All Gas, No Brake: Changing Career Industries With No Fear.
One of the most asked questions I get these days is, “Elo, what are you up to?” Until recently, I’ve enjoyed a smattering of responses, none of which have satisfied anyone asking the question, such as “Just working on my tennis game.” The truth is, I have been swamped taking on a variety of projects, all of which are new and exciting. Ventures run the gamut, but one in particular involves working on a project in auto racing. Yes, auto racing.
As I have mentioned before, writing for Forbes has been a rewarding learning experience. It's exciting and challenging all the same. It has been fun to find ways to leverage what is top of mind in the career and business world and then meld it with my experience. The recent post on Forbes was a good example of how I managed to marry AI and surfing and toss in a fun pic as well. Even the post prior, about Jon Stewart, garnered enough attention that I even heard from some of my friends at Apple.
While today's Substack post is on the lengthy side, it is a two-in-one. Having worked in Radio, Advertising, Broadcast TV, Cable, Satellite Radio, Professional Sports, small and large businesses, and many things in between, I’m often asked about how I have changed industries so many times, my process, and how I enter those opportunities. In short, I like to jump into the pool's deep end with some weights and swim fast to catch up.
Did I mention racing? To be clear, I’m not a gearhead—NOT AT ALL. But, I have discovered that, much like anything, when you open yourself up to something new, you find a way to lean in and apply yourself.
Admittedly, there is a point in this post where some of you may want to “exit on pit lane” and say, “Okay, Elo, we get it,” but others may find it interesting. So, in the spirit of auto racing, let’s give the command: “Drivers Start Your Engines.”
All Gas, No Brake.
When you start something new or dive into an industry you don’t know much about, there is an onboarding process: figuring out what the business is and how it works. Then, there is a natural moment when it clicks, and you can begin to apply yourself and your skills. It can be a daunting process that blurs the opportunity because of the fear of the unknown or that you won’t get to where you can see how to apply yourself. The reality is that you have a superpower over everyone already there - you are coming into a new arena with zero expectations and being a fresh set of eyes. This is the key; it’s you - it’s your fresh point of view.
Once you find the bathroom and apply the Day 91 Rule, there is a moment when it does click. It is a “Lucky Charm Decoder Ring” moment when it does. If you’re my age, you know exactly what that means: plowing through a cereal box of sugary, hard diamond and clover-shaped marshmallows to get to the bottom of the bag. When you did, this plastic device allowed you to solve the code on the back of the box. You didn’t win anything; you just solved the code. That might be where I became focused on solving things. I love fixing challenges in companies.
When I joined the group for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, this was precisely my path—asking questions, learning, and trying to see how we can make this race something much more than just another race on the IndyCar schedule.
Most people know and have heard of the Indianapolis 500. And, of course, I knew what the Indy 500 was. I dipped in and out of watching it over my lifetime but never thought much about it. I just knew that during Memorial Day weekend, it was always on. I thought these drivers were basically out of their minds.
Like many viewers, the race came and went, almost unnoticed until next year. I was unaware that this race marked IndyCar's ‘mid-point’ of the season. I wonder how many casual fans were also unaware.
My closest friend, Scott Borchetta, has been asking me to go to the 500 for almost as long as I have known him, closing in on four decades. But the summer surf swell season and chasing waves over Memorial Day weekend always trumped the invite. But this year, I took him up on the offer for the first time.
I was gobsmacked.
Racing isn’t that foreign to me. Growing up in Oklahoma City, the Fairgrounds had a dirt track, and one of my childhood friends, Chris Young, had parents who owned a wrecker yard, Arrow, and they towed and sponsored a few cars. Every Friday night, my mother would take us down to the track. She watched and enjoyed the races while Chris and I sneaked into the pits, which were full of mud, and marveled at these cars sliding and speeding around a dirt oval. Flash forward 40+ years, and I’m part of a group promoting an IndyCar race. It was not a complete full-circle moment, but the irony wasn’t lost on me.
