VOL. 52 ISSUE 29 JULY 21, 2015 P63
long way to go from where we are now
and where we want to be in three, four,
five years.
You mentioned OEMs being an
important part; on the promoter's
side, what are certain areas that
need to be helped there to improve
the series?
Everything has kind of a broad spec-
trum of things that need to be done.
We need to generate more interest in
the sport certainly around the country.
We need to have people wanting to
come to an event, wherever there's an
event. There are cities that we're not
currently going to that we would go to
if the promoter put on an event—if they
feel like they can make some money. It
all comes down to making money.
So we've got to bring more fans into
our sport. Whose responsibility is that?
Is that the promoter's? Ours? Is it the
sanctioning body? The reality is the
only way we're going to get it
done is if we all sort of work
together to do it.
One of the things that we
feel, and we've had discus-
sions with promoters… we
see it in every other form of
major league sports—there's
certain amenities that people
come to expect. If you've got
corporate partners, you need
hospitality suites. You need
air conditioning. People want
to bring their family and their
kids and they don't want the
kids whining that it's too hot or
too dusty or whatever. If we're
going to grow, those are areas
that we need to be looking for
in the future, and of course
having our partners, the pro-
moters looking for venues that
offer that.
We've got traditional
events like here in Spring-
field that we hope will
always be on the sched-
(Above) At one time not only did
they race 750s at Peoria, but
1300cc bikes too.
(Left) In addition to his racing
background, Jones brings a
wealth of experience from the
promotion and marketing side.
