CART Media Conference

Topics:  CART

Chris Pook
February 7, 2002

CHRIS POOK: Good morning. Thank you for being here, first of all. It's great to have you. And good to be in Laguna Seca, one of the all-time storied racing facilities in the United States. Let me just touch on Adam's initiative, first of all. Since this is a public relations group we are talking to, PR and press relations, press promotion, media relations, is a very, very important part of my philosophy of how we go forward, and what I've asked Adam to do -- Adam, who I have great, great confidence in, he worked for me back in the late 80s and early 90s.

CHRIS POOK: He was just a whipper-snapper then. He's a very capable guy and I have great faith in him and great trust in him, and he's very direct and he understands that when I ask for things to get executed, I expect them to get executed. He is putting together a team -- and we are delighted that Nate has stepped up and joined him in the number two spot. He's a very capable guy. You're going to see a very, very focused media team out of this administration. We're going to drive probably the team PR folks crazy. We're going to drive the track promoters folks crazy. But we are going to bring everybody into the fold and work as one unit. And we are probably going to drive you guys crazy because we are going to have a flood of information going to you on a regular basis, not only about our racing car drivers, but also about our team owners, our crew chiefs, and any other personalities involved in the sport. And any of who you write about one them, you will see that following having written about that person, there will be a continuing diet of information about that individual as we continue through the series, so your file can become complete about the person that you wrote about or that you broadcast about. It will be a full-service media operation, and it won't just be dealing with the dailies, it will be dealing with the weeklies, and it will be dealing with the monthlies, and it will be dealing with the radio shows and it will be dealing with the television magazine shows. It will be very complete and we will -- this is nothing new. About 20-some years ago when we introduced Formula 1 to the western part of the United States and we had a whole bunch of racing car drivers that folks had never even heard about in this country. We did the same thing. And if those of you who can remember back to the late 70s and early 80s in the western part of the United States, we dominated the media when the Formula 1 show came to California and we dominated it west of Chicago and Mississippi and we got coverage on the East Coast following our races. And the way we did that was by reaching out to the media in a very proactive manner and servicing the media and getting our arms around the media and making sure that -- reaching out and making sure that -- you are clients of ours, we are a service organization. And that is part of my philosophy and part of our philosophy, and of the management team's philosophy. This sport, called Championship Auto Racing Teams, is probably the finest form of motor racing there is in the world today. When I made the commitment to my board of directors and gave me the direction in 1983 to move from Formula 1 to CART, we came to learn very quickly that when a driver wins this FedEx Championship, that driver has accomplished a huge amount. That driver has accomplished racing an ovals, and being successful; racing on road courses, permanent road courses, being successful; and racing on street courses and being successful. And I would say to you: That is the mark of a true driving champion. And it is also the mark of a winning team, because a driver, as you know cannot do that unless he is supported by the team. It is truly, truly an effort and we need to remember that, and I would respectfully ask you to also remember that. But it is a great product, and we will grow this product. Between the walls, the standard of competition will remain high. The intensity of the races will remain high. Tomorrow we will ask the regulatory group of CART to look at some adjustments in how we present the product going forward. I will be so bold as to tell you they'll ask that Friday qualifying be re-established, and there will be some other changes, as well, we will be asking for. We will also be asking Wally Dallenbach (ph) to return as our chief steward, and Chris Nifold (ph), who came on board this year, has very graciously agreed to stay on board; and Will Berger (ph) will join Atlantics to help and will also be with Wally as we go forward. But we are going to go from within in this company and not from without. You are probably aware of some of the things that has happened here in the last month or so; it seems like an eternity so far, but we have made some major changes in the management structure. But I think the biggest change we have made is in the philosophical structure in how CART operates. Yes, we are a sanctioning body; and yes, we put on motor car races; and yes, the competition is fierce and the activity between the walls is fierce. But once we go outside of those walls, we are now a service -- servicing organization. We are a marketing company. We are a facilitator. Our job is to facilitate the environment in which we are in for all of the companies, sponsors, engine manufacturers, tire manufacturers, media, so that everybody can do their job, and everybody can obtain their goals and objectives around this sport called Championship Auto Racing Teams and the FedEx Championship. We need to understand the goals and objectives of everybody involved around this sport, and we need to deliver the vehicle so those goals and objectives can be achieved, be they promoter goals, be they FedEx's goals, our engine suppliers' goals, tire manufacturers' goals, your goals in the media, televisions goals; it doesn't matter. We are a delivery mechanism and we need to recognize that and understand that. And we need to be humble, and we need to understand that you, all of you, are clients of ours, and as clients, we must respect you and we must service you and we must deliver to you. That is the message I have given to the company since December 18th when I joined, and that is the message I will continue to give to our company as we go forward. It is the philosophy that I explained to our board of directors at our board meeting in St. Petersburg on January 22; that I wanted this company to embrace, and it is the policy that the board of directors has now embraced, and it will be the policy of this company going forward. Yes, there will be bumps in the road and yes, there will be glitches, but we will address those bumps in the road and we will address those glitches, and there will be