IndyCar sanctions our race, providing the competitive framework to bring the race to life. This also means the company I’m a part of puts up the money, takes the risk, and has an obligation to make it a fan and financial success. Creating value for the fans with a compelling race, musical acts, promotions, and other elements has a familiar tone in my career. But now, on the side of a promoter, it’s all brand new at the same time.
This is where I thought my journey could be an interesting read: How I have taken my trusty Lucky Charm decoder ring and applied it to this new venture.
Diving into something new is a great way to stretch your brain and abilities. If I’m 100% honest, there have been many times in my career when I feel like I’m driving in a rainstorm at night with no headlights, on a dirt road. One case in point is when I was the head of Broadcast Operations at XM, in charge of the satellite fleet, but I also know, based on my career, that this is where the growth lies.
IndyCar has a rich history in the US, and while the global force of F1, due in part to my great friend Paul Martin’s Box to Box series, "Drive to Survive," has propelled it to new heights, IndyCar still has the biggest race in the world: The Indy 500. Nothing is even close. The Indy 500 has been and is still the largest single-day sporting event in the world.
The 500 is a mind-blowing event. Over 300,000 people surround the 2.5-mile track, waiting and watching for these drivers to put their lives on the line for a chance to drink milk and kiss the bricks. The sheer scale of the facility is almost impossible to imagine or describe unless you see it firsthand. The infield, or the area inside the oval, is so big that it can hold Yankee Stadium, Churchill Downs, Vatican City, The White House, the Taj Mahal, The Rose Bowl, and the Roman Colosseum - ALL AT THE SAME TIME!
This year's race was beyond memorable. After sitting through a four-hour rain delay, the command was given, the green flag waved, and for over two hours, I was mesmerized. The last lap was electric. A last-minute pass by Josef Newgarden on the backstretch with a ½ lap to go made over 345,000 people erupt. Hearing the roar of the pass, seeing the fans, and then witnessing the immediate despair of Pato O’Ward losing the race with only two turns left was as good a sports moment in my life as I have ever seen.
For the prior three years, our race, The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, was in August. It was a road course (not an oval) through the streets of downtown Nashville. When IndyCar announced the 2024 schedule last year, they moved our race to the last race on the schedule. This became a huge opportunity for our race.
The overall points champion for the season will now be crowned at our race. It’s now up to us to tell that story, promote it, and get people there. Our race will never be close to the Indy 500—the crown jewel—but we have a rare opportunity to create something unique. There is no reason that we can’t be the next most significant race on the calendar behind the 500. That is an attractive business proposition; that’s now the mission.
Storytelling and creating something unique, sports, champions—hmmm, this all feels familiar. Let’s open a fresh box of Lucky Charms, fish out that decoder ring, and get to work.
What I know for sure is that stories and storylines matter. People gravitate to the stars of sports and drama, and in the TV world, they gravitate toward the shows, not the cable channels. (One of many lessons from OWN over the years.) The key to unlocking this new project is to find the storylines, bubble them up, and excite the fans. It’s no different than what we did at OWN or the WSL with the midseason cut, WSL Finals, or even the vast promotions we did at XM. All we have to do is apply what we (I) know.
With this new opportunity, it became clear that the unfamiliar world of IndyCar had many more aspects and elements that were very familiar and tapped into areas of my background that I had not before considered or seen.
Pulling Onto Pit Lane
Okay, here is your exit; I will go a bit deeper now, showing how you, or anyone, can start digging and finding the proper storylines and ways to apply yourself to something new.
What you think and what you choose to put up as guardrails is your only limitation
If you stop reading here, no offense. I’d love to leave you with this: The limitations of making a career change or trying something new are only limited to you. What you think and what you choose to put up as guardrails is your only limitation.
It’s one of the biggest lessons in my professional life. Once I had the confidence to lean into what I knew, I wasn’t worried or paralyzed with fear.
Going Back Green.
IndyCar awards the Astor Cup (the champion's trophy) to the driver who accumulates the most points over the year. The points are awarded in several ways, such as winning or leading laps. But the net result is that, after the season is over, the driver with the most points wins the championship.
Like in all sports, some events mean more than others. In IndyCar, the 500 is undoubtedly the most important race on the calendar, but winning championships is another matter.
