Promoting The World Center Of Racing
- Logan Martini
- Sep 10, 2025
- 16 min read
Here is a project from my Business and Professional Communications class back in late 2024.
Promoting The World Center Of Racing
Logan Martini
BUSIN & PROF COMM (COMM315001)-1244
Ms. Carol Norton
October 27, 2024
Introduction and Job Summary
Word Count 252
Ever since I first started watching NASCAR in 2017, I knew I wanted to be a part of my new favorite sport. My dream job was to be a NASCAR commentator, but as I grew older, I realized that goal would be pretty hard to reach. While it’s still a dream I have, I decided to focus on something a little more realistic. In 2023 I became a lifeguard at the Great Wolf Lodge in Perryville Maryland. From time to time we were asked to help the front lobby with taking guest’s luggage and answer some of their questions. I enjoyed communicating with others and telling them about all of the great things we had to offer at our lodge. Looking through some of the jobs NASCAR had, this one stood out to me, Promo Team Event Staff for Daytona International Speedway. It’s a combination of two things that I love, talking about NASCAR, and helping people out.
NASCAR is seeking energetic and self-motivated individuals interested in obtaining practice and relative experience in the motorsports industry. This position will support the Daytona International Speedway Event Experience and Marketing departments through onsite event activations and grassroot initiatives. Promo Team members will credibly and responsibly represent oneself as the face of Daytona International Speedway to current and prospective fans by assisting in community events and race day responsibilities. This is a temporary seasonal position and hours will be dependent on the appearance schedule.
Organization
Word Count 550
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) was founded in 1948 by Bill France Sr [Belk Library & Information Commons September 17th 2013] The birth of the sport started during the prohibition era. Criminals smuggling alcohol needed fast cars to get away with the cops, thus they took the seats out of their cars, modified their engines to make their cars faster, and learned how to wheel their home made machines around the forests of North Carolina. Once the prohibition ended many of these people still had fast machines and wanted to see who had the fastest. Short little sprints started on the beaches of Daytona, then full on oval races that included a highway off the stretch of the beach. Eventually, Bill France Sr, along with a couple of drivers came together to make the bunch of little races a bit more organized, thus NASCAR was born. NASCAR still races off the beaches of Daytona, but on a two mile purpose built speedway a few miles from the original beach track. NASCAR’s sanctioning body presidents have always been from the France family. They have never moved owners even after an incident in 2018, when the then President Brian France was arrested for driving while intoxicated [CBS August 7 2018]. Jim France, Bill France Sr.’s son, became the president soon after, and has stayed in that position since. NASCAR runs 36 races in its main series, currently known as the NASCAR Cup Series. [Liveabout May 24 2019] NASCAR primarily runs on ovals, however, they do race on a few road courses, such as Watkins Glen, Sonoma, Charlotte Motorspeedway’s infield road course known as the Roval, and a street course in Chicago [Motorsport Explained July 30, 2022]. NASCAR also has two other main series, the Xfinity series and the Truck Series. The Xfinity series run a lot more boxy shaped cars than the Cup Series, a four speed transmission, (the Cup Series runs a five speed), and a shorter 33 race season. The Craftsman Truck Series runs truck shaped bodies in a 23 race schedule. NASCAR also has many international series, including the Mexico series, Canada Series and the EuroNASCAR series. The sport is broadcasted in over 195 countries and in 29 different languages [NASCAR nd]. NASCAR owns the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar series, a national sports car endurance series that runs high end sports cars and futuristic racers. NASCAR also owns the ARCA Menards Series, another Stock Car racing series that NASCAR purchased in 2018. This purchase is actually part of a large antitrust lawsuit that NASCAR teams 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed against the organization. [APNews, October 2 2024] AP News reported that the teams called The France family and NASCAR “monopolistic bullies” citing the purchase of ARCA as taking the only other form of stock car racing in America and making it their own. Another issue the lawsuit brought up, was that NASCAR only allows their current cars to be raced in series they own, the only exception being in 2023 where they brought a purpose built NASCAR race car to the prestigious 24 Hours of LeMans. NASCAR teams can also only purchase specific parts, from companies owned by NASCAR [S1apSh0es Oct 13, 2024].The case is currently ongoing, with hopes to have it all resolved before the 2025 Daytona 500.
