A Few Words With Chicagoland Speedway President, Craig Rust
The NASCAR road show comes to town this weekend as Chicagoland Speedway plays host to NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series races, July 9 and 10, respectively. For the past year, Craig Rust has served as President of the ISC-owned track located in Joliet, Ill. As he and his team prep for the biggest weekend of the year at the Speedway, Craig joins DeepThoughts for a quick Q&A:
DeepThoughts: You joined Chicagoland Speedway after serving as the President of another ISC track, Watkins Glen, the legendary road course in upstate New York. What has it been like marketing your sport in a larger market, such as Chicago?
Rust: It has been night and day compared to how we marketed the sport in Upstate NY. At The Glen, our two primary markets rank 80 and 82 so coming to the 3rd largest market and arguably one of the top sports markets in the country has been fun, but takes a lot more work. Chicago sports fans just have more choices within the market so we, Chicagoland Speedway, have to find creative ways to break through and get our message out that NASCAR at CLS is a must see!
DeepThoughts: Chicago is one of the best sports markets in the United States with teams that date back to the founding of their respective leagues. Is that a positive for motorsports or does it create additional challenges?
Rust: Both. The fact that the fans in the market understand sports and are used to supporting and attending events I believe is very positive because when they hear about NASCAR they have probably seen it at some point and are at least somewhat familiar with our stars. The challenge is getting them out of their comfort zone a little and getting them to attend and giving NASCAR and Chicagoland Speedway a try.
DeepThoughts: In your advertising, you say, “for the sports experience that won’t let you down.” Other than the obvious connection to the Sinatra standard “My Kind of Town” (“One town that won’t let you down”), how is motorsports a different experience from the other stick and ball sports Chicago is more known for?
Rust: It’s different in many ways but in our advertising we are speaking to the fact that fans will see the best that Motorsports has to offer when they come out…all the stars are here! It is also a play on the fact that sometimes — just sometimes — the home team may not perform the way their fans want which leads to, shall we say, a let down. Also, our events are full weekend events filled with great activities, sights and sounds for families to enjoy. From camping to the concerts to the meet and greets with drivers and celebrities…all culminating with the drop of the green flag……is awesome.
DeepThoughts: Even though it may have meant you would take a hit in revenue this year, you decided to break up your Track Pack or season ticket so fans could buy more of just what they wanted. Why did you do that?
Rust: It was the right thing to do for our fans.
DeepThoughts: TV ratings for NASCAR have suffered a bit this year and attendance has hit somewhat of a plateau. Are you still bullish that NASCAR will remain among the top tier of American sport?
Rust: Yes, but it is going to take hard work by all constituents in the sport, NASCAR, teams, drivers, sponsors, the track, media and even the core fans. The sport moved forward and gained incredible popularity so quickly and I think it became tough to manage the growth. We didn’t know a lot about who these new fans were and what was driving them to attend events and at the same time changes within the sport were happening like the COT (Car of Tomorrow) and then to top it off the economy crashes which affected everyone. Now we seem to have begun to go back to what made us successful and re-connect with our core fans, as well as NASCAR giving the drivers a little more leeway. As I said, there is work to do but the product is still great and compelling and I believe that is the most important thing.
DeepThoughts: And finally, how do you think hometown favorite, Danica Patrick, will fare in her first NASCAR event at Chicagoland Speedway?
Rust: I think she should see better results because she has some track familiarity and now has some decent seat time in the Nationwide car. My over / under is 20th.
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