resolution. They will not be pushed aside in the hope that they will go away. The management structure is quite simple now. We have gone, as I said, from ten layers of management to five. I have five direct reports, plus a chief financial officer, Tom Carter, and a chief legal office, Dave Schneider. My five direct reports communicate with me on an hourly and daily basis. If they cannot make a decision or don't want to make a decision on something, I am available to them to help them, but we will make decisions. Hopefully, 95 percent of the time, we make the right decisions. But we will make some decisions that will be not correct, but that is better than no decision at all. And we will empower our people to make decisions, and we will change this environment to a positive environment that moves forward and meets the challenges. Yes, we've got a lot of issues to tackle. Yes, we have tackled a lot of issues. But we are going to do it, and we are going to get it done and get it behind us so by the time we get to Monterrey, you will see a different organization, a different company. The same great product on the racetrack, but the environment around it will have changed, I hope for the better, and I hope you agree. This morning, we opened our first meeting with our promoters, and as you know, I come from the promoter side of the business. So obviously, there is a certain tender part of my heart that is there. But on the other side, I also know they are going to be testing me, because they are going to say, "Oh, he used to be one of us and now he's one of the others, so let's try him out and see how good he is." Which is fair enough. But the promoters represent 52 percent of the revenue of this company, and they are very important to us. More importantly than just the 52 percent is the fact that they are the conduit and our vehicle to the general public in the markets we serve. If we think that we can reach the general public, if we think CART and its very small staff can reach the general public of the constituencies, the geographic constituents we serve, which is basically NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Association of Canada, the United States and Mexico, plus our overseas countries of Japan, Australia, Germany and England, or really Germany and England as the ECC, they represent that now, if we think as this small company we can reach these people, we are wrong. We are flawed in our thinking. The way we reach them is through our promoters. They are in touch with these markets. They are in touch with these people on a daily, daily basis on the regions they operate in. So we must get our arms around and embrace these folks and come together as a team because that's how we are going to reach the general public in those areas. We would love to be able to afford to take ads and buy television spots and radio spots and tell everybody the name CART FedEx Championship, but we do not have $200 million a year to do that, because that's what it takes if you're going to make an impression. But we do have 19 superb promoters in 19 solid markets. And we can come together as a team, in a strategy that will reach our public, and together with you, the media, we will wrap that into our relationships. We will be effective in getting the message across of what this product is. Now, I'm simplifying it, but it's important to keep it simple, because if you get it too complicated, we are going to lose sight of what the mission is. And the mission is: Get the message of what the FedEx Championship sanctioned by Championship Auto Racing Teams is all about, what driving a racing car is all about, what driving a FedEx Championship racing car is all about. And how we build going forward: Where are we going to get our talent from? Well, we have associated ourselves with Skip Barber. There's probably nobody in this country who has produced more racing drivers from the young ranks than Skip Barber has. And some members of our community kind of go, "Well, you know, that series is, it's a junior series." Let's me tell you something, it's a junior series and it's probably the most important junior series the United States has, because that is where talent for tomorrow is coming from, and if we don't embrace that, then we are crazy. So we are going to embrace it. We are not going to try to go below that right now because we don't have the resources to do effectively, but we do have the resources it to effectively embrace the Skip Barber series, and we will embrace it. And we will embrace the Toyota Atlantic Series and we will get our arms around it. And we will bring the youngsters in and we will impress upon our teams in the big series that they need to pay attention to the series below them and bring these kids out and up. It's nothing new. Baseball has been doing this for years. If you think to September and October each year, the number of young players that come out of the AAA teams that arrive on the Major League rosters in September and October as a tryout, and the effort that the teams put into telling the media about this kid that came out of AAA farm club in Albuquerque, New Mexico and how high the manager is, what this kid did and where he comes from and where he went to school and how he came out of baseball and where he went to university and was in A ball or AA ball, there's a huge effort there. We are going to put the same effort into the racing car drivers. And you are the vehicle, members of the media, to help us do that. You are the folks that can condition the public to accepting who our new racing car drivers can be. It is our job to feed you with the information in the media to do it. It's our responsibility. But I ask your help as we start to bring new youngsters coming forward, be they youngsters from Australia or Japan or Germany or England or from Mexico or from Canada or from the United States. We are a multinational series and we need to embrace that and we need to recognize that we have a very, very unique product, and we are a unique delivery vehicle. This weekend, I think, is an important weekend. I know it's an important weekend. It's a little bit conflicted for you because there's a lot going on in the southeast and there's a lot going on in Pomona down south; so I appreciate the time that you are giving us here this particular week. I know it's busy and I know there's a lot of pressures on you. Going forward, we will structure it slightly differently in the future, and you will see spring training, you know, less conflicted media time frame; or better said, a more convenient media time frame for you. So I thank you for coming here today. And we'll get to some questions and answers, I'm sure, in a minute. But also, I think it's appropriate now, to introduce three of our promoters.