As an Oklahoma fan, I spent many bad seasons in the post-Barry Switzer era saying, “All we have to do is beat Texas for us to have a good year.” Well, after the Gary Gibbs, Schnellenberg, and the John Blake eras in Norman, losing all year only to beat Texas sucked. Thank God for Bob Stoops; he reminded us only one thing matters - championships. A big game, or a big race, is fantastic - but it’s NOT a title or Championships.
Think of it with a view toward the surf world. Some would argue that winning Pipeline is one of the most important wins a surfer could achieve, but World Titles place you in immortality. (Ask Kelly about his untouchable record of 11.) Don’t worry about Slater, he has many Pipe wins too.
This is where the fun and narratives begin, Seeing how we can make this race, the last race of the year, different. With a fresh cup of coffee, I started my own journey into data and storylines.
My process always starts with data and history. I firmly believe the path to the future is buried in clues from the past. In this case, the past is not only IndyCar's but mine as well. With the help of the IndyCar site, and desire to unlock some stories, off I went.
As of today, July 13th, there are eight races to go, including our race on September 15th. Tonight (7/13) begins a doubleheader in Iowa, bringing the title race closer into focus on Monday morning. Driver Alex Palou has a commanding point lead now, due to his consistency, wins, and poles. Vegas doesn’t post odds mid-season for IndyCar, but the oddsmakers would likely say it’s Alex’s to lose.
Or is it?
Looking at the past 25 years, with eight races to go, whoever is leading in the season has won the championship 76% of the time. Yes, those seem like insurmountable odds and a bit of a fait accompli, but the race for the title is NOT over, and there is a twist that favors our race.
There have been four instances where a driver ranked #2 at this point in the season has won the title, and four additional cases in which a driver ranked 3rd won the Astor Cup. Drivers ranked 4th through 7th with eight races to go, having only climbed to the top to claim the cup one time in each instance. Notably, Scott Dixon won a championship in 2013 from seventh in points.
In the previous three years, our race was held downtown as a road course, but we relocated it to the Nashville Superspeedway due to the construction of the new Tennessee Titans stadium. Just outside of Nashville, this track is a 1.3-mile concrete oval, not a road course, a major twist in IndyCar. Why this is important is twofold.
First, oval racing is a different type of racing. I’m not going to pretend to be able to explain it, but I can say that it is pretty breathtaking from a fan experience where you see a majority of the entire track and cars approaching 220 mph. Second, IndyCar hasn’t finished the season at an oval since 2014. Generally speaking, ovals promote closer racing, like REALLY close, and our track will see speeds over 200 mph and many lead changes. This dynamic plays nicely into the narratives of the end of the season.
Graham Rahal, a veteran of IndyCar, puts it bluntly: “Most people associate IndyCar with road courses. But nothing compares to a good oval race.” We couldn’t agree more. His words were so perfect we made a spot out of it!
While math and the stats are on the side of Alex Palou, the drivers that are getting hot and driving the best, with more ovals to come, are primed for a run. Oh, let’s not discount the Iceman, Scott Dixon. A six-time champion who has proven that he can come back and win a championship, being ranked as far back as 7th, I’d submit anything is, and likely will be, possible.
Next to the Indy 500, this will be the most important and consequential race of the year and for years to come, that is our mission. IndyCar has already announced that our race will be the season finale next year, on the Sunday of Labor Day, giving our race the aperture for even more national attention. Our focus and a new broadcast partner next year with FOX sets our race up for an amazing run in the future.
Now, it’s about leveraging all the marketing, the drivers, and these storylines to fuel the narratives around the race. Marketing, brand, and narratives feel all too familiar. This is where the fun lies: finding ways to translate this new world into what I have experienced and done over three decades.
Checkered Flag
If you’ve made it this far, text me, and I’ll send you a code for a discount ticket to our race. 😎 This is my process: getting deep and knowing where and how we can create a relative advantage for our company around our race. This may not be yours. The key is finding how to ground yourself in a new world and apply your gifts and experience.
All you need is an opportunity and that Lucky Charm Decoder Ring.