March 19, 2002 -
Robby Unser, son of three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Unser, is currently riding the same boat with many other talented drivers who cannot find sponsorships to support them due to recent economy slump. While seeking sponsors to support his Indy 500 assault in May, Unser talked to NYAutoRacing about the auto racing marketing and how the sponsors can be benefited from Indy 500 exposures.
KM: Robby, you've been out of competition for a while, what are you working on nowadays?
RU: You're right. I've been out of competition for over a year, mainly due to the end of '99 where I got hurt in the last race and made it tough to get started in. In 2000 I had a deal with Riley & Scott car but basically the car didn't work, so after Indy the deal got closed up and I ended up without a seat there. Since then I have been chasing sponsors. I've been actively pursuing sponsorships, and the 911 events made the task more difficult. Chasing sponsors in order to get me back to the [Indianapolis] Speedway is my primary goal. I did very well in the two years I ran at the Speedway (5th in '98 and 8th in '99), and for the amount of time in the Speedway I even done better than anyone else in my family. Right now, for the most part I just try to stay fit, get in shape, and stay in focus with my mind. I am looking very strong for a corporate or private supports that can help me to do what I can do, and let my sponsors to take advantage of a talented driver.
KM: It has been a difficult time for racing due to the slow economy as well as our country is at war. These problems seem to affect open-wheel racing the most from top to bottom. Indy 500 is one of the most watched events around the globe, how can the sponsors benefit from the event? And tell us how the marketing works in the IRL.
RU: One of the benefits is that we enjoy the strongest fan loyalty in any sports. In other words, racing fans are the most loyal fans to their favorite drivers and their sponsors. There has been an enormous amount of sponsors - including my last sponsor with PetroMoly. The amount of sales has increased because of fan loyalty, and fan loyalty to the brand is the biggest benefit to motor racing. The obviously fact that the Indianapolis 500 is the largest watched global event with international press and attention. For example, if you add up the amount of money that takes you to the Super Bowl, and the amount of money that takes you to the Indianapolis 500, as well as the amount of time that your car has one the TV especially for the front runners, when you add it all together it is an amazing return compare to the football deal. If you are out there leading the race you can have an hour of front line time for just a fraction of dollars in a Super Bowl or the NBA Finals. I think dollar to dollar in media, racing is still the most economical sports media that can offer. Even if you are talking about NASCAR numbers, which are quite a bit higher than open-wheel numbers, it is still fairly economical. A sponsor give things in racing that they just don't get it in any other sports media - just like the apparels. Roger Penske has made himself a very wealthy man by taking advantage of his racing program and doing business around it. I think open-wheel racing has established more into B2B relationships than NASCAR. NASCAR gets solid sponsors, but a problem with NASCAR is that people who spend money aren't making all the shows, that is creating a little of a rift over there. But the movement of their merchandising is so strong and there is a huge return out of the box. I think open-wheel racing is a little bit behind but it is just sitting at the front porch. If the corporate world takes a look of this, they will see the potential of what the IRL can offer. In NASCAR, it is pretty much ballooned up, so your growth potential is limited.
KM: The IRL is mainly based in the Midwest, how can a corporation based in New York benefit from throwing millions of dollars in the Midwest instead of putting it in its home state?
RU: The interesting thing is, let say if you have the New York money, it is the fact the most of the corporations are actually based in New York or have the base in New York. Phillip Morris is based in New York but they sell the products all over the globe. Insurance companies, brokers, bankers, people that are not involved in racing as much as they should be have branches all over the place or have consumers all over. Surely the IRL is mainly based in the Midwest, but we do go to California and Phoenix, and also the East Coast in Miami or Nazareth. We do cover more of the United States than NASCAR does for the amount of races. Let say a banking company, it can take advantage of the local market, and Indy reaches those borders because the Indy 500 coverage in the month of May is enormous - all the events are broadcasted nationally, as well as a huge amount of local coverage. No matter what, the event got national coverage everyday in the month of May, and it is the biggest event in the month of May and also it is a month-long event.
KM: Based on the numbers from this year's Daytona 500, it seems like the NASCAR race, has taken over the more tradition race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Based on that, why should a company put its smart money at Indy instead of at Daytona?
RU: This year's Indy 500 hasn't ran yet, so you are comparing the Daytona 500 to the previous Indy 500s. The fact that more people watched the Daytona 500 this year mainly because the fan base has grown substantially. Personally when this year's Indy 500 rolls around you will see higher ratings too. Racing is the most popular sports around the world, but believe me or not the biggest form of motor racing in Europe is rally racing. When you count the racetracks in Europe from Formula One circuits to local go-kart tracks, auto racing is by far the largest sports in the world. There are so many people one form or the other associate with racing at any level. The reason is everybody drives a car, and in human natural you want to drive that car with skills, that's something that we can touch the hearts of every human being on this planet with.
