Fast Take Story by Dwight Drum
Web work by Larsen & Drum Images by Drum
Daytona International Speedway
Florida Aquarium Tampa, Fla.
Matt Kenseth raced go-karts; Greg Biffle tested an aquarium
Daytona International Speedway: working hard, playing hard?
When Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig was asked about the effects of a troubled economy on attendance during the offseason he mentioned that he and his staff at DIS were going to have to work harder. The 2009 season efforts from DIS so far support his statement. Working harder has benefited fans with lower ticket prices, hotel promotions and a stable policy of free parking with cooler access for beverages and food. Working harder has also meant creative marketing.
New promotions have meant overtime efforts for first time Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle who secured his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in 2003 at the Independence Day 400 event. It’s actually a part of their job, so it’s work – sort of.
A lot of fans punch a clock and they understand when it’s time to go to work it’s time to perform. Pay requires results, but fun isn’t always a part of the toil.
Recent morning work for Kenseth was the hand delivering of two free tickets to the July Nationwide race with Sprint FANZONE passes to the home of Karen Hurd in Daytona.
“The coolest part was that I was driving one of Jack’s (Roush) Mustangs and she let me do a burnout in her drive way,” Kenseth said. “The more time you spend with the fans the better. Whenever you come over and interact with the fans, it’s fun.”
Kenseth got some delivery experience that every UPS driver knows well, but UPS guys deliver to a lot more homes and they don’t get to do many burnouts.
DIS President Robin Braig accompanied Kenseth to the Hurd home.
“My staff comes up with some wonderful ideas,” Braig said. “Surprising one of our ticket holders with Matt Kenseth driving a Roush Mustang up to her door is pretty neat.”
His creative work day was far from over. Kenseth battled promotional winners in the ARCA Driver Development Simulators at Daytona 500 Experience while media members received instruction in High Performance Karts from the Richard Petty Driving Experience.
That afternoon Kenseth suited up for a RPDE go-kart race with media members. Kenseth mentioned that these karts are fast in that racing on the course requires lifting as compared to karts he has raced pedal down in the past. One might think that his racing prowess would result in an easy win but eager and aggressive media go-kart pilots gave Kenseth fierce competition in three heats. Then in the finale Kenseth was chasing and catching Jeff Wackerlin of Racingone.com, but Wackerlin used a slick corner maneuver to bang into Kenseth’s kart and then block him on the final lap for the win. It was a champion move against a champion.
“Everybody is competitive,” Kenseth said. “I was mad I got knocked out and beat in that last corner. It was a cool move, really cool. I just wish I would have done it.”
Kenseth isn’t the only Roush Fenway driver who must do off track work. A week after Kenseth’s busy day in Daytona, Greg Biffle visited the Florida Aquarium in Tampa to swim with the aquatic wildlife and be a part of a backstage penguin encounter. Biffle’s trip was part of 2009 Coke Zero 400 Media Day in Tampa.
Biffle didn’t have to race a broad adult sea turtle, a hefty grouper or a slender barracuda but he did glide around the surface with breathing gear observing them all from above. A moray eel and many other species share the same huge tank.
“They call this work for me. I have to come to work and do these things,” Biffle said. “This is really fun to get to swim with these great creatures up close and personal. I’m not sure about the eel and seeing that very close. All the fish in one spot, it’s pretty cool.”
DIS has had other fan events to help promote ticket sales. Dads and kids will fish on infield water, 29-acre Lake Lloyd, for a Father’s Day fishing tournament.
Singing fans also participated in a recent Daytona performance contest. Melissa TenBroeck, a 23-year-old Cosmetologist, won the fifth annual Straightaway To Stardom singing competition in her third attempt over nine finalists and will sing the National Anthem for the Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered By Coca-Cola NASCAR Nationwide Series July 3.
Those in the DIS ticket sales department certainly are working to increase attendance at “The World Center of Racing”. The DIS public relations and marketing staff are diligently channeling efforts in creative ways to get more publicity about price rollbacks and hence more seats occupied by fans on race day. The sum of this exertion is certainly equal to Braig’s comment about having to work harder.
We know drivers Kenseth and Biffle work hard every race day. Promoting the Coke Zero 400 on Independence Day by the famed drivers is a part of their job too, making appearances and therefore it is work. It may seem like fun. You know -- go-kart racing, special delivery burnout, seat time in racing simulators, penguin sitting, giant aquarium swimming and the like -- that kind of work. It’s still work — sort of.
Somehow this fun work isn’t equal to --”drivers, start your engines.”
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