References
Industry
Word Count 525
In 2024, advertising yourself is one of the most important things any business can do. If you don’t advertise yourself, you won't stand out, no one will know what your business or even is about, and no one will come or buy your product, or even understand what you’re all about. That’s exactly the job of Promotional Staff. Promotional Staff are brand ambassadors that represent the brand at events, exhibitions, and promotional campaigns (AMS Promotions, June 16 2024). Have you ever had questions about the event that you’re currently attending? Ever had someone give you a pamphlet that describes what’s going on at the show you’re attending? Someone who gave you free products to test out or was running the event you were attending? They’re the Promotional Staff. They’re the smiling face you associate each brand or event with, ask questions too, and learn more about the brand or event from. All of that is the extremely important list of jobs that Promotional Staff do to help their company grow (Executional, nd). Promotional staff can also be found helping out with other things, including social media pages and their statistics, help with the making and airing of advertisements, as well as keeping an eye on return investments. (Zippia, June 25, 2024). Promotional Staff need to be extremely hospitable, as they will be talking to people all of the time and answering any questions the people have of the event. They also need to look approachable to guests and do well at starting conversations. This will help others learn about the event or product the company is trying to sell. Promotional Staff always need to be friendly and energetic, they need to be someone who is willing to help answer others. Of course with good conversation skills there also needs to be good listening skills. If you just talk to the people and not actually listen to anything they say, nothing substantial will ever get done. It is important for staff to listen to their guests to fully understand the questions or issues that they have. It may also be important for promotional staff to understand other languages as well. Since many people speak other languages than English, it’s useful to know other languages to help introduce non-English speakers to their event or product (Eventplanner nd). Promotional staff is quite an important position and is currently an up and rising position. According to the U.S Bureau of Labour Statistics (August 29, 2024) the employment rate is expected to go up by eight percent within the next decade (2023-2033) and is currently one of the fastest growing industries.. The more important advertising becomes in our culture, the more jobs this industry will provide. Many companies are looking to stand out from other companies. They want to seem approachable, and they need a smiling face for it. If you would like to get into the business, the median pay for managers is around $75.28 per hour. However, pay for non managing staff is around $15 an hour, but that may be higher or lower depending on what state or country you’re in (Zippia, June 25, 2024).
References
Position
Word Count 619
To be part of the promo team at Daytona International Speedway, it’s important to know information about the track and its long history. Races used to be held on the beaches a couple of miles from where the speedway currently sits. But as the small sport of motor racing began to grow, the need for a permanent speedway became more forefront. On April 4, 1953 a proposal to build the speedway was given by Bill France Sr. That plan moved forward when Bill France signed a contract with the City of Daytona Beach on August 16, 1954, with construction beginning in 1957, land clearing began for the Speedway. Interesting fact about the track, the dirt used to build the high banking was actually from digging a large rectangular hole in the ground. That hole would be filled in with water and be dubbed “Lake Lloyd” The first race was run in 1959, a 500 mile race called the Daytona 500, a name that has stuck to this day. This race was run with both hard top vehicles and convertibles (this being the only Daytona 500 to do such)with the final finish being “two close to call.” Johnny Beauchamp was originally dubbed the winner of the race, but an incredible 61 hours later, Lee Petty (father of NASCAR King Richard Petty) was given the win after newspaper footage showed Lee Petty having a two foot lead. Daytona International Speedway also runs motorcycle races (they stopped running on the beach and moved to the speedway in 1961)and a 24 hour endurance event on their road course. The endurance race was originally three hours long, but became 24 hours in 1966. Over on the NASCAR side of the track, history was made on February 18, 1979, as this would be the first green flag to the checkered flag coverage of a NASCAR race. The race was shown on CBS, and it couldn’t have had better timing. That President’s weekend had a terrible snow storm that left many Americans stuck in their homes. With nothing better to do, many decided to tune in and see what this “NASCAR” thing was all about. On the final lap of the race, two drivers, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison, bashed doors going down the