CHRIS POOK: Mike Mealy is worried about sitting next to me because I might pick his pocket.

MICHELLE TRUEMAN GAJOCH: I'm going to make a very brief statement, and then I'll defer to Mike. We are here representing the entire promoter community here this morning and I think it is very important that we share with you our confidence in Chris and the new CART. There has been a tremendous amount of momentum and very positive step forward from our perspective, and obviously the series as a whole, just in a very short order. And we thought it was very important for us to be here this morning and to answer questions or dispel any concerns there might be regarding the promoters.

CHRIS POOK: So you all understand, Michelle is chairperson of the promoters' group. Michelle and I have known each other for a number of years. Though she probably does not want to admit she has known me as long as she has. She's a very capable woman and I have a very high level of confidence in her chair role of the promoters' group.

MIKE MEALY: The only statement I would make is that as Michelle said, the three of us said we represent the Executive Committee of the promoters' group and we are encouraged by what we have seen, just the basic things, in terms of realizing the importance of the promoter group, realizing the importance of the partnerships that we have with CART, and even in the reorganization that he's done with his own staff, giving us clearer channels of communication and things of that nature, really give each and every one of us a reason for being encouraged and to be optimistic. And I think also, for us, it's probably the first time that I can think of where, especially for CART, that we have had somebody has close to the promoters ranks as Chris that understands our side of the fence as well as the sanctioning bodies, and we are thankful for that.

BOB SINGLETON: In closing, team work and partnerships is the way we run our businesses. And it's good to see that CART now, through Chris's leadership, is going to go the same way, and I think as a team, partners, we can make this series grow and grow big, and so, we are excited about that.

CHRIS POOK: First of all, Chicago. Yeah, Chicago made the announcement that they are going to close the doors. Our staff is in discussion as we speak with Chicago right now to see what we can do to keep the Chicago date on the schedule. It's an important market. We want to be there. There are some challenges with it, but, you know, challenges are there to be overcome. So, stay tuned on Chicago. On Miller, it's disappointing that Miller made the decision they did, but I think you have to look at the big picture with Miller. As you know, they have been all over the Wall Street Journal lately and there's a change in the chairmanship of their parent company and there's been comments about whether Miller should stay within the Phillip Morris Group or merged into another brewery in this country or whether Miller should be sold to another entity. So I think that whenever you have that sort of thing going on, Robin -- and Miller has had its challenges over the years, as I think we all know. But any time a company is going through that sort of metamorphosis, they tend not to renew their relationships. They tend to step back, because usually they have a new CEO or new boss coming in and they want to step back and look at the direction. The middle management that's in place there making those sort of decisions kind of steps back and says, let me have a clean sheet of paper and we'll take a look at that. The third question was, whether these joint ventures and sort of co-promotions, I think you put it, would be something of the future. I think very much, they are not only something of the future; they are something of the present. I think, you know, we have to look at how we do business. This is nothing new, Formula 1 has been doing these sort of things for a number of years. Indirectly, I suppose NASCAR does it with their relationship with IFC. It's a similar sort of setup; although, they are two separate, distinct companies. We will look at that. You heard the comments from the folks on my right about partnerships. I think Bob Singleton said, you know, partnerships are a way to do business. Strategic alliances are a way to do business. So, absolutely. We are going to do that. Under the appropriate circumstances, it's going to make sense for our strategic partner and it's got to make sense for us. But we've turned a new chapter in the book and we will move forward with that new chapter.

