On a final note....... Back the Track!

This entire process of blogging has been quite interesting. I have found myself becoming more passionate about getting a track built in Washington through doing this blog. After researching this topic it just makes since to put a track in Washington State. It is the only major market without a track. Washington State needs an economic boost and yet the annual income of Washington residents is high. With the Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Sonics, and Seattle Mariners the state is filled with die hard sports fans.


The state is also filled with tons of local race tracks, so racing is not foreign to citizens in Washington. Two of NASCAR's biggest stars hail from the state (Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle).
It would be beneficial to voters in Kitsap county. The track would bring in more tourism from California, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia. I could go on and on about the facts, but the reality it is right behind the NFL with the largest fan base and its facilities hold more people than a NFL stadium and each track is always packed.

Washington needs a track, Washington deserves a track, that is why I hope voters and representatives say yes and back the track.

Greg Biffle Wins Final Race at Homestead

Washington native Greg Biffle won the final race at Homestead in Miami. This is his third straight win at Homestead. Rookie Martin Truex Jr. finished a close second. Jimmy Johnson clinched his first championship. As the season ends at such a fun track, racing at night, fireworks going off and plenty of fan fair to entertain, it brings me back to why I really want a track built in Washington State.

I believe with the amount of die hard sports fans in Washington in combination with the excitement of racing, a track in Washington will be a truly unique sight. I have talked about the economic impact, the pros and cons, I have defended fans being in Washington State and now I just want to evoke my emotion behind how exciting it would be to have a NASCAR track in the state I love. There needs to be a track in Washington State!

The Season is over: # 48 team wins the Championship

With the 2006 NASCAR season coming to a close this past weekend, I think it will be important to keep NASCAR in the publics mind over the off season. Jimmy Johnson and the #48 team finally won their championship after four years of being close. Jimmy Johnson is origionally from Orange County so his victory should make plenty of Californians very proud. NASCAR starts their two month vacation. The sport will return with the Daytona 500 in February. This is their biggest race of the year. While NASCAR is on their two month vacation, I will have plenty of time to come up with more persuative material for all the publics involved in determining if a track will be built in Washington State. I am remaining positive about the possiblities of a track being built. ISC returns in Janurary to talk again to the State about moving forward with building a track. But, until then I will remain hopeful

In the Spotlight: Some Great Foundations !

After the last post I just wanted to give some extra attention to couple of Foundations I love. The first one comes from another Washington State native Greg Biffle.

The Greg Biffle Foundation for Animals was founded in 2005 by Greg Biffle and Nicole Lunders to create awareness and serve as an advocate to improve the well-being of animals by engaging the power and passion of the motorsports industry. The foundation donates to local Humane Societies, no-kill animal shelters, spay and neuter clinics and the Animal Adoption League. Every year they produce a NASCAR PETS calendar with the proceeds helping to fullfill their mission to help animals. If you would like a calendar you can purchase one at http://www.gregbifflefoundation.com/.


Another popular Foundation is the Victory Juncion Gang Camp.The Victory Junction Gang Camp enriches the lives of children with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses by providing life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun, and empowering, in a safe and medically sound environment.

Drivers Giving back to the Community

At the race this weekend Kasey Kahne brought down a couple kids from Washington State that participated in his Kasey's Juniors program at a local racetrack in Washington State.

HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU BRING DOWN FOR THIS RACE ? "We bring a couple down. Its a deal,Kasey's Juniors. The race track I started racing at is a mini sprint track in Washington. Kids under 16 race there. Last year there was like 20 of them. This year its 30 something that raced. We do a deal with the sportsmanship award. I pay for a lot of their race weekends to help the families out. The sportsmanship award and the kid that wins the points for the season come down to this race with their families. My dad always sets that up. He goes up to that track a couple times a year and hangs out with them and takes pictures."

Kasey is a perfect example of how all the NASCAR drivers give back to their community. NASCAR has its own foundation that supports a varietyof foundations including the Make A Wish Foundation, Dale Earnhardt Foundation, Dale Jarrett Foundation, Ernie Irvan Race2Safety Foundation,The Green Foundation ,The Greg Biffle Foundation ,Hendrick Marrow Program ,The Jeff Gordon Foundation, Jimmie Johnson Foundation,Racing for Literacy,All-American Soap Box Derby,Speedway Children's Charities, and the Victory Juncion Gang Camp, and the list goes on and on.

Elections: Democracy

Last week was elections of course and as a voter in Washington State I am thinking of removing my voting rights. There were a couple of propositions that got passed that got me emotional. Proposition 937 requires that our energy corporations buy 15% of our energy supply from wind power which is fine except for now California is going to buy are cheap hydro power from us because we can no longer use it, because this proposition got past. Now lets talk about 933 which rolls back county state regulations which would be beneficial to tax payers on the Eastside but instead it didn't pass.