backstretch, crashing right at the entrance of turn three. Richard Petty drove past the wreckage to take the checkered flag. But after he passed the line the cameras shifted focus back to the entrance of turn three. The two drivers who wrecked were out of the cars and were going at it in an all out brawl. Donnie’s brother Bobby Allison joined the fight before it was separated. Bloody hands and brand new fans, NASCAR’s popularity would go on an upward spike as it was all anyone would talk about. To this day, that highlight is still shown to this day (Daytona International Speedway nd). According to Workdayjobs.com it’s important for employees to “show level of enthusiasm and professionalism displayed during interaction with customers, compliance with safety regulations/procedures, reliability and dependability” According to Workdayjobs.com it’s important for employees to “show level of enthusiasm and professionalism displayed during interaction with customers, compliance with safety regulations/procedures, reliability and dependability”
Being part of the promo team, is not only enthusiastically educating the public about the track, but also managing different things in the many departments such as promo materials and giveaways, and displaying vehicles, assisting with event activities, and assisting others with questions about the facility (LinkedIn June 2024). On Glassdoor, many people talk about the excellent managers and kind employees at the facility, however they also mention "Sub par for health insurance" and “lack of diversity” (Glassdoor nd).
References
https://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/about-us/ https://nascar.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/NASCAR/job/Promo-Team---Daytona-International-Speedway_JR12609
SWOT Analysis
Word Count 2173
NASCAR as an organization has many strengths within their company. One of the strengths is their diehard fanbase. Many people who are NASCAR fans have been watching it since they were kids, usually watching it with their parents who were watching it when the first flag to flag race aired on CBS. NASCAR fans are also very dedicated to their drivers. Since all of the driver’s merchandise has the NASCAR logo plastered somewhere, fans practically become walking billboards for not only their drivers and their companies, but NASCAR as a whole. Another thing that NASCAR has done well with is their social media presents. Many teams and drivers have social media and promote themselves and NASCAR on there. NASCAR also has their own large social media sites including an official Discord server where fans can come together and talk about the sport that they love. They have also collaborated with the folks who made the popular Roblox game “Jail Break” to make their own NASCAR Roblox game. In the digital age where everyone has a voice, many have used their platforms to talk about NASCAR. Many use it to inform people of NASCAR news such as Eric Estepp. Others use it to make informational videos about current hot topics or historical documentaries like S1apSh0es. Many others use their social media to make NASCAR Video Game videos, another big market that spreads NASCAR’s brand everywhere. As previously mentioned, NASCAR has made a game for Roblox, reaching the many young children that play the game and might know what NASCAR is. Another group NASCAR has teamed up with is Epic Games, the creators of the hit games Fortnite and Rocket League. NASCAR has been focusing a lot more on Fortnite as of late, recreating some of their real life tracks in the Fortnite “Rocket Racing” game mode, but in 2021 and 2022, NASCAR and Epic Games collided to add NASCAR in the “car soccer” game known as Rocket League. In 2023 both Fortnite and Rocket League sponsored real cars. NASCAR has also lent out gaming rights to many companies over the last few years to varying success. Most recently, NASCAR made a popular move by listening to fans and canceling their agreement with Motorsport Games. Motorsport games purchased the previous NASCAR games holder, 704 Games, had copied and pasted their latest installment onto the Nintendo Switch, twice, and created a game that many have dubbed as unplayable. In 2023 NASCAR heard its fans and gave the licensing rights to iRacing, a motorsports simulator developer. iRacing was once known as Papyrus games, and they made many of the earliest NASCAR simulator games for PC. NASCAR Racing 2003 remains to still be popular to this day, with free copies floating around and several different mods to keep the game relevant 21 years later. Many NASCAR fans hope iRacing will give it as much love as they did to their games over two decades ago, but time will tell. NASCAR has also introduced “Fan Rewards,” a system that gives fans points for watching races, buying merch, buying campsites, making a fantasy team, and so much more. The points can be used to redeem rewards such as merchandise, experiences, gift cards and actual race tickets. This is an incredible way to thank fans for all of the dedication and love they put into the sport. 2024 is their second year of using Fan Rewards and I really hope they continue with it next year. As a fan I feel appreciated for watching and enjoying the sport that I love so much.
