The Closed NASCAR Rule book

The other night I was trying to figure out where to get the rules for NASCAR. Searching on Google revealed nothing. Searching on NASCAR revealed nothing. Then I decided to search for other sports. Their rulebooks are easily found at the links below. In fact a simple search on "[Enter Sport Here] Rule Book" yielded these results in the first position of all search engines.

• National Football League - http://www.nfl.com/rulebook
  
• Major League Baseball - http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/foreword.jsp
  
• National Hockey League - http://www.nhl.com/hockeyu/rulebook/
  
• National Basketball Association - http://www.nba.com/analysis/rules_index.html
  
• United Stated Golf Association - http://www.usga.org/playing/rules/rules.html

Digging a little deeper and trying to find the rules for other racing series, I found none... but I did find this interesting blog that shares my perspective on the mysterious whereabouts of this essential tool (Full Throttle). In his post, the writer mentions that NASCAR provides the rulebook as a benefit of membership. The darn thing is worth $20 at the most. How valuable could it be as a component of membership. Now, I understand the importance of fee-based membership programs and making sure that you provide enough incentive to keep members renewing year after year, but a rule book? Please. It's one of the things that gets people to become members in the first place. And NASCAR could always say that you are just paying to play... period end of story. Nothing holds greater value than that.

In addition to helping members understand the "rules of the club" before they join, having a rule book available on-line does two things. First, it makes the sport more dimensional. Notice how racing has multiple dimensions - some people watch for the car, some for the driver, others really enjoy and respect the role of the pit crew. What about the officials? In baseball, there are people that watch the officials and keep official score just for fun. Just to see how close they are to what umpires have declared. The same happens in Football but it goes a step further in that you barely understand what the refs are saying over the reverb on the loud speakers unless you are watching at home. Understanding the hand signals is important there as well. So, by making the rule book harder to access NASCAR could actually be missing out on a fan base expansion opportunity. Making it easier to access online means more educated fans and more fans in general.

Second, by having a rule book available on-line at no charge, you open up the sport. Rookie drivers and teams that are only contemplating joining the sport will have a critical path drawn for them. The rule book is an important commitment point. As teams try to figure out if they have the resources to play, the rule book spells it out for them prior to making any financial commitment what so ever. They understand whether they even have the resources to play to the rules, much less get on the track and win.

BTW... while NASCAR says that you can get the rule book by being a member of the NASCAR club, I see no mention of it as a benefit of club membership on the press release when the club launched. Furthermore, a quick search on About.com yielded a shadow post pointing to the press release which shows how unhappy people are with their membership. Now, if what NASCAR meant was that you needed to be a NASCAR member and not a NASCAR "club" member then that still doesn't make sense as on their very web site only drivers can be members. What if you are an aspiring crew chief or pit crew member? What if you are a marketing person like I am and want to peek at the rules to make sure you aren't breaking any? What if you are an adult trying to guide a young person through racing and want to make sure they adopt NASCAR-safe behavior to make their transition to the top easier? On NASCAR's very own site, they only list drivers as being able to become members but what about their supporters? That rule book is critical.

NASCAR has a lot of work to do to become an open sport. That rule book represents a missed opportunity and its lack of openness is a serious deterrent to newcomers. Still want a NASCAR rule book, write to NASCAR and get an application for membership (as a driver) and as part of your membership, they will send one to you. I am going to contact NASCAR to see what I can do about getting a copy. I will post it here even if I have to scan in every page or retype it myself. And I'll let you know how much of a pain in the rear it was to get one.

What's PWAR about anyway?

OK folks, before we even begin here, I need you to understand that I am no racing expert. I am a racing fan. I don't have a world of experience in the sport but I do have a lot of experience in marketing. I started this blog because my wife's cousin wants to get into racing but I think he's been going at it in the wrong way for a very very long time. It's been a noble little effort on the part of his family though. However, I'll be the first to tell you that he and his father/car owner/coach/././. are missing out on many opportunities to get their names out there because they are

a) very old school

b) into cars and driving, not motor sports as in the community of auto racing

c) they are allergic to technology

d) they think money comes for free

and finally...

e) good people that can help are hard to come by.

That last one is the other reason I started this blog. It's tough for rookie drivers to get sponsors and get a ride. It's tough for racers and their teams to get connected to the people with the money. Why? Racing is a G.O.B. (Good Ole Boy) Sport. Either you're in or you're not. A lucky few get their chance at the big show but many many more struggle their whole lives to penetrate the inner circle. The questions that I would like this blog to answer are:

• Why can't people get into the inner circle of racing faster?
  
• What does it take to get sponsorship (and keep it)?
  
• What things can be done to increase visibility of drivers seeking rides?
  
• What do racing teams need to think about as they move up through the ranks in racing?
  
• How can rookie's get connected to reputable agents?
  
• How can sponsors get connected to serious drivers that are capable of representing their brand?
  

Basically, all of the questions that scare the be-jesus out of parents as they see the costs of helping their kids realize their dream of racing go up and up. The same questions that drivers and teams have. The things that many people think need to be done but which no-one really gives you a straight answer. Hopefully, over time, this blog will become a community of folks thinking and working together on ideas that can work for everyone trying to make it big.

Thanks for listening and if you think this blog is a good thing let me know. If you want to start a dialogue on ideas for moving through the levels, lets put our heads together. I'd love to teach someone who is willing how they can use technology to do a lot of the things that agents are paid to do but sometimes don't (at least not until you're in the big time).

See you in the blogosphere.