Sunday, October 14, 2012

Where are we going . . . DIESEL Motorsports!

Let me start out by saying that our agenda is "DIESEL ONLY", will be and always has been!

Why?


Our sponsors do want big crowds but they also want crowds who will buy their products - period.

What sense does it make to combine shows with a non-diesel crowd to draw people in when they won't buy diesel products because they don't own a diesel! Even cross-over markets have been explored in the past in order to expand the market. Rodeo people drive diesel trucks, we researched that avenue years ago for a sponsor and found  a large portion of them do own diesels but guess what they spend their discretionary income on - horses and stock!

Is it a challenge to find the diesel only crowd plus attract a crowd in the stands, sure it is but that is why we have focused main events in certain areas of the country. Yes, we are always looking for new markets and locations and that is what our affiliate programs does for the sport. We let local clubs and groups build those areas as we help them.

Does DIESEL Motorsports have a competing business like us?

Not really when you dissect what we are doing. As of now DIESEL Motorsports is the only licensed SFI sanctioning body for diesels! What does that mean? We hold the credentials to rent tracks, bring in our own SFI Diesel Techs, provide our own insurance, bring our own personnel and run drag racing, sled pulling and other activities so they fit diesel vehicles.

DIESEL Motorsports spends the Winter months attending trade shows and meetings lobbying for diesel as a sport with many different associations and businesses. All year we constantly market our sponsor's products to distribution centers such as WDs and diesel shops.

DIESEL Motorsports also gathers it's own demographics surrounding our sport through surveys taken during the events. No one else is providing this marketing information to the manufacturers.

We divide our business focus into three divisions, support for the competitors, marketing for the manufacturers, and advertising/marketing our niche sport to mainstream America.

Instead of contingency payouts DIESEL Motorsports pays out to competitors checks for each event. Years ago our sponsors decided this was more effective than contingency because it puts cash in the competitor's hands quicker so they can repair or upgrade their trucks and come back to compete the next week or event.

Do we spend our funding on fancy trailers, personal diesel trucks, fancy rigs - not so far! We had a plan when we started to run lean and give the funding back to the industry for a five year period. That's how you grow a market by giving back to it and investing back into the business.

Will we ever be NASCAR or NHRA/IHRA, doubtful but we are growing! Five years ago we started with 9 small events and 8 sponsors, in 2013 we are looking at over 60 events supported by over 25 sponsors!

That's the direction DIESEL Motorsports is going!

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