As many strengths that NASCAR has, there also come many, many weaknesses. One of the biggest issues with the sport is the fanbase. If I may, I want to break away from the third person style of writing since this is an important topic to me. I start off with the fact that I have met some fantastic fans at the track. My first NASCAR race we sat next to an older couple who shared my joy watching my favorite driver win. Another time, many years later, the sun was boiling down on the shiny aluminum stands, and some fans sitting next to us gave us some water and deer jerky they had in their cooler. Not all NASCAR fans are the racist, bigoted, beer drinking, sexist, drunks that a lot of people stereotype them as. That is, however, a large minority, especially online. I’ll bear you the sob story of an abusive long distance relationship I was in, but I distinctly remember one time asking my then girlfriend, who was Asain, if she wanted to go to a NASCAR race, and her biggest fear was getting hurt at the race. It’s really upsetting how much the stereotype shows themselves in our sport. It took until 2020, and our only African American driver saying something about it, to get rid of the Confederate flag at NASCAR sanctioned events. Many fans in the sport slander Bubba Wallace, our only current African American NASCAR driver, just because he’s black. I have some black NASCAR fan friends who have been treated differently in fan made merch tents because of the color of their skin. NASCAR started as a southern sport, and a lot of its fan base are from southern states or have “southernly ideals.” NASCAR also has a lack of diversity, especially on the race track. We have one African American driver, one Hispanic driver, and one Asian driver, all are male. We have had women in the sport before, but most of them were either part time, non Cup drivers (they drove in ARCA, Xfinity, or Trucks), or were just absolutely awful like Danica Patrick.
Off the race track, at least the northern tracks I’ve been to, the staff seem to be pretty diverse, but I don’t pay attention too much to the people as I do the thing they’re providing or showing. Another big weakness to NASCAR is the fact that fans complain a lot about anything and everything all of the time. This can make NASCAR look negative, as if the only thing we do as fans is whine and complain about a sport we love. “I didn’t like this race because the driver won and cheated the stupid playoff format” has been the hot topic of the Las Vegas weekend. “The current car sucks because the number moved,” yes, that’s an actual complaint “the previous car was better than this car,” is another one, despite the fact that we have had 18 different winners this season, and 19 is the record set by the first few years of NASCAR and the first season of the new car. Is this a sports thing in general? Maybe, you’re asking the wrong person, but if it upsets me as a fan of the sport with how much we complain about everything, then it probably upsets non fans too.