One thing I am happy to see is a proposition that would of gave Seattle the right to use tax payer money for the new Seattle Sonics Arena without the public vote. I think it is important to have the publics vote in passing a sports facility, when their tax money is being used.I don't want to see the track passed without voter approval. This is a democracy.

Who are NASCAR FANS???????

It is interesting to be a fan of NASCAR and realize that I don't fit the stereotype for a NASCAR fan and therefore I am always answering questions. I grew up in the Northwest, I currently live in Southern California. So, therefore I am not from the south, I am not a redneck(at least I don't think so). Oh, yeah and I am not a middle aged beer drinking man.

This thought led me to a study conducted in 2004 on NASCAR fans. The research was done by the NASCAR marketing department to find out if they were expanding their market. I know that the NASCAR stereotype is ridiculous because NASCAR has really reached a wide range of people in the United States. It is currently the premier racing organization in the United States surpassing IRL and Champ Car. I consider myself to be well versed on the NASCAR market but, I have to say these results even surpassed by perspective on the sport. When this study was conducted the researchers expected for the market to expand even more. I can only assume this has occurred in the last two years as the popularity has continued to increase.

Average Household Income for NASCAR fans is $68,267.00

AGE DEMOGRAPHICS
11% of NASCAR fans are age 18-24;
21% of NASCAR fans are age 25-34;
26% of NASCAR fans are age 35-44;
19% of NASCAR fans are age 45-54;
15% of NASCAR fans are age 55-64
9% of NASCAR fans are 65 or older.
GENDER
59% Male, 41% Female
MARRIED/SINGLE
60.6% of all NASCAR fans are married.
ETHNIC 24.5% of NASCAR fans are African American
9.0% of NASCAR fans are Hispanic
66.5 % of NASCAR fans are Caucasian
EDUCATION 60% of NASCAR fans have some college education.

NASCAR is a Lifestyle

What makes Washington State such a prospect for a NASCAR track is it holds Seattle one of the top ten media markets in the United States. Portland and Seattle are the only two cities not reached by NASCAR. The track in Washington State would cover that void as it would only be a couple hours from Seattle and five from Portland. The benefit to the economy is that most people travel and stay near the track or at the track for a four day period. This would boost the economy with 250,000 people attending the track like in Texas, that's a large amount of people needing somewhere to eat, sleep and have some fun... (wink, wink).

Unlike other sports NASCAR is a four day weekend almost like a concert at the George. Every race weekend is comparable to the economic impact of the Superbowl (the biggest sporting event of the year). NASCAR runs 36 weekend out of the year. From February to November. In addition to the NASCAR events. Each track has weekend local racing events year round.

HELLO TEXAS

BEST WEEK EVER: JOE GIBBS


This weekend NASCAR raced in Texas. Tony Stewart won the Nextel Cup race making it his second win in a row. I would also like to mention it was Terry Labonte's final race after 29 years of racing, and Texas Motor Speedway went all out in order to salute him in his final race. The track was sold out. 250,000 people showed up and thousands of people like I were watching it on TV.

Speaking of TV I would like to express how excited I am that NBC will no longer be covering NASCAR. NBC has the worst sports coverage by far in my opinion. They have way to many commercials and I know that is odd considering I am in Advertising. But, they go to commercial at the most inappropriate times and then when they come back from break they don't even update you on what happened. Luckly NBC has only covered these lastsixteen races because I have never yelled at the TV so much, and NASCAR has a very long season. I even decided well let me watch football on NBC maybe they just don't know how to cover racing like FOX,ESPN and ABC. I was trying to be optimistic but, then again I say " NBC has the worst sports coverage."

Ok, Back to my point about TEXAS. I mention them because they are owned by ISC and have a similar track to the one being proposed in Washington State. This race was fun to watch as the drivers were going near 190 mph. There has been a different winner at almost every race there since the track opened ten years ago. Washington native Kasey Kahne dominated in the spring race and was running competitive all day against Stewart until his engine blew with 7 laps to go.

TEXAS hasn't been a track I normally get pumped up for but, I have to say they put on quite a show and everyone there seemed to be having a blast. On a final note I have to say thanks to Texas for a great race. Oh, I got kinda a fun fact for sports fans. Tony Stewart who won the race is the veteran driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. Joe Gibbs is the coach for the Washington Redskins. On sunday the Redskins beat the Cowboys and Joe Gibbs racing also took home the NASCAR trophy. So who's had the "BEST WEEK EVER" JOE GIBBS.