In a message dated 10/22/01 6:14:57 PM, cottonwoodbob@sedona.net writes:
<< Earle's efforts were rewarded. His take grew steadily, as did what Laguna
Seca >>
Return-Path: <cottonwoodbob@sedona.net>
Received: from rly-za01.mx.aol.com (rly-za01.mail.aol.com
[172.31.36.97]) by air-za03.mail.aol.com (v81.9) with ESMTP id
MAILINZA39-1022211457; Mon, 22 Oct 2001 21:14:57 -0400
Received: from server3.cybertrails.com (cluster.cybertrails.com
[162.42.150.115]) by rly-za01.mx.aol.com (v80.21) with ESMTP id
MAILRELAYINZA12-1022211419; Mon, 22 Oct 2001 21:14:19 -0400
Received: (qmail 5799 invoked from network); 23 Oct 2001 01:14:15 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO pavilion) ([206.57.30.95]) (envelope-sender
<cottonwoodbob@sedona.net>) by server3.front (qmail-ldap-1.03) with
SMTP for <alan?tiley@hotmail.com>; 23 Oct 2001 01:14:15 -0000
Message-ID: <002001c15b60$e62a3b80$5f1e39ce@pavilion>
From: "Bob Lytle" <cottonwoodbob@sedona.net>
To: "Alan Tiley" <alan_tiley@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 18:20:19 -0700
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6600
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6600
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: from multipart/alternative by demime 0.97c
X-Converted-To-Plain-Text: Alternative section used was text/plain
Steve Earle, founder and nurturer of the Monterey Historic Automobile Races,
is one of us enthusiasts. And Earle is under siege.
You have read for the past several weeks that the management of Mazda
Raceway at Laguna Seca is putting the squeeze on Earle to get more money out
of him. Understand: Earle promotes the event<he puts up the money, he takes
the exposure, he secures big-name sponsors like DaimlerChrysler and Rolex, and
for 28 years he has cut Laguna a piece of the deal.
This deal is like others: The track gets a percentage of the
take<everything from sponsors, ticket sales and vendors. Earle pays for
security, shakes the bushes for entrants and pays for advertising. And Laguna
collects its share.
In the last decade all planets aligned for continued growth. Baby boomers
came to an age where disposable income was garaged in vintage racers and
elaborate Monterey Peninsula vacations. The go-go economy made event marketing
more attractive to more corporations; it proved a subtle, elegant way to
mingle with customers. This was a harmonic convergence of consumerism and
automotive exuberance As a result Earle's efforts were rewarded. His take grew
steadily, as did what Laguna Seca pocketed. The numbers aren't clear<no one's
talking specifics<but they are strong: More money came in each year for the
Historics. Laguna's percentage didn't grow; only the pile of money did.
That wasn't enough. Track officials want more cash, they say to make
improvements to the facility. That's fair and reasonable and something Earle
understands.
But what Laguna seeks goes beyond cash<bets are on management's want to
become the Historics'promoter. They want Earle out and they want the party to
carry on.
There are only a couple of problems with this. First, the track isn't all
that good at promotion. Of five major Laguna events held annually<CART, ALMS,
Winston West, motorcycle racing and the Historics<word is that only the bikes
and the vintage cars are rising in popularity, the two programs not promoted
by Laguna. The second problem is the Laguna management's blind eye to Steve
Earle's value, and to the loyalty of the historic clan.
Ask this of Laguna management: Do you honestly believe that if you held
the Historics without Earle crowds would continue to grow? Do the city fathers
and merchants and hotel keepers of Monterey or Carmel or Pacific Grove or
Salinas know about this impending evisceration of their summer cash cow?
(Perhaps that is where letters of indignation should be targeted: the local
papers, city officials and chambers of commerce. It is, after all, about
cash.)
The Historics isn't an event, it is an institution. If you could go to
only one car-centric weekend a year, the Monterey Historic Automobile Races is
it.
That is, Steve Earle's Monterey Historic Automobile Races.
(From AutoWeek, October 22, 2001, by Dutch Mandel)
///
/// vintage-race@autox.team.net mailing list
/// or go to http://www.team.net/cgi-bin/majorcool
///
|