The man knows what he is talking about, to bad NASCAR will not listen .
Oh ! For the GOOD ole days.
Yes, he knows what he's talking about, but he was also part of the brain-trust that "got it too fancy". Guess hind-sight is always 20-20.
Bobby... you have said EXACTLY what I thought when I watched the video. Humpy was at the forefront of getting it too fancy and no track in NASCAR history has had more billboards and advertising than CMS did during Humpy's regime. I should know because I spent hundreds of thousands of dollars with Humpy at CMS in the 1980s, both at Wrangler Jeans and 7-Eleven.
In 1981, while CMS had a deal with Pioneer Stereos, I received at my Wrangler Jeans office in Greensboro, NC a huge package. It was a complete Pioneer Stereo outfit from Humpy to "thank me" for my Wrangler sponsorships at CMS.
I shipped the stereo equipment back to Humpy with a letter explaining that my employer, Blue Bell, Inc., had a strict policy that prevented its employees from accepting gifts from entities with whom we were conducting business.
Lo and behold, several day later, Humpy's executive assistant, Carolyn Carrier (Bristol's Larry Carrier's daughter) called me at the office and asked for my home address. She said Humpy had decided he'd like to send the stereo equipment to my wife, Joyce at our Greensboro home.
I politely asked Carolyn what part of NO Humpy didn't understand?
While Humpy championed the working man and scheduled CMS time trials for shift changes at the Kannapolis textile mills, he also sold space to me to build a Wrangler viewing stand on top of the infield restrooms at CMS! Talk about "over the top" advertising!
And who was the first to sell track naming rights to a corporate sponsor? It was, of course, Humpy... to Lowes.
Humpy was every bit as much, if not more, a part of the problem as anybody at NASCAR or International Speedway Corporation. He seems to have a VERY short memory.
Oh... in 1986, Humpy offered me the job of selling Speedway Club memberships in South Carolina and Virginia. He would lease office space for me in Spartanburg and Richmond and I would spend my time between the two. I declined the job offer. Sure sounded "fancy" to me.
I was going to keep my mouth shut until your comment, Bobby... but you are 100% dead on the money in calling Humpy out for his hypocrisy.
Humpy was certainly a great example of how to promote and sell tickets. I think for the most part he has it all right. I think the hardest obstacle to overcome is getting people to the track. The high ticket prices combined with great television coverage is going to be tough to overcome no matter what else happens. Even if suddenly the racing is phenomenal and popular new personalities and rivalries develop, watching it on the tube is economical and way easier than fighting traffic and dodging chicken bones....assuming today's fans still eat fried chicken at the track.
So true
I guess we need to check the current fan menu with our RR racing food authority, Billy Biscoe! We know, without checking, however, what's in his cooler!
BB and wife Karen tote some vittles to the track! They put out a spread.
Humpy that was good
NASCARwas popular when it wasn't nationwide. The south owned NASCAR for the most part and it was in the south that the romance started and where it ended. Once NASCAR followed the wagon trails west so too did it leave the romance behind.
Humpy has some great ideas but nothing compared to the love affair people had with NASCAR when it was a southern dominated sport. Much like the NHL's failure to romance southern fans, people love a sport where it's roots are at, you can't transplant NASCAR no more than you can the NHL.