CHRIS POOK: I would not want you to use the word, "Co-promoter." I would say have a strategic alliance with. Yes, I suspect there are, and you will see those announcements emerge as we move forward. But we've got to be sure to get our partners comfortable with the process first. I don't want to go any further than that with you now, other than to say you will see some strategic alliances.

CHRIS POOK: Well, I think you're the key to that. If you feel we're dying, then you have to write that. I know I'm 60 years old, but I'm not dead yet. I suppose there were some things that took place that gave that perception, but it is what it is. I can't change the past. But I'm going to change the future.

CHRIS POOK: By being proactive. By dealing with the issues. We had procedures that were very concerned in November -- well, they were concerned before November and December, but they were concerned. I mean, I'm creating an outreach program to talk to them and get them on board. I mean, we can't build this sport without them. We need them and they are the best people to do it. So we are going to start with our promoters. We started with some of our sponsors. You are going to see some announcements on sponsorship renewals very shortly. We are out getting our arms around these folks. We are starting to listen to them and understand their needs. Rome was not built in a day. And we are just going to take some time to do it. I think if you look at how we are going, you are just going to put one foot forward at a time and put it down solidly and then move the next foot forward. We might put one foot forward and take half a step back in some cases, but believe me, we are going to keep going forward. We are pretty focused. This reminds me of 1983 and 1984 when we made a change from F-1 in Long Beach to Indy cars. The headline of the Los Angeles Time read: "Last Grand Prix in Long Beach." No one ever said that the Indy cars were coming in '84. We went from 803,000 plus spectators on the last Sundays in the last F-1 race in '83 to 48,000. The next year in '84 with Indy cars and three years later we went by the 83,000 number with Indy cars; we were banging on an 86,000 and 87,000 on Sunday. It's just a question of being sensible how you approach it and executing on a game plan. You know, you all write in your notebooks the doom and gloom today of the early part of 2002. And anybody who wants to have a bet on how we are going to be in 2004, I'm happy to take your bets. Let's just put them in an envelope and write them down and put your name on and I'll put my dough in another envelope and we'll see who picks up the money in a couple of years time. Can't do it alone, though. You've got to help us. If you see we're doing something bad, you tell us. If you think we are doing something good, you tell us. I don't -- I will tell you one thing: I'm very direct and very forthright. I don't like newspaper folks or television folks or radio folks that write one-sided articles with third-party quotes they won't put names to. I'm referring specifically to the Car and Driver article now, which I thought was a bad article and bad journalism and was totally biased. And I'm extremely surprised that Tony Swan, the editor of that publication, who is a seasoned long editor allowing something like that to go in his publication. It is what it is. It's a cheap shot. I remember cheap shots. And we'll move forward. But you've got something bad to say about us, say it. If you've got something good to say about us, say it. Don't hold back. But just make sure it's balanced. That's all I ask of you.

CHRIS POOK: Are you talking about my respected board members? (Laughter.)

CHRIS POOK : Well, first of all, with all due respect, Paul, Lee Dykstra has come on board our company and I would respectfully suggest that he's a very bright, intelligent guy that understands what he's doing. But we don't need committees to run this thing. We need guys making solid decisions listening to the outside and making a decision and giving leadership going forward. That's how you lead. You know, you lead by input and then someone making a decision and moving forward. So, Dykstra is a very bright guy, very smart man, and he will listen and he will make a decision and hopefully he makes 90 percent of the right decisions. You know, he will make some bad decisions. But, you know, we've got to recognize how many good decisions he makes versus bad decisions. And let's praise him when he makes good decisions and let's kick his butt when he makes bad decisions. You're going to do that to me; so let's go in that direction. In technical side, Jeff Horton is probably one of the brightest guys around. He's an incredibly intelligent man, very bright guy. Yeah, he's one man, but we don't need a committee. We need strong guys, intelligent guys creating leadership and making decisions, and they will do that. They report to John Lopes (ph), who is new to this side of the industry, but John Lopes is a manager, he's a very smart, intelligent guy and he's a manager. He understands how to manage people and that's what the real job is here. You know, it may sound a little dictatorial and basic, but it's just all about people. You don't have anything else in life but people, and you've got to motivate people and you've got to get their around arms around them and build respect and consensus and then you go forward. As far as the owners are concerned, or the members of the franchise board, you know, if you look at it like a pack of lions, if you have a bunch of young lions, they are all trying to bite each other and claw and scramble and do something and it's out of control. But you get one big old lion in there that's tougher than hell and he bites the crap out of the young ones that step out of line and gives them leadership and guidance, the young lions tend to fall in line a little bit. So I think that probably it's management's job here to go to our owners and give them a very clear and succinct game plan and path of where we are going down, and that's the process we are doing. We are spelling out a very clear path. The board of directors of the Delaware Company buy into it and say: Yes, Management you are doing this right; or no, Management, you're doing this wrong; or change this, Management. But that's what we are doing. We are developing the strategy and path that we are going down. And on Friday, which is tomorrow, we will present that to the team owners, and they will buy in or they will object. The important thing as far as management's concerned is that 51 percent of them buy into it and we go down the road. If only 51 percent buy and 49 percent don't buy, then management's job after that is to get our arms around the 49 percent and make sure that we get them back in the fold and they understand the reason why their colleagues on the 51 percent voted for whatever they voted for. And there's reintegration; and if there are any hard feelings in that board room, when they leave that board room, are ended and we go back on the racetrack and we go racing again. That's the society we live in. The majority have to rule. And you saw what happens -- a perfect example of the minority trying to rule, unfortunately, was September 11. A very small minority tried to do something and that small minority now are getting their butts kicked. So majority has to rule in a democratic process, but management's job is create the right environment, the right focus, the right goal and objectives to be achieved. I hope that answers the questions with regard to our board members.

