NASCAR Guppies: How to Build a Fanbase Part 1

Lifelong NASCAR fan Janet Scott joins the MotorMax family and drops some firsthand knowledge about how up and coming racers can build a fan base, one new supporter at a time. Take it away Janet!

By: Janet Scott

I have always been a fan of the little guys in racing. Now don’t get me wrong, I was a huge Jeff Gordon fan in the 2000’s but that decision was squarely made to piss off my Dad. He was a Bill Elliott fan and frankly thought Gordon was not what the sport needed, no matter the level of talent.

So why do I like the little guys? Well it’s simple in my eyes, they try harder. As a 30+ year fan of the sport, it seems to me that the little guy who has had to work harder at every level to get half of the opportunities will try a little harder in every aspect of the sport than the guy who has had corporate or private financial support through their career.

My current favorite Cup driver really drove this idea home at Indianapolis Motor Speedway two weeks ago. I can’t honestly remember how I became a fan of Corey LaJoie. I vaguely remember him from his start and park days, but I mostly remember Lajoie from the #32 of GoFas racing. Who could ignore the Old Spice car?! For one reason or another I decided to order a shirt. I am pretty sure it was after I discovered his Sunday Money podcast and that his personality seemed to be on par with mine. Sarcasm is the best language after all. When that first order arrived, not only was my shirt there but so was a hero card and penny sticker with a Corey LaJoie profile! For some reason the sticker cemented me as a fan. Over the course of the year I ordered at least 3 more shirts and a face covering. In every package there was either a handwritten thank you note or additional items such as stickers and hero cards added to the order.

I have ordered from other drivers of either bigger names or bigger teams and I have not seen the same level of care.

If I was not already a fan of Corey then my trip to IMS this year absolutely slammed me squarely in the car number 7’s corner. I had seen on Twitter early in the week that LaJoie would be holding a “tweet up”  underneath his road sign on Saturday evening. I excitedly told my husband that I knew what we would be doing Saturday night. When we got there, four other people were waiting. I know, I know, what a huge fan base, but how many drivers even tried?

I waited my turn, let the kids and others go first. Walked up and spoke with Corey. All the normal pleasantries of “Do you have tickets for tomorrow?”, “What’s your name?”, etc. When I told Corey my name, his PR lady named LeeAnn looks at me and says, “Wait a second, where are you from?”

I told her where I was from, she looked at me and then over to Corey and said, “This woman is probably your single biggest merchandise supporter, you need to take a picture with her!”

I wasn’t sure if I should be embarrassed for being recognized or proud. As a self proclaimed NASCAR super geek, I choose the high road of being proud to be recognized. My husband and I chatted with Corey and LeeAnn for a bit longer in which my super fan knowledge was tested as we talked about whether or not Stacking Pennies was better than Sunday Money among other things, and I left that tweet up on cloud 9! (Or maybe Cloud 7, but you get what I mean). So much so that on the way home, after the race I ordered the sweatshirt I had been wanting, adding to my merchandise legend even more.

So often in life and in sports it comes down to the smallest gestures that make fans for life. It is the non-chalant moments that cements a fan’s favor.. If you are a driver lucky enough to be racing in the best series in the world with 39 others and an adult or child comes up to say hi, as a super fan of short tracks and the big leagues, I say thank you. Thank you for taking the time to sign a card, a shirt, a hat. Thank you for being accessible and interacting with us. To build a fanbase as a little guy is hard to do because so often the fans want the latest and the greatest. As for me, I will always be looking for that guy (or gal) who doesn’t get a lot of attention, because those are the drivers who always speak to my heart.