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Public Relations is Way Harder than You Think

Off and on I hear a lot of yippity yapping about “PR” (public relations). People are all like “IndyCar’s PR sucks! We need more news coverage of the great IndyCar awesomeness!” As if this is a revelation to the IndyCar PR posse. Like they’re just over there drinking beer and smoking cigarettes and it never really dawned on them that, DAMN, you know what? IndyCar does need more news coverage! So glad these people pointed it out to me!

I know many IndyCar PR people and I can assure you they're neither dumb nor lazy. Overworked and underfunded? Maybe. Uncaring and dense, definitely not. So, since I’m sometimes cranking on IndyCar PR myself, let’s talk about Public Relations, specifically how 1) it IS NOT what most people think and 2) it IS much harder than most people think.

Tammy Kaehler Gives Readers Racing's Ultimate Backstage Pass

Tammy Kaehler channels Kate Reilly at the helm of a racing Corvette.

There’s a new female driver tearing up the track, running into and over other drivers (allegedly) and getting into off-track brawls. Dark hair. Petit. Fiery.

Danica Patrick?

No. Kate Reilly.

IndyCar in St. Pete Gets 0.25 TV Rating

USA Today's Nate Ryan (@NateRyan) tweeted Tuesday that the final TV rating for Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on NBC Sports Network Sunday was a 0.26 with a viewership of 388,000. The broadcast presumably faced stiff competition from the NCAA basketball tournament. There was also an F1 race before IndyCar and a NASCAR race after it Sunday.

Comparisons to last year are difficult since St. Petersburg (also the opening race in 2012) was on ABC. The 2012 race on ABC drew a 0.9 final rating with about 1.28 million viewers.

The first race on NBC Sports Network in 2012 was the second race of the season, Barber Motor Sports Park. It drew a 0.25 final rating with 218,000 viewers. The third race of 2012 at Long Beach drew a 0.46 rating on NBCSN with 468,000 viewers.

UPDATE: Below is IndyCar PR's fun with numbers news release (first mentioned by Speed Geek in the comments below). A note on the difference between a "coverage" rating and a "household rating": A "coverage" rating measures the number of households that were capable of getting the program that were tuned to it. A "household" rating measures the number of households in the entire U.S. that were tuned to the programming. Even households that don't get NBC Sports Network on their cable or satellite are included in this number.

From IndyCar PR:

NBC Sports Network's coverage of the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg delivered a 0.38 coverage rating and 0.26 household an increase of more than 50 percent vs. the network's first race of 2012 (0.25 coverage and .17 household) and the best for an IZOD IndyCar Series season opener on NBC Sports Network since 2009.

The race, won by James Hinchcliffe, delivered 388,000 viewers, a 78 percent increase over the NBC Sports Network's first race of 2012 (218,000). It was also the second-best season opener for NBC Sports Network's IZOD IndyCar Series coverage behind the 2010 race from Sao Paulo, Brazil (411,000).

Uncle pressdog’s Fireside Chat — Fontana, St. Pete & Malaysia Edition

Peeps. Sleeping in due to the Sunday triple dip of IndyCar, F1 and NASCAR? There’s no sleeping in here at the underground lair, so let’s have some dark roast and briefly discuss …

F1 Festival of Team Orders — The brouhaha coming out of the F1 race in Malaysia was the team orders issued both in the Mercedes team and the Red Bull team. To wit: During the race, which Red Bull’s Mark Webber led from lap six, his teammate, three-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, was P2 late.  Team principal Christian Horner told the two to hold station in P1 and P2 since there was no pressure from behind and just grind out the last 15 in lock step to save the cars, preserve the tires, and not take each other out.

Notes Taken During the 2013 IndyCar Race at St. Petersburg

James Hinchcliffe sends the People of the Leaf (Canadians) into joyous drinking.

Notes taken during the NBC Sports Network broadcast of Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Florida) on 3/24/13.

