic networks such as Univision, Telemundo and Televisa.

That effort is also reaching across Mexico, the Caribbean and deep into Central and South America, with approximately 25 million households currently receiving some form of NASCAR telecasts through such outlets as ESPN International and Fox Sports Latin America, Weiss said.

On a more global level, the three main NASCAR series -- Winston Cup, Busch and Truck -- are seen in approximately 150 countries worldwide, Weiss added.

Attracting the fans As chief overseer of Texas Motor Speedway, Gossage has one of the largest Hispanic fan bases in the U.S. to draw from: approximately 900,000 residents, nearly 30 percent of the 3.4 million population in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, are Hispanic.

That's why the savvy Gossage has made it a priority to not only create special English and Spanish ad campaigns to attract Hispanic fans to TMS, but also to maintain a highly visible presence in the area's Hispanic community.

"It's very important to us to make our sport more open and aggressively promote to the minority community, particularly the Hispanic community in Dallas-Forth Worth," Gossage said. "So, we do things like produce press releases in Spanish, produced ads for the Hispanic newspapers, had promotions with local Hispanic businesses, work with all of the Spanish media outlets plus all three major Hispanic TV networks, which coincidentally are all based here in Dallas-Fort Worth. We've identified the Hispanic market as a very key market."

Gossage's efforts have paid big dividends in the Hispanic community, said Richard Navarrete, former president of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

"From day one before the track even opened (in 1996), Eddie and his staff were out in the Hispanic community," Navarrete said. "That's how I met Eddie and he turned me into a fan. He immediately extended an invitation to a lot of Hispanic fans and made them feel welcome."

While nowhere near the level of interest and popularity in the U.S., stock car racing maintains a small presence of sorts in Central and South America, with regional circuits and small tracks that offer a mix of racing including Trans Am-style and sportsman-type cars. Also, capitalizing on a surge in popularity in that particular niche of racing, a new truck series debuted in Mexico in the last two months.

As Fittipaldi, Guerrero and other drivers make their way north of the border and into NASCARland, they'll be an immediate draw for fans of their own ilk. But name recognition and background won't be able to do it all, and NASCAR knows it still has a long road ahead if it hopes to attract more Hispanics.

"It's not realistic for us to expect minorities to attend races when no minorities are participating," Gossage said. "The first step is to get some minority participants in our sport and it can take off and grow from there.

"NASCAR Winston Cup racing is a great product. They'll love it, but we've got to give them a reason to watch it and support it -- and I think you're starting to see that now and will continue to see it."

"PC crap, good business, or my vote, both?"

I don't care who races. I enjoy the racing. I would like to see a black in the mix, just for interest.

it's only good business if the new market share doesn't drive off the old market share. If it does then they will simply be downgrading the key demographic

NASCAR aims to attract Hispanics

Are they going to hold races where they have five people in the front seat?

Maybe we could get some of the guys who have just got their illegal driver's licenses to qualify for Nascar...the way they drive in LA it would make for interesting viewing...oh that's right they already have the Demolition Derby!

Same here regarding having a black racing NASCAR......it reminds me of the Nationl Motocross Racing where Jimmy Stewart.....a 16 year old black kid just won the championship......I thought that was great since Motorcross is not really an interest to black people.......

Prior to Fittipaldi's announced intention to defect to the Busch world, Hispanics and Latinos had virtually no figure in NASCAR to identify with

So a Hispanic kid who loves fast cars, racing, the smell of burnt rubber, loves to tinker with cars, etc, etc, etc, can't identify with any NASCAR drivers who grew up with the same loves, all because he has a different skin color than those guys?

A little bit of both. It really is good business, though. NASCAR has done an excellent job of pushing itself outside the traditional Southern base while still keeping at least some of that "down-home" feel.

As long as drivers only make it into the NASCAR series only because they are good drivers--not just because of their ethnicity or sex--I'm all for diversity. Hey, I don't care what color or sex the drivers are as long as they can drive well. (And beat Jeff Gordon. I do love to hear Wonderboy whine. :>)

}:-)4

Historically, NASCAR fans were attracted to the races as supporters of the cars by brand: Ford; Chevrolet: Pontiac; Plymouth, etc; now, in these "post-throttle plate restrictor" days, the cars are fungible, only the driver and luck are important.

And the winner is a lowered candy apple red Monte Carlo with a chain steering wheel and fuzzy dice shifter.

Seriously, with Beers at $6, $5 for a hot dog and $100per admissions how can anybody afford NASCAR?

This hispanic kid migrated to the sport because I am a gear head and it beats the foo foo IRL and CART series like a lapped dog.
It doesn't matter that there are no hispanic drivers to me, most of my type play shortstop in the major leagues anyway.
I am a big time Jeff Burton fan and wish they were running better this year. I saw we got rid of Frankie Stoddard, so maybe this will kickstart the boys.
Like one poster has said, I don't care what color or sex they are, just keep it on the mat.
99 Citgo Ford

As a season ticket holder at Texas Motor Speedway since its opening, I can assure you there are ways around this.
Even post 9-11 we were able to take our coolers into TMS, you can load 'em with cans and food and this is what we do.
The Sunday ticket is close to $100, but this is generally a once a year event.
In general concessions are on par with the NFL and MLB, overpriced, but who you gonna bitch to.
We enjoy the crowd and atmosphere of NASCAR and the best part is camping out for a week with your buds. And mud, lotsa mud, got to have the mud.

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