KM: This year's Indy 500 will see more CART teams entering the race. Then you have Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, and who knows how many cars Ganassi will enter. Is it a positive thing to let the likes of Team Green and Team Rahal coming back to the Brickyard?
RU: Definitely. Since the IRL and CART split, some of the fans left with CART as well. This year with some of the CART teams coming back, not only the traditional IRL fans will come back, but the CART fans will return to watch the race as well. The race is going to be more difficult this year, and the old IRL teams are definitely dealing with the fact that they have to step up their programs to keep up with the likes of Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi. These people and their teams are extremely good and professional, and they are going to make it very difficult for some of the IRL teams. However, some of the IRL teams are going to step up - such as John Menard, Tom Kelley and the Panther Racing.
KM: Based on the performances from the first two IRL races, it looked like the series is going to be a two-team race right now and down to the road. What's the logical of having three tiers of cars where the bottom tier is just a bunch of paid drivers?
RU: Very true. That's why it is important for someone to support someone like me, because it is only a two-team race right now, and we need more real race drivers with good funding that can get the job done - so as Greg Ray, so as Sarah Fisher. I am not the only driver looking for a ride that has proven to have very good talent.
KM: When you watched the Phoenix race, were you frustrated that you can't compete in it? Did you feel like you should be there instead of those paid drivers who trashed their cars all over the place?
RU: I definitely feel like I should be there, in fact I know I should be there. My records have shown that I can do the job very well, and it is frustrating to watch some of the things happened on the racetrack - knowing who's sitting in the stands or in the garage, and knowing the drivers that don't have rides that I have many laps with. If we were in there, we would have fewer wrecks. Greg Ray deserves to be in a car, Sarah Fisher deserves to be in a car, Donnie Beechler deserves to be in a car, I deserve to be in a car. These are the people who proved to be good drivers and look after their equipments, and have shown over and over again that they are hard racers. We are not there because we don't have sponsors, and sponsorship is so important nowadays. We've got used to in the world that drivers bring in money and that's acceptable. Unfortunately some teams rely on the money that drivers pay. However, there are drivers that bring in money that are quite good. Laurent [Redon] is a good driver, and in most cases they just came from Europe and they brought the money over and want to have a chance. God bless them, they deserve a chance. Yes, we have many frustrated drivers out there, and they have shown their commitments to the series, but it turned out they are not getting any rides but have to sit on the sideline.
KM: Tony George used to have a vision - to use to IRL series to promote young American open-wheel oval racers. The situation, however, has changed this year. Do you think it is unfair to have those guys racing out there instead of you?
RU: I think by nature in racing all of the individuals are trying to make it unfair. As far as the series goes I think Tony's dream is very good. I think that everything the IRL has done up to now is very good and the oval racing is backing up. The IRL has the best cars, the best programs and recipes for oval racing, and the oval racing has the advantage because it takes way less land to build a track, and we can put way more people in there for business.
KM: Al Jr. had trouble looking for a drive until the very last moment thanks to Tom Kelley after he secured the Corteco sponsorship. Have you talked to him about your situation?
RU: Yes, Al and I are very close, but I think by the same token he realized that he was in trouble finding a ride before landing a seat at Kelley. The fact is we came across the same people, not that I have near the amount of support that he has.
KM: Any help from having the Unser last name? Did any of your family members tried to help?
RU: Being an Unser is a double-edged folk. On one hand it is a name that is well known in the business, so when I call up people they pretty much know what I am talking about in terms of racing. But on the other hand the sponsor-chasing task is on my own. Different family members did help me a little in the past, but eventually they are busy doing their own things and I've learned to do it on my own. I've been doing this since I was seven years old, I built my own car at Pikes Peak along with them, I have a vast amount of knowledge in racing, my personality in front of the camera and the fans, as well as my willingness to work for sponsors - when you talk about Robby Unser, the main thing that Robby has worked hard and has acquired whole lot of abilities. In the end of the day the Unser name isn't all that - my father is not out there trying to get me any sponsors, he really hasn't done much to me.
KM: Aside from Indy, what other series would you like to try if opportunities arise?
RU: I would seriously like to see myself somehow get something together in rallying. If I can run Indy, as well as racing in rally the other time, then I am one happy driver.