CHRIS POOK: We are going to improve the standards of the lunches and provide Black Label scotch come in the evening. (Laughter.) No, I'm being very facetious. It's part of the outreach program that I talked to you about at the start of the meeting. Daily reporters, they are inundated with stuff. Their bosses, the editors are pushing them hard, you know, giving them extra work, cutting down their budgets. The newspaper pages are getting thinner, and as you know, they are driven by advertising. So we have got to fight real hard to get our share in these newspapers and we are doing that. And Adam understands all about that and he's very capable of doing that. Nate will be the executing -- Nate's team will be executing with him on this whole program. There's no magic to this. This is pretty simple stuff. We have just got to address it and do it. We have to set the table correctly, make sure the table cloth is clean, the knives and forks look good and there's flowers on the table. And when we do that, that discipline, like every other discipline, then we'll be fine. They will come back. They will come back to us. We have got a good product and they will come back.

CHRIS POOK: Well, I think the most important thing we've got to do is review what we've got at present and make sure we fix that and do it well before we start to push into the next area. I would be less than honest with you if I did not say there's a high interest level in Miami. There's a high interest level in Tampa/St. Petersburg, in that market area, because if you add Orlando into that market mix, you find yourself in No. 5 in the nation, and that's important to us and our sponsors. It's very easy for me to say, gosh, we're going to go to Brazil next month; let's do it. But I think we have to step back and understand truly the logistics of that and who is our promoter down there and what is the role of government down there. I think we need some major assurances on the issue of government in that country. I think we need some major assurances on the issue of safety -- I don't mean saved on the racetrack but safety for our personnel. I think these are some of the things that we have got to look at. China, everybody talks about China. I mean, it's sort of fashionable to talk about China. I'm not into fashion; I'm into fixing the company and going to the right places where the company needs to go and where the sponsors and the engine guys need to go. If FedEx comes in the door and Toyota and Honda and Ford come and say, "China next month," we'll probably going to China. But we've just got to be -- we've got to be careful. We can't knee-jerk react to everything. We've just got to think it through very carefully. And the most important thing, we've got to make sure is my three colleagues on my right and their colleagues, we've got to make sure they are solid and up and running and our house is in order at home before we charge up any further. We have got four races overseas in great markets and we have to solidify those, as well. We are working on that on the international PR side. You will see an announcement about that, and about our overseas television coverage, but Adam is being charged and Steve Fusik (ph) is being charged with a very, very clear initiative as it pertains to supporting our race in Japan, supporting our race in England and Germany; and we are going to get them right and we are going to do it properly first before we start stepping out further. Got to get the house in order at home first before you start looking at somebody else's house.

