Texas Motor Speedway Thinks Outside The Box

Texas Motor Speedway put on an event that was bigger than NASCAR this past weekend. It included a “wild asphalt circus”, an election and a full blown carnival. It was one of the best marketing strategies I had ever seen.

Eddie Gossage, president of Texas Motor Speedway, and his team have been know for coming up with crazy ideas to get fans to the race track and last weekend included the best ones yet.

The speedway called the race weekend a “wild asphalt circus” promoting that the three races through out the weekend would put on a show, in this case a circus. Free stickers were given away promoting “wild asphalt circus” before hand and the speedway heavily promoted the hash tag #WildAsphaltCircus via Twitter. Fans could submit photos of the sticker to be shared on the website and through social media.

Texas Motor Speedway promotes “wild asphalt circus”. (Texas Motor Speedway)

Another great marketing strategy that was included was a NASCAR themed carnival. There were games and attractions created for guest during the race weekend to take part in during pre-race activities. Games and activities included a helmet toss referencing Tony Stewart’s helmet toss at Bristol, a dog-faced Jimmie Johnson and more.

Texas Motor Speedway also had everyday carnival attractions that included rides and side shows on the back stretch of the speedway. The carnival was even open during races during the weekend. The carnival could be seen being alive and well during T.V. broadcast. Fans could take part in riding a ferris wheel to watching fire breathing men. The track thought of everything people would do at an actual carnival.

In honor of the election this week, the track also promoted voting between the top two Chase drivers, Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson. People could vote on who they thought would be the Sprint Cup champion in two weeks. Eddie Gossage acted as Uncle Sam asking other’s to vote through social media and other promotions as well. The track added ballot boxes through out the track and voting took place through the weekend. It was a great way to take advantage of a close championship battle and make the most out of the election.

Overall, the Texas Motor Speedway came up with one of the best overall fan experiences I have seen in my life time. They found a way to involve those would be watching the races from home to people who would be at the track.

Eddie Gossage and his team created an event that was more than just a race. People could take part in the race weekend in more than one way and you didn’t have to be a race fan.

Everybody across the nation could be a part of the #WildAsphaltCircus conversation and take pictures as the track gave away stickers. It was a great way of getting everybody excited about the races but also include people who were not going to be able to take part in the race weekend at Texas.

The carnival was a great way to entice families and non-race fans to come out to the track and be part of the atmosphere. The track could also use the carnival to entice people just there for the attractions to buy race tickets since they were already at the track. The carnival was a great idea to give NASCAR fans another reason to go to the race but also gave non-race fans an excuse to visit the track.

The vote between Keselowski and Johnson was a great marketing tool to make the most out of world events and make fans feel like they had a voice. The feeling of having a voice in NASCAR is unmeasurable to many fans.

Eddie Gossage and his team had a great marketing plan from the beginning to end. It was a great example of how to make a race weekend bigger than the race its self and give non-race fans a reason to be at the track.

Other track promoters should take note of the ideas that Texas Motor Speedway used this past weekend and think more outside of the race and the weekend. Making the actual race sound like a bonus makes non-race fans more enticed to make a trip to the track and sell tickets.

I am not sure how Texas Motor Speedway will out due their past event but Eddie Gossage and his team have always been the best at what they do. If last weekend’s event can be out done, they know how to do it.