Welcome to St. Petersburg, Florida. Since this race started at the crack of dawn (11:30 a.m. Central, which is 8:30!! Pacific) while I was still in church (in Central time), I'm watching it via DVR and therefore it's time for No-Offense Fast Forward through the pre-race show.

pressdog® DRINK, ye BASTARDS® Beer of the Race is Ranger IPA, one of my go-to beverages. New crew for NBC Sports Network. Brian Till, Jon Beekhuis and Kevin Lee in the pits. Wally Dallenbach Jr., Townsend Bell and Leigh Diffey in the booth.

NBC Sports Network Weekend F1 and IndyCar Schedule

NBC Sports Network's broadcast schedule for F1 and IndyCr this weekend. All times are Eastern:

Thurs., 3/21	IndyCar: Ryan Hunter-Reay: An American Champion	7 p.m.
Fri., 3/22	F1: Practice	2 a.m.
Fri., 3/ 22	F1: Practice Re-Air	Midnight
Sat., 3/23	F1: Qualifying	4 a.m.
Sat., 3/23	F1: Qualifying Re-Air	1 p.m.
Sat., 3/23	IndyCar: Qualifying	2:30 p.m.
Sun., 3/24	F1: Malaysia Grand Prix	3:30 a.m.
Sun., 3/24	F1 Extra	6 a.m.
Sun., 3/24	Indy Lights: Streets St. Petersburg	11 a.m.
Sun., 3/24	Honda Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg	12 p.m.
Sun., 3/24	F1: Race Re-Air	3 p.m.
Tues., 3/26	IndyCar: Race Re-Air	12 a.m.

Shea Holbrook and Cohorts Launch Saucy SteelOvaryNation.com

Sports car driver and Woman of pressdo® Shea Holbrook wants her fellow female drivers to be proud of their symbolically steel reproductive parts.

In a saucy play on male racers' fondness of indicating their courage by referring to their reproductive organs as being either HUGE or made of steel (or both), Shea and her partners have created SteelOvaryNation.com, a web site that celebrates the courageous woman.

Trackside Tonight (Wednesday) with RHR and Fearless Predictions

"Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee" airs tonight (Wednesday 3/20) from 8-10 pm eastern on 1070 The Fan (WFNI-AM) in Indianapolis and via the internet at www.1070TheFan.com and through the 1070 The Fan app on mobile phones.  The show is now also simulcast in Indianapolis on 107.5 FM.

Guests include IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay.  Plus, a preview of Sunday's opener in St. Petersburg, predictions on the 2013 championship, and all of the latest news and rumors.

Questions, comments and topic suggestions are encouraged at [email protected] or via Twitter at @KevinLee23. A podcast will be available at www.1070TheFan.com/Trackside or via iTunes.

Ashley Freiberg Scores Two Top 5s at Sebring

Ashley Freiberg in action at Sebring

Ashley Freiberg Makes Strong First Impression in IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge Debut
Freiberg Scores Two Top Five Finishes at Sebring

Bondville, Vermont; March 17, 2013- EFFORT Racing driver Ashley Freiberg competed in her first IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama race last week at the 61st Annual Twelve Hours of Sebring event at Sebring International Raceway. Competing in a fierce field of 39 cars, Freiberg finished an impressive 4th place in Thursday’s race, and came home in 5th on Friday. 

Uncle pressdog's Fireside Chat -- Bristol, Kimi Räikkönen, IndyCar Drought Buster Edition

Greetings, RACE FANS! If I lived by Bristol Motor Speedway I could get someone to pay $193 a night to stay in my guest room! MURICA!! I could also probably charge $9 for this dark roast I'm chugging. But I live in Des Moines, so coffee is free. Let's chillax and discuss ...

Kimi Räikkönen Wins the Festival of Tire Management at Australia -- Remember when F1 first introduced the alternate tires? It was several years ago now, and I believe it was patterned after Champ Car, which did it first (I think). Remember further when a vocal cadre called alternate tires "artificial" and worse? Yeah, so do I. But Kimi Räikkönen and his team, Lotus, probably aren't recalling any issues with having alternate tires today.