CHRIS POOK: I'm not sure we have any teams on the fringe. I think the teams that wanted to go are gone and obviously Roger went with his two cars, and we wish him well. Mo split his house in two camps, and I think one of the new teams decided that they wanted to split up. And I think Arciero stayed with us and Blair moved forward and it is what it is. If you want to go to oval racing you should go to the IRL. If you want to go to the true championship of road, oval and streets, you stay with us. If your customers want to buy Ford and Chevies and Dodges, go to the IRL. If you want to buy Toyotas, Hondas, import cars, stay with us. If you want to smoke Winston cigarettes, go to the IRL. If you want to smoke KOOL cigarettes, stay with us. This is all about demographics. This is all about marketing. This is all about where we fit and where they fit. We know where we fit and we know what we are going to do. If you are a multinational company and you want to have a tremendous NAFTA marketing platform, come to us. If you are a multinational company and you want a NAFTA platform plus the orient plus Australia plus the EEC, come to us. If you just want to sell in the United States, the IRL is where you should be. Indianapolis is the greatest race in the world. I hope all of our teams have the opportunity to participate in it. And if any of the IRL teams want to come across and participate in one of our races, I know that we will welcome them with open arms and we'll be delighted to have them. We are not looking to get in a war with the IRL. That's absolutely not where I'm coming from. My management team, we know what we've got to do and we are going to execute on our game plan, and we are not in the slightest bit distracted by that, by the IRL at all. We do want to make it more economical for our teams, in the sense we do want to have a common on engine and common chassis and that makes all of the sensibility in the world; so they have the flexibility to go where they want to go. But they are two different products. Two different sets of market demographics, and sensible business people will make sensible business decisions.

CHRIS POOK: Well, we've got 19 cars here and I believe we are going to probably start Monterrey with 21 cars and probably see 22 cars by the time we get to Long Beach. I feel that, you know, if we have 20 solid race cars, that's all we need in our series. We want 20 really solid guys, maybe 22, but 20 solid guys would be just great for us. As far as traveling is concerned, all of these things, that affects costs and there's a balance, is 16 a right number, maybe Long Beach is 16 when we had a 1.8 mile circuit, that would be fine. Road America with 16 cars would be a bit of a yawn. There is a balance there and I think 20 is a fair balance. 22 is a fair balance. There are other issues, we have paddock space issues at racetracks. It's all very well to say, gosh, let's have 30 race cars, but, you know am I going to turn to my colleagues on say, by the way would you mind producing another five acres of space in your paddock because they have more race cars; their costs go up exponentially, too. We have to be sensible and create the economic model to work for all of our constituencies. And that includes our teams and our promoters and our transportation specialists.

CHRIS POOK: I don't think so. I mean, it would be nice to sort of it -- I don't think we have a war right now. I mean, I haven't talked to Tony since I have been in this role, not because I don't want to talk to Tony, but I have nothing constructive to say apart from, "Good morning, how are you." You know, I don't think it makes -- we are not at war. It's just a different philosophy. He made it very clear that he espoused the philosophy he wanted to do. He wanted to bring down the cost of oval racing. He wanted to put American drivers into the series. And he wanted to, if you will, make it more of an all-American sport, stars and stripes sport. And then -- terrific. Yeah, why not. That's not our business model. Our business model is different. We are multinational. We are a combination of street, oval and road. And we have a different philosophy about what our racing cars should do. So, because we have different philosophies, I don't think it means that we need to go to war or throw rocks at each other. I mean, he's got to get on a run our series and he's got to run his series, and hopefully one of these days we may have a commonality where we can say, gosh, let's choose three or four races, maybe, that we can get together on and cooperate together on. But I don't think that that's where we are now and I don't think that's where he wants to be. His spokesman and -- I saw the other day was quoted, because we are considering moving to Indianapolis, that were we moving there because we want to have a merger. No. We want to move to Indianapolis because we want to be close to our teams. And Indianapolis is the center of a lot of motor racing, not just Indy cars. There are stock car folks that originated out there. There's midgets, Sprint cars, even drag racing as folks based in Indianapolis. So it's definitely the motor sports capital of the nation and that's where we need to be. That's why we are going there. And the other reason is it's close to in Cincinnati where you can fly on Delta from.

CHRIS POOK: I'm not sure that it's correct for the public company to spend money in that area. But what I am telling you is that we are going to embrace that and we are going to make it happen and we will create the right environment and right incentives for those guys to come through the system. We are paying attention, Robin, we are going to pay a lot of attention on our marketing side to making sure our teams are financially healthy, and with that financial leverage.

CHRIS POOK: That's because I'm so frigging old. (Laughter.) Obviously, I mean, the Internet. You have to understand when I'm on the computer, I just hunt and peck all the time. Obviously, we mean the Internet.

CHRIS POOK: We recognize you.

ADAM SAAL: We are going to pay attention to it.