NASCAR has many different opportunities in growing in the future. NASCAR has many different racing series all over the world, including the Canadian Series, Mexico Series, EuroNASCAR, and the brand new Brazilian Series. Next season NASCAR is going to race in Mexico City, the first non American NASCAR Cup race since an exhibition race in 1998. This race was run in November after the series had concluded its season. The race was called the Coca-Cola 500, and was run at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. Mike Skinner won the race. Another brand new opportunity in the sport is the brand new TV deal. Back in 200, NASCAR struck a deal with FOX, NBC, and TNT to be the sole broadcasters of NASCAR. FOX had the first half of the season, NBC and TNT would split the second half. In 2007, NBC dropped out of the deal and ABC/ESPN took over and the schedule adjusted. FOX would have the first 13 races, TNT would have the six following, and ESPN would take over the final half of the season. In 2015 TNT and ESPN dropped out, NBC came back and split the season halfway with FOX. In 2024 it was announced the 2025 season would be split between four networks, FOX coming back for the first 14 races, Amazon Prime joining the sport for five races as well as TNT for five more races, and NBC closing out with the last 14 races. Prime is in charge of the international race in Mexico next year. New channels produce new opportunities in advertising as well. Amazon, one of the most recognized brands in the U.S, could easily slap “NASCAR on Prime” on their packages, and have NASCAR merch placed front and center on their websites. TNT can air ads on their channels like FOX and NBC do now. Earlier this year, NASCAR planned to announce their brand new Electric Series Car at the exhibition “Clash at the L.A Coliseum.” The show car was supposed to be shown before the cup race, but due to flooding incoming rains, NASCAR moved the scheduled Sunday race to Saturday, and ran the Mexico Series race directly after the Cup race. Once the checkered flag flew for the Mexico Series, NASCAR packed up everything they owned and skipped town as Mother Nature proceeded to dump the entire Pacific Ocean on Southern California. The show car would finally make its debut at the Chicago Street Course. This car opens the opportunities to new racing technologies and traveling to more venues that suit the car. Formula E, for example, runs an indoor track, something NASCAR could potentially do, along with many local short tracks that NASCAR doesn’t already race on. Nothing other than the car itself has been announced, and provides a wide open door of opportunities for drivers, fans, venues, and research and development of electric cars. Who knows, we could see a hydrogen car powered racing series, Toyota has tested a hydrogen racing car before, why not have a full series run it?
NASCAR’s threats vary from other racing series and self sabotage. One of its biggest threats is the international series that made its presence well known in America over the last few years, F1. Formula One is a popular international motorsport racing series that takes open wheeled racing cars and races them on tight, complex, circuits. While it’s the equivalent of comparing apples to the brand new iPhone, NASCAR fans and F1 fans have been at each other’s throats, over which sport is the best, especially in the last few years. F1 has made their presence on American soil known. This F1 season had three American races held in Miami, Las Vegas, and right outside of Austin. A lot of Americans have begun to follow F1, most likely because of their Netflix documentary, Drive to Survive. NASCAR would try a similar strategy and release their own documentary on Netflix, titled NASCAR: Full Speed. This documentary did not match the success of Drive to Survive. Another threat to NASCAR is NASCAR itself. After 2003, NASCAR moved away from a simpler points format, that awarded drivers points on where they finished, to a more complex and entertainment focussed format. Without getting too far down the rabbit hole on Wild Card drivers and bonus points, the simpler understanding of the new points format cut the season into two, creating a new postseason. During the postseason the top 12 drivers had their points reset, and battled each other for the rest of the season. The new format was heavily modified in the years to come, creating the current Playoff System NASCAR has today. The playoffs start during the final ten races in the 36 race season, 16 drivers get in by either being in the top 16 in points, or winning, which creates an automatic playoff berth. Thos final ten races are split up into different rounds, the Round of 16, 12, 8, and finally, the Final 4. Drivers advance into the next round automatically if they win, or finish high enough in points. If that doesn’t make any sense, don’t worry, that’s an argument many NASCAR fans make about the current playoff system. Many fans also hate the “win and you're in” part of the playoffs, a prime example of this is Joey Logano’s win in Las Vegas a week ago. The race before, Logano fell out of the Playoffs after not scoring enough points to make it into the next round, but after a competitor in front of him got disqualified after his car was too light, Logano was pushed into the Playoffs and will now make a Final 4 appearance at Phoenix International Raceway all because he got lucky. Fans constantly question the legitimacy of the sport and often tune out during the playoffs to watch another sport. If the sport’s own fans see how they crown a champion a joke, why should anybody else want to watch it? Many fans believe that if we fix the championship format, that we could bring back the sport as it was in the early 2000’s.
Conclusion
Word Count 120
In conclusion, this job is the best one for me. I get to interact with people and teach them about the sport I love so dearly. While NASCAR does have their flaws, they’re actively working on making their sport a better place for all fans. NASCAR has quite a few diversity programs and even brings a small museum showing historical moments made by diverse drivers from track to track. NASCAR has also done a fantastic job on making their series well known across the internet, and they will hopefully advertise a lot more with their new TV deals. I might pursue this job offer some time in the future, and you might see me promoting the World Center of Racing.
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